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East Georgia Skills Challenge

East Georgia Skills Challenge

  • Thursday, October 30, 2025

  • Schedule

    8:30 am - Registration Opens
    10:00 am to Noon - Competition
    1:30 pm - Award Ceremony

  • Sutherland Arena at the Georgia National Fairgrounds & Agricenter

    401 Larry Walker Parkway
    Perry, GA

Central Georgia Skills Challenge Information

Teacher resources

(to come September 2025)
  • Link to Student Competitor and Student Observer Waiver Form

  • Link to Central Georgia Skills Challenge Registration

  • Link to register student members of SkillsUSA Georgia for opportunity to advance with Skills Challenge participation to SLSC offered each February in Atlanta

  • Thursday, November 19, 2026

  • Schedule

    8:30 am - Registration Opens
    10:00 am to Noon - Competition
    1:30 pm - Award Ceremony

  • Georgia Carolina State Fair

    308 Hale Street
    Augusta, GA

Quick Links

Teacher Resources

  • Link to Student Competitor and Student Observer Waiver Form

Contacts for East Georgia Skills Challenge

  • Ava Hanson

    RW Allen Construction

  • Laura Potts

    AGC Georgia

East Georgia Skills Challenge Information

Please consider sponsoring the 2026 East Georgia Skills Challenge at one of the below levels. The deadline for confirming your support will be detemined in late summer 2026. If you have questions in the interim, please reach out to one of the above regional contacts. 

Title Sponsor

$5,000

Presenting sponsor for a designated competition to include the following benefits: 1) Company logo on competitor t-shirts; 2) Company logo on sponsor banners; 3) Company-provided banner displayed; 4) First choice of exhibitor booth location

Pillar Sponsor

$1,500

1) Company logo on competitor t-shirts; 2) Company logo on sponsor banners; 3) Exhibitor booth at event

Supporter Sponsor

$1,000

1) Company name on competitor t-shirts; 2) Company name on sponsor banners; 3) Exhibitor booth at event

Friend Sponsor

$500

1) Company name printed on sponsor banners; 2) Exhibitor booth at event

2025 Monetary Sponsor Brochure for Information Only
2025 In-kind Sponsor Brochure for Information Only

Attention Teachers
In mid-August 2026, East Georgia Skills Challenge leadership will share deadlines for meeting the following requirements.  More information on registration guidelines is provided below in the “Registration Portals” section below. 

  • Student registration for Skills Challenge competition through the Construction Ready Platform

  • Student registration for SkillsUSA Qualifying Competitions inside the SkillsUSA Georgia Portal

  • Teacher deadline for emailing student completion photos for in-classroom competitions

  • Skills Challenge waiver completion for all students attending the event - competitors and observers

In 2026, competitors have the option to participate in the following categories that will be part of the East Georgia Skills Challenge.

  • Blueprint Reading

  • ** Cabinetmaking - in-classroom project brought to Skills Challenge for judging

  • * Carpentry

  • * Electrical

  • Heavy Equipment Operations

  • * Masonry

  • * Plumbing

  • Sheet Metal

  • ** TeamWorks - a 4-person team completes framing pre-fab work in their classroom and then brings units to contest to build rest of TeamWorks project on day of the Skills Challenge.

  • Welding - Beginner

  • * Welding - Advanced

  • ** Welding Fabrication - a 3-person team performs in-class project that will be brought to Skills Challenge for judging

  • Welding Fabrication - This event offers students who are not seeking the opportunity to advance to SLSC a chance to participate with a hands-on, project to be completed the day-of the competition.

* Students who are associated with a school from within this event’s “home” region AND have confirmed SkillsUSA membership by October 8, 2026 AND place 1st, 2nd or 3rd in the denoted competitions at the East Georgia Skills Challenge will advance to the SkillsUSA Georgia State Leadership and Skills Conference.

** Only “home” region students who are confirmed members of SkillsUSA are invited to participate in Cabinetmaking, TeamWorks and Welding Fabrication contests at the East Georgia Skills Challenge. These competitions are qualifiers for “home” region students seeking to advance to the SkillsUSA Georgia State Leadership and Skills Conference. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd place finishers from “home” region schools in Cabinetmaking advance to the state competition. The first place TeamWorks team and the first place Welding Fabrication team from a “home” region school will advance. 

High school construction programs in the counties listed below are invited to participate in the East Georgia Skills Challenge. Students representing schools outside of the below “home” region are not allowed to participate in the East Georgia Skills Challenge.  View Regional Map

  • Burke

  • Columbia

  • Glascock

  • Greene

  • Jefferson

  • Johnson

  • Laurens

  • Lincoln

  • McDuffie

  • Richmond

  • Taliaferro

  • Warren

  • Washington

  • Wilkes

The following schools had competitors in the 2025 East Georgia Skills Challenge.

