BUTLER TWP — Seven students from the Butler County Vocational-Technical School are in Hershey to show off the skills they have learned and compete in a statewide competition for Skills USA.

To advance to the state competition, students had to finish in first place in the District 10 competition in January, according to adviser Kesia Jones. Jones works as a health technician and instructional aide at the vo-tech.

Jones said SkillsUSA is a national organization that aims to develop students’ work ethic and vocational knowledge in the workplace, and the competition covers numerous courses offered nationally at vocational schools.

This year, the vo-tech has seven students competing in Hershey until Friday: Annika Layman, a senior from First Baptist Christian School, competing in advertising design; Damion Young, a senior at Karns City High School, competing in cabinet-making; Forrest Dickey, a senior at Moniteau, competing in computer maintenance; Johnathan Zotter, a senior at Knoch High School, competing in firefighting; Eric Busa, a senior at Seneca Valley, competing in HVAC and refrigeration; Ashley Frye, a junior at Butler Senior High School, competing in photography; and Jakub Nelson, a senior at Knoch High School, competing in the sheet metal contest.

Layman went to the competition hours ahead of time out of pure nervousness, she said.

At the district competition, she had to design a logo for a made-up bottled water company, given only five colors and a target audience from 8 to 80 years old.

Then, the competitors were given information to make a complete label design for the bottle all in 2½ hours.

“I thought I was going to lose because I had worked until the last 10 seconds of the competition,” she said. “I wanted to get everything in there and done as perfect as I could make it. Everybody else was done half an hour earlier than I was, 10 minutes earlier than I was.”

Layman was worried working to the last minute meant she was not going to win, she said.

“Afterward, there was a nervousness of ‘Did I win? Did I not win? What did I rank as?’” Layman said. “Later that day, I found out that I won, and I didn’t believe them at first. I didn’t think my work was good enough because I finished last. I thought, ‘Oh no, these other kids know what they’re doing, they’re not freaking out.’”

But those other students did not include every bit of information provided by the SkillsUSA competition. Layman’s water bottle design included all of the information, she said. And her design was the only one that did.

While Layman said the skills she learned through the advertising design curriculum at vo-tech taught her everything she needed to know, she spent a lot of time practicing outside of school. She would challenge herself to draw up logo designs for pens and everyday objects to hone her skills.

Layman has also studied logos and taught herself what makes a logo stand out, she said.

The hardest part about designing a logo is making sure it accurately represents the company and product, but the actual drawing is a considerable challenge, too, she said.

Layman said she believes the state competition will be another logo design competition.

For Zotter, the competition was like any other day volunteering at Winfield Township Volunteer Fire Department. He has been at the station for three years, originally starting as a junior firefighter at 15 years old.

Zotter’s firefighting competition focuses on how quickly he can don his turnout gear, which includes his boots, pants, coat, helmet, face piece and the self-contained breathing apparatus with tank. Typically, that gear is put on within a minute and weighs around 45 pounds, a weight he is “just so used to throwing on,” he said.

After that, Zotter’s district competition included conducting an interior search, following a hose line, done in less than five minutes. He had to safely raise and ascend a ladder, advance a hose line and then disassemble everything.

Lastly, his competition had a section where competitors had to tie fire service knots that are used on tools, he said.

“I go (to the Winfield VFD) any time I have a free chance to put my gear on, do some simple drills,” he said. “See how fast I can get (the gear) on, see if I can race people that come down, which gets interesting.”

Zotter is in the vo-tech’s protective services course, originally enrolling because of his interest in law enforcement. Now, Zotter is not even considering going into law enforcement, and instead, he hopes to become a paid firefighter for the city of Pittsburgh or Butler, he said.

Zotter attributes his interest in firefighting to his instructor, Jeff Celender, and said he hopes he does not disappoint Celender at the state competition.

For Jones, serving as adviser is a rewarding opportunity, and she has seen incredible growth in the students who participate.

“It’s really rewarding to see them at a competition, and obviously if they don’t win, they’re disappointed, but it is so rewarding to know and to see them win. The excitement on their faces,” she said. “They’re coming out of their shells, their independence especially (grows).”

As for Jones’ outlook on the state competition until Friday, Jones said what will happen, will happen.

“They’re all good, it just depends on what they have to compete with,” she said.