Last week, I had the pleasure of judging the Outdoor Leadership section at the Maine SkillsUSA competition, a truly impressive event with hundreds of participants! I was particularly struck by the exceptional preparedness of the outdoor leadership students. They demonstrated a deep understanding of outdoor leadership principles, a level of knowledge that often surpasses even that of some licensed guides.
Each student was incredibly pleasant, cooperative, and easygoing. We put them through their paces with practical tasks like fire building, knot tying, and canoe loading, as well as testing their navigation skills, their ability to handle emergency scenarios, and their general knowledge of Maine's outdoors.
Getting our scores entered into the system proved a bit tricky, but we managed to sort it all out in the end. A quick trip to the Bangor Civic Center to resolve the issue gave me a real appreciation for the sheer scale of the SkillsUSA competition – I had no idea it was so vast!
A huge congratulations to all the students and instructors involved. It was an absolute delight to work with such a talented and dedicated group.
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