The National SkillsUSA Leadership and Skills conference in Louisville, Kentucky, aims to attract secondary and post-secondary students who are at the top of their field. This year, two of Limestone County’s own competed and won silver at the June 25–29 conference.

Recent East Limestone graduate Hunter Newby, who will attend the Alabama Fire College in Birmingham on a full scholarship this fall, beat out 25 others to take second place in the Health Occupations Professional Portfolio category.

Newby completed the emergency medical technician program at the Limestone Career Technical Center while still in high school in preparation for a career as a firefighter. During the competition, in which he was required to give a PowerPoint presentation highlighting his career objectives and personal portfolio, Newby said he relied heavily on his EMT classes and experience as a volunteer firefighter for East Limestone Volunteer Fire Department.

“The goal was for me to show what I have accomplished and where I plan on taking my certifications in the years to come,” Newby, who also owns Green Man Lawn and Irrigation, said.

Newby believes completing training at the Fire College, medaling at the national competition and being an EMT will give him the edge he needs to become a full-time Athens firefighter.

Clinton Buskirk, who graduated from Calhoun Community College in 2017 with associate degrees in applied science in electric technology and industrial maintenance, secured a second-place spot in the Electrical Construction Wiring category at the conference.

This is the second year he’s competed at nationals, having come in fifth place last year. This time around, he was ready for the timed written test on electric code and for the hands-on portion in which he demonstrated his skills in installing electrical services, box placements, conduit vending and new circuits.

Buskirk relied on his experience as an electrician for North Alabama Electric and the multiple degrees and certificates he’s received from Calhoun to wow the judges.

He said the national competition is a way to “check your knowledge” and “compete against others to see where you are in your education.”

“Calhoun is very hands-on in everything,” he said. “I feel pretty strongly were are getting what we need out of the school and it shows in the fact that Calhoun took first-, second- and third-place at the competition.”

“You can’t put a price tag on the national competition. It’s invaluable,” he added. “It gives you an edge among your peers and makes you stand out in the crowd.”

Buskirk was inspired to become an electrician after incorrectly installing a dishwasher.

“It aggravated me, but at the same time, I found it very interesting,” Buskirk said. “So I decided to enroll at Calhoun in their electrician program.”

“You get to a certain age where you have to figure out what you are going to do with your life,” he said.

Buskirk one day hopes to open his own business in Athens but is satisfied, for now, to soak up everything he can about electrical technology at his current job.