Clarke Central High School junior Isaac Bergman, senior Grayson Krause and sophomore Dan Bray (from left to right) pose with their awards from the SkillsUSA State Leadership Skills Conference in the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta on Feb. 22. Bergman and Krause both advanced to the National State Leadership Skills Conference, which will be held in Atlanta from June 23 to 27. “At a minimum, (SLSC is) a great experience. It helps you develop a lot of practical knowledge,” Krause said. “You get to know a lot of people, and get to (make) a lot of connections. It’s really important (and) fun being there.” Photo courtesy of Nestor Domingo
CCHS senior Grayson Krause and CCHS junior Isaac Bergman advanced to the SkillsUSA National Leadership Skills Conference in Atlanta this summer.
For the second year in a row, Clarke Central High School senior Grayson Krause advanced to the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference, which will take place in Atlanta from June 23 to 27.
Krause participated in two events, Math Applications and Computer Programming, at the State Leadership and Skills Conference in the Georgia World Congress Center from Feb. 20-22. He won gold in Computer Programming and will advance to NLSC for that event. CCHS junior Isaac Bergman also placed in gold and advanced in Technical Computer Applications, though he will not be attending NLSC for personal reasons.
“I’m going to practice a lot of coding (to prepare for NLSC). At Nationals, (the judges) tell you exactly which points you miss. Last year, I got 828 out of 1000 possible points. The categories I was missing were documentation and validation of input, which just (means) I wasn’t being very thorough,” Krause said. “I’ve been trying to practice over the past year, making sure I can feel more comfortable and be able to complete the challenge with more time (leftover).”
“The idea that if I do really well, (I’ll) walk away with a medal and possibly an internship or more connections is definitely enticing.”
— Grayson Krause,
CCHS senior and SkillsUSA member
Many competitors, including Krause, look out for numerous companies present during the week-long NLSC, which scout students for internships.
“At this point, I’m just doing (SkillsUSA competitions) for the fun of it and the experience because I just enjoy programming. But the idea that if I do really well, (I’ll) walk away with a medal and possibly an internship or more connections is definitely enticing,” Krause said.
With the 2024-25 school year being Krause’s last year at CCHS and in SkillsUSA, Career Technical and Agricultural Education department teacher Nestor Domingo, the SkillsUSA sponsor, is optimistic about Grayson’s final competition.
“Nationals is important because it shows how deserving our students are to be able to compete on (a) national stage. It’s a testament to who our students are,” Domingo said. “I would love for (Krause) to cap his senior year with a national championship.”
