Mid-State Technical College Precision Machining Technician student Kaden Stanczyk of Custer, Wis., was selected by SkillsUSA to compete at the prestigious WorldSkills USA international event. Stanczyk will travel to Lyon, France this September to represent the United States in the CNC Milling event.

Stanczyk represented the state of Wisconsin in Precision Machining at the SkillsUSA Championships in 2022 and 2023. He went on to compete at nationals in 2023 where he met the score requirement to be considered for WorldSkills USA. In addition to his high scores at the state and national levels, Stanczyk went through a series of other qualifying measures, including an interview, before being selected.

“It’s an incredible honor and an achievement to be selected,” said Stanczyk. “Getting to this point has been a work in progress for me, and I continue to learn and train. I have learned so much from my instructor and SkillsUSA advisor Mike Berry, my trainer and WorldSkills expert J.R. Colvin and my dad, Scott Stanczyk.”

“We are proud to have Kaden representing the United States and Mid-State Technical College at the WorldSkills USA competition,” said Mike Berry, Mid-State Precision Machining Technician instructor and SkillsUSA advisor. “Kaden works very hard at his craft and trains with professionals across the county to ensure he is prepared for this high-level competition.”

Stanczyk is the first Mid-State student to be selected to attend the international competition and one of the few from Wisconsin to ever attend WorldSkills USA.

“It is a great honor to have Kaden as the first Mid-State representative at the WorldSkills USA competition,” said Dr. Chris Severson, Mid-State vice president of Academics. “This competition is a great opportunity for Kaden to showcase his skills on an international level and meet people from around the world who share similar interests. SkillsUSA is just one of the many clubs we offer our students to practice real-world skills that bring opportunities like these.”

The 47th WorldSkills Competition in 2024 will welcome 1,500 competitors from over 65 countries and regions to take part in 62 skill competitions at Eurexpo Lyon. The competition will showcase dozens of trade skills from construction and building technology, creative arts and fashion, information and communication technology, manufacturing and engineering, social and personal services and transportation and logistics. Over 250,000 spectators from around the world are expected attend the 2024 competition including students, public policymakers, employers, teachers, trainers, technical experts and government officials.

Learn more about Mid-State’s programs at mstc.edu/programs.