When it comes to competition, the Hampton Bulldogs are just as fierce in the classroom as they are in athletics.
This month, students from Hampton competed in three different state championships across a variety of academic disciplines and brought home first place honors in all three.
The competitions started on April 6 through April 9 when students took part in the Technology Student Association’s state competition. At that event, the school brought home two first place awards and three second place awards.
Allison Arrington captured 1st place Technical Sketching and Application.
Ian Kelly won 1st place in 2D Architectural design while his classmate John Cole took 2nd place. The gap that separated the two Bulldogs’ scores was a mere single point.
Alex Marlow brought home 2nd place honors in CAD (Computer Aided Design) 3D Engineering.
The team of Arrington, Dakota Pierce and Darryl Hitechew placed 2nd out of 15 teams for the TSA Technical Bowl, which is a general trivia quiz game where students have their knowledge of the technical disciplines tested and must buzz in and answer correctly to earn points.
Daniel Arnett, who teaches the CAD and architectural program at Hampton, said all of the students placing first and second at the TSA state contest will be going to the TSA national contest later this year.
The following week, another group of students headed to competition, but this time it was the Future Business Leaders of America aiming to capture state honors.
FBLA students Jake Lyons, Coby Jones and Jared Wiltshire captured 1st place honors in the state for the Entrepreneurship contest while their schoolmates Chris Timmons and Hanah Brumitt garnered 3rd place in the Sports/Entertainment Management contest.
For the FBLA contests, which can cover a wide range of topics, the students are given a scenario and then have 20 minutes to come up with a solution. The students then must give a seven minute presentation to the judges explaining their scenario and proposal.
The FBLA student winners are now eligible to compete at the FBLA National Conference later this year, said Hampton FBLA Chapter sponsor Lisa Jenkins, who also teaches the CTE Business Management class at the school.
This past week, students from a variety of the Career Technical Education (CTE) programs travelled to the SkillsUSA state tournament where they brought home a total of six 1st place honors along with an award for having the best team in their division.
Brooklynn Ashley won top honors in Dental Assisting, Ian Kelly brought home 1st place for Job Skill Demonstration, Phillip Arrington and Alex Marlow as a team captured 1st place in Additive Manufacturing, Ryan Kelly won 1st place in Technical Drafting, John Cole brought home top honors in Architectural Drafting and Ellie Campbell garnered the top spot for First Aid/CPR.
In addition to the 1st place wins for Hampton, Kane Phillips, who is a CTE transport student from Happy Valley, captured 2nd place for Job Interview and Austin Boling brought home 3rd place for Medical Terminology.
Arnett said all of the 1st place winners at the state SkillsUSA competition will be eligible to compete in the national SkillsUSA competition later this year.
The team that competed at SkillsUSA also brought home a very special honor to the school when they captured the Dr. Gerald LaBorde Award.
“It’s an annual trophy that is presented to the high schools that have the most winners in their division,” Arnett said. “In our division we had the most placements and we are considered the most outstanding chapter in our division.”
For the students, getting the chance to compete and show off their skills was an exciting experience.
“Being able to compete against the best in the state and then succeed was pretty rewarding,” said John Cole. “Showing that a little school in Hampton, Tenn., can go down there and not only compete but win is pretty awesome.”
Coby Jones echoed the sentiment by Cole.
While the students take pride in their accomplishments, they are also quick to give credit to their teachers for their successes.
“It’s really a testament to our administration and our teachers here in the CTE that we are able to compete at these events and be successful,” Jake Lyons said.