Car painting student wins excellence award at WorldSkills

Ben Janke, of Marshall, Wis., a graduate of Madison Area Technical College, took home the Medallion of Excellence Award in the four-day car painting competition in the WorldSkills Competition. Janke competed as a member of the United States WorldTeam at the 40th international event held Sept. 1-7, 2009 in Calgary, Canada.

The Medallion of Excellence is awarded only to those competitors scoring at least 500 out of 600 in their fields of competition. Janke is a member of SkillsUSA, the organization that represents the United States in the WorldSkills Competition. He earned the right to be a member of WorldTeam by winning local, district and national contests in car painting under the SkillsUSA program.

Competitors must be under the age of 23. There are 16 members of WorldTeam. Other occupational areas in which the United States competed include Autobody Repair, Automobile Technology, Cabinetmaking, CNC Milling, CNC Turning, Cooking, Hairdressing, Industrial Electronics, IT/PC Networking, Mechatronics Plumbing, Printing, Refrigeration and Welding.

Every two years, hundreds of young people from 51 member countries compete in the WorldSkills Competition. Considered “the best of the best” these contestants compete for four days in 45 occupational skill areas including manufacturing, information technology, transportation, construction and services. Accompanied by their teachers, trainers and industry technical committee experts, the young people compete before the public in contests that are run and judged by industry using demanding international standards.

More than 1,000 competitors tested their skills this year in Calgary. Five thousand international experts, delegates and judges from around the world and 3,000 volunteers attended and 150,000 student and public spectators attended the competition at Stampede Park. For more information, visit www.worldskills.org.

Organizations supporting U.S. participation in the WorldSkills Competition include Lowe’s Companies Inc., Automotive Service Excellence (ASE), March Taylor Memorial Fund, Kraftsman Auto Body Inc., Snap-on Inc., and the Society of Collision Repair Specialists.

SkillsUSA is a partnership of students, teachers and industry working together to ensure America has a skilled work force. The organization helps students excel by augmenting their technical education with training in leadership, team-working skills and in citizenship and character development.