South Texas high school students showcased abilities during SkillsUSA Texas District 12 Leadership & Skills Conference at Del Mar College Feb. 5-7
Article by: Richard Guerrero, Jr. It’s that time of year when high school students converge in Corpus Christi to compete in the Skills USA Texas District 12 Leadership and Skills Conference. This year, Del Mar College (DMC) hosted hundreds of competitors Feb. 5-7, as they competed for top spots for statewide competition later this spring. Organizers anticipated over 500 students competing at the district level, demonstrating their skills not only at DMC facilities at the Windward and Oso Creek campuses and Center for Economic Development but also other locations around the city. High school students from grades 9-12 representing 15 counties across South Texas––even as far away as Laredo and Crystal City––demonstrated their skills during a variety of contests ranging from architectural drafting to cabinet making to firefighting to robotics to video news production. Area competitors represented high schools with the Corpus Christi Independent School District––including Carroll, Miller and Ray high schools and the Harold T. Branch Academy––along with students from Alice, Beeville, Bishop, London, Robstown, Rockport and Tuloso-Midway ISDs. Among this year’s competitions were two themed contests. The Commercial Baking Job Exhibit Competition and the Nail Art Competition featured a thematic focus on “Cosmic Horizons: Reaching for the Stars” so that competitors could base their designs on rockets, spaceships, planets or other space-related elements. Overall, the 2026 USA Skills Texas District 12 conference included approximately 96 different categories with DMC faculty and staff, along with industry partner representatives, serving as judges. The competition wrapped up with an awards ceremony on Saturday, Feb. 7, at 3 p.m. in Wolfe Recital Hall on the college’s Heritage Campus. Winners will now advance to state competition, which will also be held in Corpus Christi at the Hilliard Center and other city venues across the city. High school students from across Texas will compete here April 8-11 before winners advance to national competition in Atlanta, Ga., in June. SkillsUSA is a national career and technical student organization that serves more than 395,000 high school, college and middle school students and professional members enrolled in training programs in trade, technical and skilled service occupations, including health occupations. Given its immense size, the state of Texas is broken up into three SkillsUSA Texas regions that encompass 13 districts. Nicole Kindzirsky, DMC Industrial Technology Department Instructor and 2025 District 12 Leadership & Skills Conference Contest Coordinator for SkillsUSA Texas, says Del Mar College has hosted district- and state-level competitions for more than a decade, noting that the competition gives students an opportunity to meet and interact with DMC’s experienced and highly dedicated instructors as well as compete in the college’s classrooms and labs. She says, “In a sense, these District 12 students can feel what it’s like to be a DMC Viking while competing at the college’s facilities. Many of the pathways they have started in high school can lead directly into those we offer and allow them to complete certificates, an associate degree and even a bachelor’s degree as a DMC student.”
