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SASMJ.*.V1V.2^J Avs^rJ; 10 The Altamont Enterprise - Thursday, April 13, 2006 Winning ways Ashley Brozowski of Slingerlands came in first in the state in the SkillsUSA data-entry event, held April 5 through 7. A student in Career 7 Tech's Web Design program at the school's campus in Albany, she is a senior at Voorheesville's high school. V'ville's Brozowksi first place in data entry By Holly Grosch VOORHEESVILLE — Ashley Brozowski, a senior at Clayton A. Bouton High has excelled in school thanks to the Capital Re- gion Career and Technical School for vocational training, she said. Brozowski made the high honor roll this year, and last weekend won first place in New York State for data entry at a SkillsUSA competition in Syracuse. \I think a lot of kids at my home school are missing out,\ Brozowski said of other Voor- heesville high school students. She has been attending the Capital Region Career and Technical School part-time for two years now, spending some of her time at Clayton A. Bouton, taking traditional academic courses. This semester, she is taking physical education and She thinks she has an upper- hand over them now in the job market because she has received hands-on learning experience that traditional high-school stu- dents haven't. To win first place at the state competition Brozowski inputted three pages of data and codes in 30 minutes using Excel. She was judged on speed and accu- racy. The full competition lasted about three hours, during which other skills where tested in- cluding math and spelling ability using various computer pro- grams. At the regional level, Brozowski placed for both data entry and word document, she said. Brozowski has been accepted at Hudson Valley Community College for the fall, where she plans to pursue a liberal arts de- gree. 'A lot of kids at my home school are missing out.' government classes at Clayton A. Bouton and webdesign courses at the career and techni- cal school. Students at Voorheesville, Brozowski said, \often make fun of the VoTech kids...calling us retards....They think it's not for smart people.\ When that's not the case, she said. She's been learning useful skills that a lot of other kids her age don't know, she said, like how to make a pro- fessional website. . They sit in class all day doing the same average stuff, Bro- zowski said of her peers. One of the perks of going back and forth between schools, Brozowski said, is that she gets out of the boring government class a little early. \It bothers me a lot,\ she said of when the teens make fun of her. \It makes me aggravated — they don't know, they aren't part of the program.\ She got into computer studies for high school, because she thought it would be interesting and \computers are the thing to get into these days,\ she said; computer skills are necessary in the job world. Also, she took an interest in computers because her father works with computers for Newkirk, so h e has been able to help her with her studies. He's now going to college, too, she said, so they will continue to bond and study together. In her free time, Brozowski likes to surf the Internet and read; she just finished reading The DaVinci Code. /Brozowski said she doesn't see herself in an office job in the fu- ture, sitting in the same spot at a desk all day, every day. But, in terms of high school, \I'm ready to get out!\ she said. \I guess I'll see where the road takes me.\ S JUDOS tO nationally in culinary By Melissa Hale-Spencer BERNE — Everything Amanda Tubbs tries — from cheerleading for Berne-Knox- Westerlo sports teams to crash- ing cars at the Altamont Fair's demolition derby — she does with enthusiasm. Her latest feat, at age 16, is placing first in the state in a culi- nary arts competition. Shell rep- resent New York at the national competition in Kansas City in June. \I'm really excited about it,\ Tubbs told The Enterprise Mon- day night. \I've never flown in a plane.\ She came straight from a soft- ball game Monday to be honored by the school board. She plays third base and some outfield for the varsity BKW team. \My coach says I have an awesome arm,\ said Tubbs. \I and spoons — and it has to be set up perfect,\ said Tubbs. \You have to fold the napkins so they stand up, even when they shake the table.\ The shape she chose for her napkins was the atrium lily, with three standing points. Once the table is set, the pa- trons sit down. \You introduce yourself and wait on them,\ said Tubbs. \You have to be really professional and polite....You serve from the left and clear from the right, unless you're serving drinks.\ Tubbs has had real-life prac- tice waiting on tables at Camp Pinnacle, she said. She thought to herself, during the competitions, \I'm here to have fun. Ill just go in with my bubbly personality.\ During the state-wide awards ceremony, she said, as the win- ners' names were announced The Enterprise — Matt Cook Top culinary artist: Steven Schrade, superintendent of the Berne-Knox-Westerlo schools, congratulates Amanda Tubbs for placing first in New York in a culinary arts competition. Tubbs will compete nationally in June. love softball...I love being part of a team.\ She is one of 13 BKW students who ride the bus to the Schoharie Career and Technical School each day after attending six pe- riods of classes at Berne. Her favorite class during the first part of her school day is English. \I like writing my own stories and poems,\ she said. Tubbs began the program for culinary arts this September, at the start of her junior year. \Ever since I was little, I loved cooking with my mom,\ said Tubbs. Her mother, Ruth, works as a janitor for the Berne-Knox- Westerlo schools. \We used to bake all the time and make a lot of home-cooked meals \ said Tubbs. \My dream is to open my own restaurant.\ Tubbs would like to have her restaurant serve intimate dinners for two — \nice candlelit din- ners, really romantic,\ she said. Tubbs competed two weeks ago in the regionals, held at Un- ion College in Troy, which quali- fied her for the state competition, held in Syracuse. The competition consists of taking a written test and their setting a table and serving pa- trons \like in a five-star restau- rant,\ she said. \There's silverware all over the place — lots of extra forks from the bottom up, she assumed she hadn't won anything. \All of a sudden, I heard my name,\ Tubbs recalled. \I started jumping up and down and I started to cry.\ \She knows her own mind\ Tubbs has done well in other competitions, showing the same nerve and joie de vivre. Last summer, she competed success- fully in the demolition derby at the Altamont Fair, coming in fourth in her first attempt at the sport. \My dad and my brother al- ways did it,\ she said of her fa- ther, Thomas, who works for the Knox Highway Department, and her 29-year-old brother, Tommy. Tubbs also has two older sisters — Cindy and Penny, who are in their thirties. \We used to go the fair all the time to watch them do it.\ Tubbs went on, \So many people say, 'A girl can't do it.' I wanted to prove them wrong.\ She recalled how events un- folded that Friday last August at the fairgrounds. When she came home from her job doing main- tenance work at the fair, she said, \I had to finish tearing my car apart and chain my doors.\ She did this work herself, but didn't have time to complete work on the brakes; she had to make due with the emergency brakes, she said: \Tommy was in the first heat,\ Tubbs recalled. \My dad was still on the bulldozer, working. I was in the last heat.\ She wasn't nervous, she said, until after she buckled up. \When I started the engine I was nerv- ous. But then I thought, 'I'm here to have fun with this,' so that's what I did.\ \She backed her car right into another one, and rolled it over,\ said her father. \She knows her own mind,\ he concluded. \We're all proud of her.\ JA Trophy in hand, Amanda Tubbs of Knox displays the medal she won in the SkillsUSA competition. SkillsUSA, a national organi- zation for career and technical-education students, holds annual competitions at the regional, state, and national levels.