Area schools compete in woodworking, drafting competition

Karly Graham, The Petoskey News-Review

NORTHERN MICHIGAN — Students in drafting and woodworking classes made their way to Gaylord for the 2024 Michigan Industrial and Technology Education Society (MITES) competition.

Hosted at the Ellison Place in Gaylord, the 2024 MITES competition took place May 8-11. Students competed in woodworking, design, drafting and more. Around 2,000 projects were submitted from more than 90 schools.

Students are judged by category and age, with the age groups being split into seventh and eighth grade, ninth and 10th, and 11th and 12th.

Cheboygan High School teacher Luke Munger brought 72 projects to the competition. In woodworking, the school took home seven first place projects, six second place projects and five third place projects. All but eight qualified in the top 10.

Petoskey High School students pose for a photo after the MITES competition in Gaylord.
Petoskey High School students pose for a photo after the MITES competition in Gaylord.

Petoskey High School saw students compete as well. Of the 54 projects that made it to the state competition, 40 placed in the top 10, 14 of which placed in the top three.

Giving the students a chance to compete pushes the students to work harder, Munger said.

“Competition is important, no matter what you're doing,” he said. “If we didn't compete they would still learn things, but they wouldn't strive to try to be the next winner, the best project. When we go with those kids, they're doing research, they're looking up projects, they're combining ideas master craftsmen have, to come up with something that's unique and nice.”

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A project made by a Cheboygan student submitted to the 2024 MITES competition.
A project made by a Cheboygan student submitted to the 2024 MITES competition.

He said that while not every idea is something the students are capable of, it still provides a great learning experience and lets them try hands-on skills.

Munger said he’s seen the students strive to take home the top spots. He also said the state competition has excited the younger students, giving them an idea of different projects they could try in the future.

For more information on MITES, visit mites.cc.

— Contact reporter Karly Graham at kgraham@petoskeynews.com. Follow her on Twitter at @KarlyGrahamJRN.

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Northern Michigan schools compete in MITES competition

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