News

South Adams Machine Trades students participated in the Indiana SkillsUSA State Leadership and Skills Conference on April 21-22 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. Students were tested on Friday for their Metrology (Measurement) Skills and given a written test about CNC Programming, G&M Code, Trigonometry, Geometry, and General Machine shop knowledge. On Saturday, Contestants were then challenged with the task of programming a machined part that would successfully run on a HAAS CNC Simulator.

South Adams Machine Trades students participated in all three CNC Programming contests: CNC Turning Specialist programs for 2- axis HAAS Lathes, CNC Milling Specialist program for 3 axis HAAS mills, while the CNC Technician programs for both the HAAS Mill AND Lathe during the competition.

Seven students from Norwell High School, Jay County High School (JCHS), Bellmont High School, and South Adams earned over $46,000 in scholarships to Lincoln Technical college, Ivy Tech, Vincennes University, and Universal Technical Institute. Students from the Huntington North High School Machine Trades also participated in the State contest and placed First in the CNC Turning Specialist contest.  The top 3 finishers recognized from the South Adams Machine Trades were announced at the awards ceremony. Those students were:

CNC Technician
1st place - Luke Knapke (Senior – JCHS)  National Qualifier
2nd place - Brennan Reinhart (Senior - JCHS)
3rd place - Michael McKinley (Senior - JCHS)

CNC Milling Specialist
1st place - Kyle Rittmeyer (Senior - Norwell) National Qualifier
3rd place - Antonio Ybarra (Junior - Norwell)

CNC Turning Specialist
2nd place - Bailey Petersen (Junior - Bellmont)
3rd place - Jordan Heckler (Senior - South Adams)

Two students from the South Adams Machine Trades class also qualified for the national competition to be held June 19-23, 2017 at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky. Qualifying were:
Luke Knapke, a senior at Jay County High School, is currently employed at Fullenkamp Machine in Portland, Indiana. Luke will be representing the State of Indiana in the CNC Technician contest.
Kyle Rittmeyer, a Senior at Norwell High School, is currently employed at Hoosier Pattern, Inc. in Decatur, Indiana. Kyle will be representing the State of Indiana in the CNC Milling Specialist contest.

Area 18 is a consortium of schools in Adams, Wells, Jay, Blackford and Huntington counties.