Washington State Skill Center Association

Over 20 Money & Business students competed in the SkillsUSA Leadership Competition on Saturday, Feb. 7, representing NCTA at the Northwest Regional event. Students showcased their 21st-century skills, creative talents, and a high level of professionalism throughout the competition.

Our students competed in events including Prepared Speech, Chapter Display, Extemporaneous Speaking, Job Skill Demonstration, Promotional Bulletin Board, Job Interview, and Customer Service.

We are proud to share that 15 students qualified for the Washington State Competition on April 16–18, where they will compete for the opportunity to advance to the National SkillsUSA Championships in Atlanta, Georgia this June.

We couldn’t be more proud of the way our Money & Business students represented NCTA—competing with confidence, building their professional networks, and most importantly, enjoying the experience along the way.

Angel Gonzales on the L got 3rd place at Regionals; Katherine Reed received 4th place. Cadie Enghom received 2nd place in Restaurant Service and Irene Bonilla received 3rd place.

NCTA currently serves over 600 students representing 27 high school programs and 16 school districts in Skagit, Whatcom, and Northern Snohomish counties. We have 4 campuses that house 17 CTE programs. Classes meet daily for 2 and a half hours each day. Not only do students earn 3 credits towards high school graduation, we can also earn dual credit at Skagit Valley, Bellingham Tech, and Whatcom Community Colleges.

There's a lot going on! Here is just taste of what our amazing students and instructors are doing!

Student Highlight at the Lincoln Theater

We had a wonderful turnout at the Lincoln Theater on Monday!

Sam from Money & Business has been doing an outstanding job in her internship and helped host an exciting E-Sports–style event. Several other Money & Business students jumped in to support as well — it was great to see such teamwork in action.

A huge shout-out to NCTA Video Game Development Instructor Jason Pasimio and four incredible students who showcased their work, including Ride Through the Tulips — a video game featured at last year’s AMES showcase — along with an immersive virtual reality program.

It was inspiring to see such strong community engagement and to watch NCTA students promote their programs in such a powerful way. Thank you to Assistant Director Jerry Grisham for helping connect Sam with this opportunity, and to Project Manager Greg Sherman for being there in support of our students.

From NCTA Mt Vernon Instructor Elly Pederson: Students continue to develop their firefighter skills participating weekly in training at the Skagit Valley College Fire Training Tower! We jumped into EMT training and are learning about the legal side of EMS and also a large overview of the human body. Students are working on attending a variety of events to promote NCTA and our Fire Science & EMS program! Be sure to stop and say hi if you see them out and about!

Money & Business students celebrated the holiday of love with a brand-new logo drop at our Valentine’s Pop-Up! Congratulations to our a.m. and p.m. student winners who designed the winning logos, helping showcase student creativity while strengthening our connection to the school and our future goals.

AM Winner: Paint Your Path

Graphic Design Artists: Clayton, Frost & Kadence

Money & Business Marketing Team: Alejandro, Megan, & Avery

PM Winner: Kmart

Graphic Design Artists: Kai, Liz & Thalia

Money & Business Marketing Team: Gemma, Leland,

Needless to say, after a strong day of sales and plenty of school spirit, there were no free desserts left by the end of the event!