Cisco Networking Academy Applauds Achievements of SkillsUSA Competition Winners

SAN JOSE, Calif., - July 15, 2009 - Cisco, a major supporter of SkillsUSA, is pleased to congratulate the winners of the annual SkillsUSA Championships. The six medalists in this year's Internetworking contest were all Cisco® Networking Academy® students from across the United States.

Cisco Networking Academy

The Cisco Networking Academy is a technology education program that provides students in 165 countries with networking and technical skills to prepare them for careers in the 21st century.
Committed to delivering the highest standard of information technology education to students of all nationalities, genders and economic brackets, the Networking Academy is designed to offer students real-world skills that will position them for employment and career growth.
There are more than 2,200 academies across the United States, with nearly 550,000 students having completed coursework preparing them for careers in information technology.

SkillsUSA

SkillsUSA is the national organization for students in trade, industrial, technical and health occupations.
The organization is the primary sponsor of the SkillsUSA Championships, held annually to recognize the achievements of career and technical education students and to encourage them to strive for excellence and pride in their chosen occupations.
More than 5,000 exceptional career and technical education students joined in the excitement of hands-on competition in 91 trade, technical and leadership fields.

Internetworking Contest

The Internetworking contest consists of three main parts: networking design, general networking knowledge and hands-on evaluations.
The national contest is based on the most current Cisco CCNA® certification content.
The networking design portion of the contest tests a contestant's ability to design a functional, scalable, adaptable and easily managed Internetworking system. The online written portion tests the student's complete knowledge of Internetworking concepts.
The hands-on component demonstrates the ability of the contestant to make cables, troubleshoot network systems, configure routers and switches, and deliver customer service in a technical assistant center environment. The contestants find errors in WAN and LAN networks; do an ISP configuration using routers and switches; talk a technician through an error they are having on their networks; and take an online certification-type test.
The winners were recognized June 26 at the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference. The conference was held June 22-26 at the Municipal Auditorium, the Kemper Arena, H. Roe Bartle Hall, the American Royal and in five facilities surrounding Barney Allis Plaza in Kansas City, Mo.

Winners

High School

Gold: Matthew Vicari, South Tech Ed Center, Boynton Beach, Fla.
Silver: Douglas Ickes, Admiral Peary Vo-Tech, Ashville, Pa.
Bronze: Marcus Cain, Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Career Center, Winston-Salem, N.C.

Collegiate/ Postsecondary

Gold: Vernon R. Depee, North Carolina State University, Morrisville, N.C.
Silver: Samuel Greene, Community College of Rhode Island, East Greenwich, R.I.
Bronze: Jessica B. Philips, Blue Ridge Community and Tech College, Hagerstown, W.Va.

Supporting Quotes:

Rosanna Bisges, senior manager of the Cisco Networking Academy, U.S. and Canada said:

"The SkillsUSA competitions provide an ideal opportunity for students to demonstrate their skills and work with their peers in a challenging and competitive environment. Cisco's ongoing work with SkillsUSA is evidence of its commitment to actively contribute to the mission of raising the visibility of IT training and skills worldwide in a dynamic and innovative way."

Clydene Stangvik, area manager, Cisco Networking Academy, said:

"We are very pleased to announce the winners of the SkillsUSA competition and offer our most sincere congratulations to all of the participants who did so well in this year's event. This type of competition provides an arena for the best and brightest students to showcase their technology skills in a hands-on, career-oriented setting. We are particularly proud that all six medalists in the competition are Cisco Networking Academy students."

Educational Support

The national technical committee for Internetworking includes Chair Bob Schoenherr, Cisco (Calif.); Matt Humphries, Fluke Networks (Wash.); Mike Gleason, Panduit Corp. (Ill.); Brent Knox, SIGMAnet Inc. (Calif.); C1ydene Stangvik, Cisco (Minn.); and Kaan Uzun, NDG, (N.C.).
The national education team assists the national technical committee. Members include Chair Barry Williams, Round Valley High School (Ariz.); Wesley Koga, Wheeler Middle School (Hawaii); and, John Nelson, Advance Technology Center (Va.). Help also came from Kevin Gibson, Cisco (Mich.), Olivia Lu, Cisco Canada, and two premier Cisco Networking Academy sites: Head Judge Kelly Caudle and Trent Helms, Stanly Community College (N.C.), and Ed McCarty (Mo.), local contest lead, Metropolitan Community College (Mo.).
Other supporting organizations include AT&T; CWA Union; DeVry University; Electronic Supply, Kansas City; Cisco; Cisco Learning Institute; Cisco Press; Fluke Networks; Linksys; and SIGMAnet/NDG.