The city of Corpus Christi recently hosted the SkillsUSA State Championships in which Elizabeth Russell, a sophomore at Robert E. Lee High School was awarded first place in the Esthetics category.
The state championship is the stepping-stone to the national competition, which is held in Louisville, KY in June. Russell received prize money of $500 to put towards the expense for the next competition.
Russell said that she was excited to have won first place in the state championship and will work hard to place first in the national championship or at minimum, place in the higher levels. She feels that the competition has given her a tremendous opportunity to be a future success in her field of cosmetology.
Russell competed in the Esthetics category in which she was given a written exam regarding skin care fundamentals including skin analysis and sanitation. She also performed a skin consultation orally, and performed a facial and makeup application.
The SkillsUSA Championship begins with local level competitions in a variety of technical and career areas, including cosmetology. Competitors are judged on hair styling, haircutting and longhair design, which is performed on mannequins. They are given a photograph of a hairstyle for a man and a woman and must duplicate the style on the mannequin based on the photograph.
Local competition winners then advance to the state level and then on to the national level where they will have the opportunity to compete against the best in the nation. Over 6,000 students from technical and career colleges are expected at the nationals and compete in a variety of fields.
Leigh Ann Crump, a teacher at Tyler ISD said that most winners have been in a cosmetology program for at least one or two years but Russell had just taken the Intro to Cosmetology course. She attributes Russell’s recent win to hard work and staying after class to practice.