The North Carolina Home Builders Association recently provided $1,500 for the state Skills USA carpentry winner, John Williams, and his advisor, Frank Cuda, to travel to the national competition in Kansas City, Missouri.

“John beat over half the students in the country,” said his instructor, Frank Cuda. “I am really proud of how he competed and his plan is to return next year on the post secondary level. He is like a sponge in that he absorbs any information you give him - a real special student. He follows steps and procedures really well.”

Williams, who plans to enter building construction technology at Pitt Community College in the fall, claims he first took a liking to building in middle school during a woodworking class. Thereafter, he met Mr. Cuda and took carpentry all three years at Wakefield High in Raleigh, N.C.

“I hope to attend ECU after a couple of years,” Williams said. “I’d love to take construction management.”

When the student was asked what he liked best about Kansas City, he had no trouble answering. “Besides the actual competition itself, I enjoyed seeing the big city and meeting people from all over the country. Every state has a Skills pin and all the kids had a lot of fun swapping those.”

Instructor Cuda added one more thing about his young protégé. “John Williams is so grateful for everything he gets and this trip was no different. He has a sincere appreciation and is a nice young man with good manners. His parents did a really good job in raising him.”