Southwestern Illinois College students earned bronze medals at the 2021 National SkillsUSA competition held in July. SWIC students, from left to right, include Bryce Griggs of Granite City, Alex MidKiff of Belleville, Billy Laycock of Marine, Philip Culiberk of Maryville, Steven Boss of O’Fallon and Will Andersen of St. Louis.  Laycock, MidKiff and Andersen won as a team in Automated Manufacturing Technology; Boss earned a medal for CNC Milling; and Culiberk took his prize in the CNC Technician category. Griggs competed at the state level but was unavailable to compete at the national level. Andersen said the most challenging part about the competition was coordinating all of their efforts so they worked together smoothly as a team. SkillsUSA is a national technical education organization that partners educators, employers and students to teach greater skills to Americans. The SkillsUSA Championships are competitive events showcasing the best career and technical education students in the nation. Due to COVID restrictions, competitors completed their projects at their respective colleges. SWIC Precision Machining students have won 13 national machining medals in the last 10 years, the most by any college in the country.