Woodworking students received 31 medals at the Top of Texas Career and Technical Education (TTCTE) contest May 1 in the West Texas A&M University Activity Center.

Seniors Austin Slayton and Kolton Casey both placed first in their category. Slayton received first place overall while Casey received third, with Slayton submitting a ping pong table and Casey competing with a dining room table. Both Slayton and Casey received monetary prizes, and Slayton received a DeWalt drill set.

“I wanted to outdo the project I did last year,” Slayton said. “Last year I just built a little chess table, so I decided to make a bigger ping-pong table this year because I thought it sounded pretty cool.”

Students competed from schools all around the panhandle and were judged on their project and a packet explaining the work.

“Along with the project, you had to make a bill of material that shows what is in the project and how much you spent on it,” Casey said. “Then you also have to have a plan of procedure, like all the steps it took to complete the project. It also helps to have pictures.”

Both seniors began working on their projects and finished with barely enough time.

“I was having a lot of trouble with the legs and getting them to work,” Slayton said. “Then I had to get it to fold, but I didn’t start the hinging part of it until the day before contest. I stayed up here with some of my friends until 2 a.m. and sprayed finish on it that night just to get it ready for the next day.”

Slayton will be majoring in mathematics next year to become a math teacher and football coach. Casey will be majoring in computer science.

“I’m probably not going to major in woodworking or anything like that,” Casey said. “But when I get older, I want to have a small woodworking shop to do that on the side as a hobby because it is interesting.”

Best in class:

Austin Slayton: first place

Kolton Casey: third place

First place in category:

Austin Slayton

Kolton Casey

Jake Garland

Andrew Walsh

Clayton Skarke

Clay Slater

Marshall Blakeman

Jastin Graves

Hope Ramos

Bryson Blackwell

Jastin Graves

Rebecca Boehs

Ben Bingham

Second Place:

Ben Bingham

Jordan Knight

McKenzie Hampton

Jacob Bingham

Nicholas Davis

Marshall Blakeman

Jacob Bingham

Andrew Monroe

Rebecca Boehs

Third place:

Liam Marshall

Jacob Bingham

Samantha Davalos

Jastin Graves

Justin Lovell

Jordan Knight