Not without drama... Daira Stifel's award came 6 months after the competition - it originally went to someone else because of a typo!

Daria became the first female to win the gold medal in the SkillsUSA National Competition, in the field of electrical construction wiring. A chance conversation with an electrical instructor in Connecticut led to Mike being a part of a happy ending to a bizarre story.

Daria competed in the SkillsUSA state competition in Connecticut, and placed first out of 22 contestants to qualify for the SkillsUSA National Competition in Louisville KY. Out of the 43 contestants she was the only female competing at nationals. When the competition was over she and her school were surprised to find out that she only placed 10th in the nation since she was one of the few students to actually complete the project. After returning home her score card was sent to her through email. She immediately noticed that something that didn’t make sense to her - she scored an 8 out of 80 on device location but scored a perfect score in almost all other categories of the project. With the support of her school, Daria wrote back asking if she could have an explanation on where she went wrong. About a week later they got word that there was a mistake on her scorecard and the 8 should have been an 80. The extra 72 points then propelled her to first place, which made her the first female to ever win the electrical competition at SkillsUSA Nationals!!

Since Daria wasn't able to get the official recognition she deserved at nationals, Norwich Technical High School in Norwich, CT, had a special awards ceremony for her on January 4th. Mike Holt was invited to give a keynote speech to the Norwich Tech students, and he presented Daria with a gift of $5,000.

Mike Holt's comment: It was a privilege to be a part of this event and see Daria awarded for her great accomplishment. If you'd like to send a congratulatory message to her, please Post a Comment below and we'll be sure your messages are forwarded to her.

The Norwich Bulletin reported on the story, and has video of her interview. Click here.