On Thursday, June 3, 2021, the Former National Executive Director for SkillsUSA, Mr. Lee Ross, visited Edison Academy to deliver the Virginia State SkillsUSA Competition Gold Medal to Meeka Williams who won the state championships in the Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration (HVACR) contest with Virginia SkillsUSA.  

Meeka was a second year Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration student in 2020-21 who traveled from Mclean High School to pursue her technical studies at Edison Academy with Robert Stringham, her HVAC instructor and SkillsUSA advisor.  Meeka attained work experience in the HVAC field while in high school and will be pursuing further education and training through apprenticeship in HVAC this summer.  Meeka also plans to study in the Northern Virginia Community College HVAC program at Woodbridge, VA. But first she will compete in the virtual National SkillsUSA HVAC competitions June 21-24 to try to earn the national championship in her trade. 

Meeka was a recipient of the Student of the Year Award in HVAC at Edison Academy for 2021 as well as earning the Edison Academy Administrator’s Award. She also recently passed her Environment Protection Agency’s EPA Certified Technician Exam.

SkillsUSA is a national non-profit education association that is driven by a partnership between students, teachers, and industry leaders. The organization is dedicated to preparing world-class workers, leaders, and responsible citizens for the American workforce. Students develop personal, workplace and technical skills grounded in academics through competition and leadership events sponsored by the organization at the local, state and national level.  SkillsUSA has served 13.6 million annual members cumulatively since 1965 and is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Labor as a successful model of employer-driven workforce development.

For more information about SkillsUSA visit SkillsUSA.org and for more information about the HVAC-R program at Edison Academy that prepares future HVAC technicians for the workforce, visit this website.