  • Burke County High School

  • East Laurens High School

  • Evans High School

  • Grovetown High School

  • Hephzibah High School

  • Lincoln County High School

  • Marion E. Barnes Career Center

  • Thomson High School

  • Washington County High School

  • West Laurens High School

Here is a quick sampling of ways you and your team can get involved in our upcoming Skills Challenge series!
  • Volunteer company representatives to serve as judges for each of the skills competitions

  • Offer hands-on activities for students to participate in to get more familiar with specific trades

  • Host an exhibit table for students to learn more from you and your team and what career paths your firm offers

  • Serve as a sponsor to one or more of the Skills Challenge

Tentative Schedule for 2026 East Georgia Skills Challenge

8:30 - 9:15 am Competitor Check-In
 9:15 am Welcome
 9:30 am Judge Orientation
 10:00 am - noon Skills Challenge - (competing students complete projects for judging)
 noon - 1:00 pm Lunch Served
 noon - 1:00 pm Students return to competition area to clean up
 1:30 - 2:00 pm Presentation of Awards
 2:00 pm Adjourn

Registration Portals

All student competitors, student observers and teachers must register with their unique Construction Ready (CR) Digital Portal login to attend this regional Skills Challenge. Use the below link. NOTE: For new teachers or new employer users who have NEVER accessed the CR Digital Portal, please click here for help.

Regional Registration Opens in August 2026

All student competitors who wish to be eligible for qualifying for the SkillsUSA Georgia SLSC in February 2027 MUST ALSO register for their specific competition in the below link.

SkillsUSA Qualifier Registration Opens August 2026

Info for SkillsUSA Qualifying Events

A bank of sample contest plans for these Core 5 competitions will be available for teachers in mid-August 2026.

  • Carpentry

  • Electrical

  • Masonry

  • Plumbing

  • Welding

Bank of Core 5 Contest Plans to come in August 2026

Students competing in

  • Cabinetmaking

  • TeamWorks

  • Welding Fabrication

must complete in-classroom projects and are eligible for SkillsUSA qualifying. Details will be published in mid-August. 

In-Class Project Details

Info for Local-Only Contests

Contest information for

  • Blueprint Reading

  • Heavy Equipment Operations

  • Sheet Metal

  • Welding - Beginner

  • Welding Fabrication (non-qualifying)

will be shared by East Georgia Skills Challenge leaders through the below link in mid-August 2026.

Local-Only Contests

Congratulations to the 2025 East Georgia Skills Challenge winners!

Construction Cup Winner - West Laurens High School

Welding Cup Winner - Lincoln County High School

Blueprint Reading

1st – Lincoln County High School – Finn McCloud
2nd – Evans High School – PJ Mauga
3rd – Thomson High School – Alexander Thaxton

Cabinetmaking

* 1st – West Laurens High School – Rugar Gay
* 2nd – Thomson High School – Wyatt Faglier

Carpentry

* 1st – Thomson High School – Spencer Butler
* 2nd – East Laurens High School – Mikhail Nowinsky
* 3rd – West Laurens High School – Triston Howard

Electrical

* 1st – East Laurens High School -Billy Newsome 
* 2nd – Thomson High School –  Lucas Johnson
* 3rd – West Laurens High School – Jacob Fordham

Heavy Equipment Operations

1st – Washington County High School – Wyatt Baucom
2nd – Evans High School – Michael Hutchinson
3rd – Washington County High School – Zaden Reese

Masonry

* 1st – West Laurens High School – Grant Anderson
* 2nd – Washington County High School – Alia Jones
3rd – Lincoln County High School – Zach Grabb
* East Laurens High School – Malachi Loyd

Plumbing

* 1st – West Laurens High School -Chandler Gay
* 2nd – West Laurens High School – Noah Stevens
* 3rd – Thomson High School – Bryar Holbrook 

Sheet Metal

1st – Lincoln County High School – Grace Qualls
2nd – Lincoln County High School – James Rowland
3rd – Marion E. Barnes Career Center – Edison Umana

TeamWorks

* 1st – West Laurens High School: Walker Spivey, Elija Pullins, Bradley Sellars, Gavin Martin
2nd – Thomson High School: Maddox Blye, Tay Cunningham, Jaydin Medina, Jason Hills
3rd – Marion E. Barnes Career Center: Kenneth Gill, Chastity Baez, Connor Mims, Jessie Lipinski

Welding - Beginner

1st – Evans High School – Adriana Hong
2nd – Lincoln County High School – Elijah Zimmerman 
3rd – Thomson High School – Landen Beasley

Welding - Advanced

* 1st – Thomson High School – Carson Treadwell 
* 2nd – Thomson High School – Nathan Henderson
* 3rd – Lincoln County High School – Skylar Cardenaz

Welding Fabrication for SkillsUSA advancement

* 1st – Thomson High School: Chris Lazenby, Nic Bailey, Josue Garcia-Aguilar
2nd – Marion E. Barnes Career Center: Cael Rose, Walter Ferguson, Stanly Umana

Welding Fabrication - local-only competition

1st – Lincoln County High School: Brooklyn Seagraves, Tripp Parks, Will Price
2nd – Evans High School: RJ Morgan, Davis Grant, Landon Brentnell
3rd – Grovetown High School: Carson Mejias, Hayden Evans, Michal Gordon

*indicates a student qualifying to advance to the SkillsUSA Georgia State Leadership and Skills Conference (SLSC) at the Georgia World Congress Center that was held in  February 2026. Only students who are within this event’s region are allowed to qualify for state. In some instances, students from schools outside of this region’s “home” schools won top honors at this event, thus students placing lower than 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place who represented “home” schools at this day’s event were eligible to earn one of three SkillsUSA qualifying positions.