Photo: Belmont resident Laryssa Maia when she learned she was a top winner in the Culinary Arts category in the SkillsUSA Mass District Tech competition (Minuteman High School)

Seventeen Minutemen High School students – including three from Belmont – received medals in the SkillsUSA Massachusetts District Technical Competitions this month.

The award-winning Belmont students are:

Laryssa Maia won a gold medal in the Culinary Arts contest. Maia is a grade 10 Culinary Arts student. Amalia Findeis, a grade 11 Culinary Arts student, and Charles Pressey, a grade 10 student in Advanced Manufacturing, won silver medals respectively in Commercial Baking and in CNC Milling contests.

More than 370,000 vocational-technical students participate in SkillsUSA competitions nationwide annually. Students demonstrate their skills in their career technical areas of study, employability, and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) safety guidelines. 

A total of 56 Minuteman students representing 13 career technical education majors competed. Of the 17 students who won medals, 6 received gold, 8 silver, and 3 bronze. The gold and silver medalists will continue onto compete at the States competition at Blackstone Valley Vocational Technical High School on April 29.