East Windsor resident and student Nicholas Citarella performed brilliantly on Saturday April 2, 2011.

 The competition of over 2000 students took place this year in the Somerset New Jersey Garden State Exhibit Center.

Nicholas (Nick) was able to secure a first place position in his field of Graphic Communications.

This win places Nicholas in the number one position to represent the State of New Jersey in the upcoming  "SkillsUSA return to Kansas City" 47th annual National Leadership and Skills Conference (NLSC). A showcase of career and technical education for students

More than 15,000 people including students, teachers and business partners are expected to participate in the week-long event. The SkillsUSA Championships event will be held in June 2011. More than 5,600 outstanding career and technical education students "all state contest winners" will compete hands-on in 96 different trade, technical and leadership fields. Students work against the clock and each other, proving their expertise in occupations like electronics, computer-aided drafting, precision machining, medical assisting and culinary arts. Contests are run with the help of industry, trade associations, and labor organizations, and test competencies are set by industry. Leadership contestants will demonstrate skills including extemporaneous speaking and conducting meetings by parliamentary procedure. The competitions will be open to the public and free of charge.

 Nicholas Citarella is currently a senior student at Mercer County Technical Sypek Center and Hightstown High School.