Students excel at competition

A group of students from the Franklin County Career Tech Center in Belgreen recently participated in the Alabama Skills USA Competition in Birmingham and it was an event they’ll never forget for more reasons than one.

Daniel Bagwell, Sidney Johnson and Matthew Thorn were all participating in the competition and had traveled to Birmingham with their instructor, Orbie Sullins, for the two-day competition on April 27 and 28.

They competed on Wednesday and then found out severe weather was headed into the area. At first, they didn’t think the weather would be anything more than some heavy thunderstorms and strong wind, but they soon found out there was much more to it than that.

“We were at our hotel and we were able to see the tornado,” Johnson said. “It was shaking the doors and we had to take cover in the stairwell.”

Bagwell said the tornado missed their hotel by about a quarter of a mile and Thorn said it was an intense experience.

“We watched the tornado jump I-65 and couldn’t believe it just missed us,” Thorn said.

After their close call, the boys started getting messages that Phil Campbell and East Franklin had been hit hard, but it was hard for them to comprehend how much damage the town had actually sustained since they’d never experienced a tornado ripping through their own county.

“I thought they were exaggerating,” Johnson said. “I thought there might be some power lines and trees down, maybe a few roofs messed up. I didn’t think things would be completely blown away.”

Thorn attends Red Bay High School and Johnson goes to Belgreen High School and they were able to find out their areas suffered very minor damage, but Bagwell attends Phil Campbell High School, so the news they were hearing had him worried about his friends, family and town.

“At first I had heard that Phil Campbell had been hit, but some of my friends was telling me that Main Street and the high school was gone, the Chat and Chew was gone, and I heard that some classmates houses were gone,” Bagwell said. “I had heard that both Oak Grove churches had been destroyed and down in Mount Hope the Oh! Bryan’s was gone, too.

“Thursday afternoon when I got home, I turned on the news and they were showing an aerial view of Phil Campbell and I saw that it had went just to the south of Main Street. I saw that the school was still standing but I could tell that it took some heavy damage to it.”

After hearing about so much destruction at home, all three boys found it hard to concentrate on the reason they were in Birmingham.

“We didn’t even feel like competing really,” Thorn said. “We just wanted to get home.”

Bagwell said Sullins told them the roads were closed and there was no way they could really get home right then. They’d have to wait until the next day.

“All that night and the next morning I asked God to give us the strength to compete in the competition,” Bagwell said. “It was hard but we managed to stay focused.”

Staying focused wasn’t easy since there was no power for miles around, their hotel room was almost 90 degrees, and they weren’t able to eat anything until they got back home on Thursday because all the restaurants had lost power.

But their dedication and hard work ultimately paid off with Bagwell placing first in the power equipment category, Thorn placing second in the power equipment category and Johnson placing third in the motorcycle category.

“Going ahead and competing gave me confidence in myself to be able to work under pressure with what all that had happened those two days,” Bagwell said. “It may also help me with some more scholarships at Nashville Auto Diesel College and it is something that I’m proud of that I accomplished in my life.”

Bagwell’s first place win in his category landed him a spot to compete at the National Skills USA Competition in Kansas City, Mo., in June and he said he’s excited to represent Phil Campbell and the state of Alabama.