Two Southern Westchester BOCES teams earn gold at SkillsUSA New York
Principal Jaclyn De Lao was recognized as the winner of the Cornerstone Award
For the first time ever, Southern Westchester BOCES students earned gold medals in the Digital Cinema Production and Emergency Medical Technician competitions at the New York State SkillsUSA Leadership Conference and Skills Championships.
The event was held at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse from April 23-25, 2025. Students from across the state participated in a number of competitions. Some of them included Southern Westchester BOCES students who had qualified after medaling at the regional competition held at the Center for Career Services in Valhalla.
The team of Shane Gordon (Byram Hills) and Logan Pierre (New Rochelle) earned gold in Digital Cinema Production for their short film, “Boxed In,” and will next complete at SkillsUSA Nationals from June 23-27 in Atlanta.
“It’s so cool that we will have one other opportunity to compete and try and win nationals,” said Pierre, a member of the TV/Video Production program at the Center for Career Services who is also a senior at New Rochelle High School. “For us to win the gold medal at states, it was definitely a testament to all of the hard work we put into the project.”
The students in the competition were given a prompt, which required them to produce a film that was a dark comedy and followed the guidelines of a PG-rated film. Gordon and Pierre’s creation centered around a serial killer who committed his crimes using actual cereal.
While other films produced by their competition also told coherent, vivid stories, Gordon thought their film’s production value helped set it apart.
TV/Video Production instructor Michael May said Gordon and Pierre established a new standard for his students.
“I’m extremely proud of them for their hard work and their effort to be the best,” May said. “These guys set the standard. They will inspire future students to meet that standard.”
Seniors Jahani Valverde and JJ Hetzer, who are both enrolled in the Emergency Medical Services program, established a similarly high bar. They not only won the first gold in the EMT competition for Center for Career Services students, it was the first competition of its kind at New York’s SkillsUSA Conference.
The two students, who both attend Pelham Memorial High School, spent the night prior to their competition studying their skills in their hotel room. They were uncertain of what they’d be tested on.
“We won silver in HOSA,” said Valverde of the separate competition, which occurred earlier this spring. “We really wanted to win gold and go to Atlanta.”
The team’s success made both students feel confident for their upcoming EMT certification exam. They also said the competition required them to perform for judges who are professional EMTs and were valuable sounding boards.
“This is a field that both of us want to go into,” Hetzer said. “It meant a lot to us that they valued what we can do. We also had a chance to ask them questions about their careers.”
The two gold-medal winning teams weren’t the only Southern Westchester BOCES representatives to shine at SkillsUSA New York. Center for Career Services’ first-year Principal Jaclyn De Lao, who is a statewide SkillsUSA board member, was recognized as the winner of the Cornerstone Award. The honor is given to a school administrator or board member who has provided support for SkillsUSA in New York State.
Additionally, the Cosmetology Quiz Bowl team earned silver. The team consisted of captain Belinda Ceja (New Rochelle), Lilyanna Young (Hastings), Alexandra Maresca (Mamaroneck), Juliet Cosgrove (Eastchester) and Jessica Vetere (Mamaroneck). Nahdi Naheem of New Rochelle also earned bronze in the Automotive Services Technology competition.
