A team from Erie County Technical School (ECTS) made history last month, capturing 3rd place in the nation at the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference in Atlanta. It’s the highest finish ever for the Erie-based technical school at this prestigious national event.

The team, consisting of Kendra Ramey (McDowell, Class of 2025), Will Bundy (McDowell, Class of 2026), and Aveta Pushchak (Seneca, Class of 2027), claimed Bronze in the Career Pathways Showcase for Human Services, beating out competitors from across the country. The trio had already earned the Western Regional and Pennsylvania State Champion titles earlier this year.

Their award-winning project, “Little Learning Adventures,” is a student-owned company that creates educational workbooks designed to better prepare preschoolers for kindergarten. Developed through ECTS’s Early Childhood Education Program, the materials were piloted with local students, earning praise from teachers and therapists alike. The workbooks and full project details can be viewed at www.little-learning-adventures.com.

Kendra Ramey, chapter president, played a key role in expanding ECTS’s SkillsUSA program from 40 students to over 120 in just a few years. The school also earned a “Quality Chapter” distinction at the state level for the first time. Faculty advisors Hanni Nazario and Michael Miller credited the success to school-wide collaboration and the students’ drive for excellence.

“This is an incredible accomplishment by Kendra, Will, and Aveta,” said ECTS Executive Director Matt LaVerde. “They didn’t just place nationally; they developed a product that’s actively improving early education in our region.”

SkillsUSA serves over 380,000 students and educators annually, and its national event is the largest career and technical education showcase in the country. The ECTS team competed in a Shark Tank-style pitch and presented to thousands at the TechSPO exhibit hall, a major platform for real-world experience in entrepreneurship and public speaking.

For more on SkillsUSA Nationals, visit www.nlsc.skillsusa.org.