Sisters students place at vocational competition

Charlie Kanzig | Last updated Apr 15, 1997 12:0pm0

An enthusiastic contingent of Sisters High School students fared well at the annual State VICA competition held Saturday April 12 in Portland.

Adam Rosencrantz and Mandy Dunn led the way with their first place finish in the television production

contest, which earned the pair the right to compete at Nationals in Kansas City, Missouri the last week of June.

Sisters also earned the only Outstanding Chapter Award among the 60 schools represented. Mandy Dunn will represent Sisters at Nationals in this area as well.

VICA, which stands for Vocational-Industrial Clubs of America, hosts competitions each year in Oregon so chapters such as the one at Sisters High School can see how they stack up against schools from around the state and compete for the honor of going on to Nationals.

VICA chapters are also present on many community colleges around the U.S.

Areas of competition range from cake decorating to metal fabrication.

Rosencrantz and Dunn were not the only medal winners of the day for Sisters. Karissa Wellman won the silver medal for second place in commercial baking. Presentation is the name of the game in this category as students are required to create attractive-looking baked goods.

Contestants worked with puffed pastry, made biscuits from scratch, assembled a cherry pie, shaped bread dough, decorated a cake, and made cinnamon rolls.

Sonja Poltera received the bronze medal for third place in the culinary arts competition in which students took a one hour written exam and then prepared a meal with the ingredients from a "black box".

Each contestant was given the same ingredients in the mysterious "black box" with which they were required to prepare a main dish. This year's mystery turned into a chicken dish for Poltera. Chris Brown finished just out of the medals with his fourth place finish in this category.

Jeannette Ginther picked up the only other medal of the day for Sisters with her third place finish for bulletin board design.

Other placers for Sisters included Mandy Dunn and Chris Brown who took fourth and sixth respectively in extemporaneous speaking, and Patricia Smith who finished sixth in commercial baking.

A "Quiz Bowl" team made up of Marc Decker, Cody Buchser, Greg Hook, Adam Rosencrantz and Brent Quick captured sixth place in a game show style trivia contest.

Brent Quick finished seventh in Automotive Technology.

Another highlight of the day was Mandy Dunn's election as the Region Two Vice-President, which is a state-level office.

Advisor Glenda Hyde noted that going to Nationals will cost each contestant roughly $1,000. The Sisters VICA chapter has two fund-raisers planned this spring.