Contributed SELECTED — Jefferson County Joint Vocational School students Chloee McCartney and Trenton Hess were elected as southeast regional officers for Ohio SkillsUSA and will complete leadership training in Mount Sterling Monday through Thursday.

BLOOMINGDALE — Two Jefferson County Joint Vocational School students have been named regional officers for Ohio SkillsUSA and will now complete leadership training to prepare for their new roles.

Juniors Chloee McCartney and Trenton Hess were elected to represent the southeast region during the SkillsUSA state leadership conference in November and will travel to Deer Creek Lodge in Mount Sterling Monday through Thursday for the Regional Officer Training Institute with officers from all five regions.

Ron Reasoner, a JVS instructor and one of the SkillsUSA advisers, said the sessions will include leadership-building activities, a visit to the Statehouse in Columbus to meet legislators, and determining roles such as president and vice president to historian.

“The last time we had JVS students as regional officers was pre-COVID in 2019,” Reasoner added. “We had Trenton and Chloee run and both were elected. We also brought voting delegates from the school to promote the candidates and they talked to students from the other schools. Trenton and Chloee also had to develop speeches go give before the delegates and other candidates and answer some impromptu questions.”

About two-dozen students ran for the southeast post with nine moving on as regional officers. In that capacity, the representatives will preside over SkillsUSA meetings and act as a link between the SkillsUSA organization and school for the one-year term. By attending ROTI, officers learn to work together as a team, advocate to legislators about SkillsUSA and career and technical education, and bring their knowledge back to their respective schools to serve as ambassadors to promote SkillsUSA to school and community leaders.

McCartney and Hess were excited and eager to begin their posts.

“I wanted to see what I could learn from it,” said McCartney, a junior criminal justice student who attends Steubenville High School. “Our purpose is to prepare younger people for success.”

“I wanted to challenge myself and see if I could win,” said Hess, a junior electrical trades student who also attends Toronto High School. “(People) can be an upstanding role model.”

They said the training session will give them the tools they need to conduct their roles over the next year.

“It feels good (to be elected),” McCartney commented.

“I think it’s a great opportunity,” Hess added. “We get to speak to members of the legislature and also learn about SkillsUSA and what our purpose is.”

As for their future paths, McCartney is eyeing a career as a state trooper while Hess plans to become a lineman.