The 2025 New York State SkillsUSA Leadership and Skills Championships took place at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse from April 23-25. Monroe 2-Orleans BOCES was represented by more than 80 students as competitors, delegates and event workers. Twenty-one BOCES 2 CTE students earned 11 medals in the championship competitions, and one student was elected as a 2025-26 state officer.
Three students from BOCES 2 placed first in their respective individual competitions: Dental Assisting student Julia Svyrydyuk (Hilton) in Dental Assisting; Culinary Arts student Avery Frisch (Spencerport) in Action Skills Basic; and Baking student Kathryn Tabor (Wheatland-Chili) in Cake Decorating.
On the team side, four construction program students teamed up to win first place in TeamWorks: Carpentry students Daniel Sidore (Brockport) and Henry Wallington (Brockport); HVAC student Evan Prus (Hilton); and Residential and Commercial Electrical student Ethan Race (Holley).
Individual and team second-place finishes were also won by BOCES 2 CTE students. Auto Body and Collision Repair Technology student Racelyn Lippa (Gates Chili) earned second place in Collision Repair Technology, while Dental Assisting student Saniyha Harris (Spencerport) captured silver in Dental Assisting.
Seven Dental Assisting students combined for second place in Opening and Closing Ceremonies:
Grace Berardicurti (Churchville-Chili); Genevieve Contrera (Brockport); Brianna Ferguson (Churchville-Chili); Brianna Gilbert (Greece); Jordyn Henderson (Greece); Emily Killeen (Hilton); and Kya Vargas (Spencerport).
Rounding out the medal count were Computer Technology student Yushua Nieves (Brockport) in Information Technology Services, Carpentry student Adam Frech (Greece) in Carpentry and the Food Services duo of Vincenzo Gagliano (Churchville-Chili) and Connor McGarrity (Hilton) in Community Action Basic.
In addition to the medals, a BOCES 2 CTE student also won a state officer position for next school year. Dental Assisting student Xavier Williams (Gates Chili) was elected as a 2025-26 New York State SkillsUSA Officer. He will be an officer at large until after training at the national conference.
Leadership activities are also a core function of the event and BOCES 2 CTE had two students participating in leadership roles and activities as elected positions. Dental Assisting student Payal Gajmer (Churchville-Chili) and Medical Laboratory Assisting and Phlebotomy student Savannah Wehner (Spencerport) attended the conference as one of the last duties in their state and regional roles, respectively.
Several BOCES 2 CTE students participated as delegates during the event. BOCES 2 CTE was represented by Cosmetology students Ashlee Ahern (Hilton) and Dior Powell (Churchville-Chili); Culinary Arts student Ethan Schwalm (Gates Chili); and Dental Assisting students Ava Farrell (Hilton), Claudette Likasi (Churchville-Chili), Lillian Juzwiak (Spencerport), Daniella Neidert (Hilton), Ilona Svyrydyuk (Brockport) and Joshua Sauers (Brockport).
Additionally, Criminal Justice students Aaron Peters (Gates Chili) and Ariel Travis (Gates Chili) served as part of the Security Corps.
During the awards ceremony, the BOCES 2 CTE SkillsUSA chapter earned recognition as a 2025 Model of Excellence, an honor given annually to the nation’s top 24 SkillsUSA chapters. The Model of Excellence program recognizes a chapter’s application of the SkillsUSA Framework of personal, workplace and technical skills grounded in academics. This is the second time in three years that BOCES 2 CTE has earned this top honor.
Earlier in the conference, BOCES 2 CTE SkillsUSA Lead Advisor and Dental Assisting teacher Jennifer Probst was named New York State SkillsUSA Advisor of the Year for her dedication to the organization and students.
Ten BOCES 2 CTE students are eligible to participate in the national conference in June, along with Probst and additional professional members. Frisch, Hare and Svyrydyuk punched their tickets to Atlanta with their first-place finishes, as did the TeamWorks team. Williams will attend to partake in leadership activities while Berardicurti and Contrera will represent the chapter as it advances in the Model of Excellence competition.