April 23, 2025. 1:27 p.m. Seventh period.
Architecture and pre-engineering students assist CTE teacher Mark Molinari in packing up his classroom in preparation for the STEM event of the school year-the SkillsUSA state championship.
SkillsUSA was founded in 1965 as the Vocational Industrial Clubs of America (VICA), shifting their moniker in 2004. Competing and placing since the 1970s, SkillsUSA is nothing short of a winning tradition for DGS. Molinari spoke on this storied history.
“SkillsUSA has been around since the 60s and was designed for students that were technically skilled people, more blue collar jobs. It has evolved over the years and now is a contest that involves engineering [and] architecture. We’ve been participating as a school since the 70s and this year we’ll be taking about 50 students down to Peoria, Illinois,” Molinari said.
Students are currently in the process of making sure they have all of the necessary materials needed to compete this weekend.
“One of the challenges we have is we have to pack up our whole room and then bring our computers down there, and then unpack the whole room, C165, to get our students prepared,” Molinari said.
While physical setup for this event only began yesterday, students have been preparing themselves to compete for months.
This year’s journey began back in March when students across the state took a 50-question placement test deciding whether or not they would get the opportunity to showcase their skills at this weekend’s championship. After tournament administration compared scores, DGS secured over 50 entries across architecture, engineering and 3D design.
Students then began weeks of in and out-of-class practices with the help of Molinari and study materials created and provided by class of 2024 senior Alexander Burek.
“[The competition] involves a job interview, hand sketch, recreating or designing a modification of a floor plan, an elevation plan, sometimes a foundation plan and anything else that the judges are asking to see them skilled. The students will draw the whole house, including the roof, give a representation of a three day model. And at the very end, they’ll take a test on their knowledge of architecture and construction,” Molinari said.
Sophomore Aidan Vano was drawn to this competition his freshman year, seeking to hone his skills in a competitive and fun environment.
“I love math and I love drawing. So I put those two skills together and I kind of got architecture. Ever since I was a kid I’ve loved engineering. It was an amazing event last year; I got to meet a lot of new people and made a lot of new friends in the architecture realm,” Vano said.
Vano will be one of 50 plus studnets on the bus heading down to Peoria for competition after fourth period. He’s nervous but still excited for the opportunity to do what he loves and interact with other like-minded students.
“I’m excited to meet more and more people. I’ll be rooming with some of my friends, so I’m just gonna have a blast you know… doing the thing I love. I am very nervous. I have a very high standard that I set for myself ever since last year [when] I did better than I thought,” Vano said.
While drawing and math are integral to students’ success over the course of the next three days, students and advisors will inevitably have time to kill. In fact, one of the highlights for many seems to be all-you-can-eat pizza. Molinari spoke on the unique team building opportunity provided by this competition.
“We’ll go down there and we’ll grab some lunch while we’re waiting to get checked into our hotel. [Then] we’re going to go to a long meeting, and we’ll go to all you can eat pizza, which is very important, and then really try to get a good night’s sleep, because we start bright and early in the morning,” Molinari said.
“On Friday night, we’ll go bowling, go-karting, go out to dinner and celebrate. Saturday morning, our seniors will go home and get ready for prom. The rest of us will stay there and hopefully collect some medals and some hardware for all the hard work that we’ve been putting in over the year,” Molinari said.
All-in-all, students and staff are appreciative of the opportunity to showcase their affinity for civic creativity in a competitive environment.
“I think our school has been very supportive of everybody that goes to state. We’re not an athletic team, but we get treated just like everybody else and so we appreciate the support from District 99 and our administrators and we look forward to representing Downers Grove South the best that we can when we get down there,” Molinari said.
Live streams of both the 2025 opening ceremonies and awards presentation can be found on the “skillsusail” YouTube channel here.
