Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School student Owen Letourneau of Assonet received the silver medal in electronics technology at the National SkillsUSA competition on June 27 in Kansas City, Mo.

Founded in 1965, SkillsUSA has approximately 15,000 school chapters in 54 states and territories and is a national nonprofit student organization that serves students enrolled in career and technical education training programs in public schools and colleges.

SkillsUSA’s mission is to empower its members to become world-class workers and responsible American citizens.

Letourneau competed against 32 students from across the country in the electronics technology field. The three-day competition included written exams and hands on tests where they had to troubleshoot problems in a circuit board.

The Silver Medal came with a $1,000 scholarship and more than $1,000 worth of tools.

“It was a great experience for Owen. He represented the school well and really took it seriously,” said Old Colony SkillsUSA advisor and carpentry instructor Douglas Sims, who accompanied Owen to Missouri along with Letourneau’s electronics instructor Richard Dutra.

"A silver medal at the national level is an amazing accomplishment for Owen and our electronic engineering technology program. Owen is one of the hardest working students I've ever worked with and no one deserves it more than he does. To represent the smallest vocational school in Massachusetts and out perform students from more than 30 other states says a lot about him and his potential," said Dutra.

Sims said Old Colony has had a few winners at the National level but not in recent memory. Massachusetts came away with 59 medals, the second highest of any state.

The winners were announced during closing ceremonies in front of 15,000 spectators including 6,000 competitors from technical high schools throughout the country.

“I was like, what, did that just happen?” said Letourneau when he was called forward to accept the silver medal. “All I could hear was Mr. Sims and Mr. Dutra screaming.”

Letourneau qualified to compete in the SkillsUSA National Competition after winning a gold medal in the 40^th annual SkillsUSA state competition in Marlborough on May 2.

Letourneau, who graduated from Old Colony in June where he was also a National Honor Society member, plans to attend Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston in September and major in electro-mechanical engineering.

Letourneau is employed part-time as a technician at Electromechanica, Inc. in Mattapoisett.

Owen is the son of Kenneth and Nancy Letourneau of Assonet who were watching the closing ceremonies online.