Brandy O'Brien, of Alburtis, a student at Lehigh Career & Technical Institute, Schnecksville, recently earned honors in a national skills competition held in Missouri.

O'Brien was awarded a skill point certificate in nurse assisting at the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference held in Kansas City. The competition, part of the conference, is for high school and college-level students who are members of SkillsUSA, a career and technical education student organization. The conference takes place over a week.

The annual conference features more than 90 contests in occupational and leadership skills. Students who reach high scores in the contest events earn skill point certificates for their work. According to organizers, conference contests are developed by industry. Industry requirements also determine the high score in the skill point certificate events.