MOULTRIE- Students across the region traded one day in school for a hard hat and a bag of tools as they competed in this year’s South–Southwest Georgia Skills Challenge Tuesday morning.

The purpose of the Skills Challenge is to increase students’ interest in the construction industry and help them gain exposure to some of the industry exhibitors. The event was held at Spence Field and was one out of seven competitions hosted by the Associated General Contractors of Georgia in partnership with JCI Contractors this year.

The Moultrie program was the largest event so far in the regional competitions with approximately 21 participating high schools and over 100 program observers, according to AGC Chief Executive Officer Michael Dunham.

This is the fifth South–Southwest Georgia Skills Challenge that’s been hosted in Moultrie.

“Workforce for us [is our number one] job because we have four people leaving our industry for every one [person] that we’re putting in,” Dunham told attendees during the opening ceremony. “That’s the challenge we have. We’ve got to introduce the construction industry to more young men and women to [help them] see it as a career path, and… it’s a really great career because it [has] high-paying, high-demand jobs.”

Lyndy Jones, the founder and president of JCI Contractors of Moultrie and current president of AGC Georgia, agreed saying it’s important to get students exposed to the field early on in their high school career.

“As the host contractor, our team understands the importance of the AGC Georgia Skills Challenge series to our construction industry,” Jones said in a press release before the event. “This is a great way for our company to help young people learn more about the numerous career paths within the construction industry while we also educate teachers, parents, school administrators, government officials and more at this incredible event.”

Southern Regional Technical College has been a recurring exhibitor since 2017. Students were able to test their welding skills at the SRTC booth with Brad Simmons, the Tifton welding instructor, using Lincoln Electric’s VRTEX 360 virtual reality welding training simulator.

Doug Elridge with Lasseter Tractor Company said they continuously pursue high school students to help them set career paths.

Students had two hours to complete their challenges in seven construction categories including carpentry, welding, plumbing, electric, blueprint reading, masonry and team building.

This year marks Calvin Pratt and Hayden Craft’s, students from Early County High School, second year attending the welding competition in the Skills Challenge.

“Each year the challenges change, it keeps me interested in them,” Pratt and Craft told The Observer.

Evalynn Sanford, a senior from Camden County High School, said competitions like the Skills Challenge and SkillsUSA have furthered her growth in the construction industry. Thanks to her experiences, she currently works with an architecture firm and plans to pursue an architectural engineering degree after graduation.

Dunham announced each challenge’s top three finalists and overall category Champions in the closing ceremony.

The overall category champions were: Ryan Colter, in carpentry from Wheeler County High School; Roydarius Hobbs, in masonry from Thomson High School; Molly Bridges, in plumbing from Wheeler County High School; Amari Roster, in electrical from Commodore Conyers College and Career Academy; Abigail Donaldson, in blueprint reading from Lee County High School; Hamp Williams, Gaven Moten, Chase Peagler, from Clinch County High School in team building; and Carson Ansley, in welding from Thomson High School.

Wheeler County High School took home the Overall Construction Cup for the entire Skills Challenge.

Other finalists in the competitions were:

In carpentry, Jeb Logue, from Bainbridge High School, placed second and Christoball Martinez, from Statesboro High School, placed third.

In masonry, Aurturo Gonzales, from Wheeler County High School, placed second and Mason Newell, from Lee County High School, placed third.

In plumbing, Joey Gibbs, from Harris County High School, placed second and Mason Johnson, from Lee County High School, placed third.

In electrical, William Holiday, from Crisp County High School, placed second and Joshua Martin, from Colquitt Christian Academy, placed third.

In blueprint reading, Georgia Flowers, from Lee County High School, placed second and Chase Marr, from Camden County High School, placed third.

In team build, the Statesboro High School team including Patrick Mock, Evan Smith and Nathan Wallace, placed second and the Lee County High School team including Ethan Bullington, Quitin Roudolf, and Cole Frisbee, placed third.

Students who placed second to tenth place in welding, were Hunter Rhoden from Camden County High School, Gabe Williams from Camden County High School, Trey Paris from Camden County High School, Hunter Brogren from Thomas County Central High School, Conner Mullin from Worth County High School, Hunter Wilkes from Lee County High School, Austin Connell from Worth County High School; Troy Williams from Lee County High School and Nacho Guzman, from Colquitt County High School.