Sophomore takes home the gold in SkillsUSA competition

By Jennifer Kopsch
C & G Staff Writer

ROYAL OAK — Summer got off to a great start for Royal Oak High School sophomore John Litwinowicz.

Just a few weeks after the last school year ended, Litwinowicz, 16, traveled to Kansas City, Mo., to test his skills in the Graphics Communications event at the national SkillsUSA Championships. He faced off against 32 other high school students and came out on top, winning the gold medal. It’s the first time a  Royal Oak High School sophomore has earned the honor. 

“I’m really happy about it,” said Litwinowicz. “This is one of the things I love to do most, and it’s really cool to know that I’m No. 1 in the nation at it.”

Litwinowicz qualified for the event by earning a gold medal in the Michigan SkillsUSA competition in April. The national competition, held on June 27, included  more than 5,000 students from across the country competing in 91 contests that focused on technical, skilled and service occupations.

According to Litwinowicz, the Graphic Communications event was rigorous. Students had to demonstrate their knowledge in seven areas — running a printing press; completing a printing-related estimation problem; mastering a job interview; running a paper folder and automated paper cutter; designing a computer file from scratch using Quark Xpress or InDesign; checking and correcting errors in a previously created file to prepare it for press; and completing a 100-question, general-knowledge test.

“I prepared mostly by running jobs on the press at Royal Oak High School as practice, working in Adobe InDesign CS3 — the software we were tested in — and by doing a lot of study sessions, both after school and at the competition,” said Litwinowicz.

According to SkillsUSA spokesperson Thomas W. Holdworth, all contests were run and judged by industry experts using industry employment standards. In addition, all winners received medallions and scholarships to help further their careers.

As the gold medal winner in his event, Litwinowicz earned a $1,000 scholarship from Heidelberg USA Inc. and another scholarship from Ferris State University.

For more information on SkillsUSA, visit www.skillsusa.org.

You can reach Staff Writer Jennifer Kopsch at jkopsch@candgnews.com or at (586) 498-1052.