Advertising Design student selected to be SkillsUSA conference officer

We are proud to announce that senior Seth Ryder, from North Allegheny School District, was selected from a pool of candidates to represent A.W. Beattie Career Center at the 2019 SkillsUSA Pennsylvania Western Region Conference, which will be held Nov. 6 through Nov. 8 at Seven Springs Mountain Resort.

SkillsUSA is a national student leadership organization for students in career and technical education programs. The organization focuses on career-readiness, skill-based training, competitions and developing expertise for job interviews, public speaking, problem solving and more.

Seth will be one of 10 conference officers who will be in charge of organizing the conference, which will have about 400 students from western Pennsylvania in attendance. He attended the conference last year to participate in workshops and wants to give other students the chances he had, “because it’s a great opportunity.”

Seth will also help set-up the conference and will be an opening and closing speaker at the conference.

Mrs. Heather Brown, his instructor and a SkillsUSA advisor, said Seth goes above and beyond in the Advertising Design program and in SkillsUSA.

“Seth has consistently shown dedication for both this class and this field since his first year.” Mrs. Brown said. “When asked if he would like to try out for a conference office position, he was thrilled with the opportunity.”

Seth placed first at the career center in advertising design last year and third at districts. He will be on the A.W. Beattie Chapter Display team with HVAC senior Jeff Swanson and CBC senior Tyler Puskar. They will compete in April at states.

Last year’s Chapter Display won the Pennsylvania competition and placed third at nationals.

“We just met today and went over thumbnails and blocked out some of the designs we’re thinking of doing,” Seth said. “Obviously, we want to do well, place first and go to nationals. We just have to work together, and I have faith in everyone that we can do it again.”

Seth always had an interest in drawing and graphics, so he was attracted to the career center’s Advertising Design program. He plans to attend the California University of Pennsylvania for graphic design.

“Mr. Dumbeck and Mrs. Brown are two great instructors and both are very nice people,” Seth said. “They get you prepared with everything you’ll need to know for this type of career.”