At Ryonet, we believe our mission goes beyond serving as a trusted supplier. Which is why we proudly return as an official sponsor of the SkillsUSA National Screen Printing Competition. Supporting this event is incredibly important to us because when we invest in these students, we are investing directly in the health of our independent print shops.
For everyday shop owners and growing manual printers, these young professionals represent the future press operators, managers, and creators who will keep our print community thriving. Let us break down what this event actually looks like on the ground, why it matters to your local business, and how you can get involved.
What is the SkillsUSA National Screen Printing Competition
To understand the screen printing track, you first have to look at the parent organization. SkillsUSA is a massive national partnership of students, teachers, and industry experts working together to ensure America has a skilled workforce. They host a giant national championship that covers hundreds of different trade and technical professions, from precision machining to culinary arts. Within that massive footprint sits our favorite corner of the floor, the dedicated screen printing division.
This is a rigorous national evaluation designed to test the real-world readiness of students preparing for careers in graphic communications. Competitors qualify for this national stage by winning gold at their respective state levels. Once they arrive, they face the exact standards used in commercial production facilities. It is a true testing ground where students show they have already built the technical foundation required to enter a professional shop floor.
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The Three Pillars of National Testing
The competition floor is hyper-focused, organized around strict 15 minute time limits for each evaluation block. Students also complete a 50 question written exam covering core industry vocabulary and shop standards, paired with a professional 1:1 interview with an active shop owner. On the physical floor, the trade evaluation is divided into three distinct zones.
1. Quality Control (QC) and Screen Inspection
In this zone, students step into a real-world production challenge where a batch of garments has been rejected at the initial check. Students analyze the printed shirts alongside the original job ticket and customer guidelines to make final pass or fail determinations. 
From there, they move to Screen QC, checking screen mesh tension values and inspecting exposed screens for blockages, ghosting, or stencil flaws.
2. Darkroom Workflow
The darkroom portion judges students on technical execution and safety. Judges closely monitor the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), correct technique, darkroom cleanliness, and image alignment during the burn process.
Competitors are scored on proper application of emulsion, screen exposure timing, and final screen washout.
3. On-Press Performance
This is where everything comes together under pressure. First, students must register a multi-color design on a manual press, printing a minimum of two flawless shirts for the judging panel. 
Next comes the speed run: students have exactly 7 minutes to print a minimum of 5 retail-ready garments. Printing higher volumes within that window scores extra points, but speed cannot compromise quality. Every single shirt is inspected to confirm it passes professional consumer standards.
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Why Local Workforce Development Matters for Your Shop
For independent shop owners, finding skilled labor is often one of the biggest hurdles to scaling a business. This difficulty is exactly why these technical programs are so vital. They bridge the gap between educational classrooms and commercial print shops. When local schools invest in modern training frameworks, they set their graduating students up to step onto a production floor and provide immediate value on day one. A graduate who already understands basic darkroom best practices, mesh counts, and ink curing requires far less on-the-job training.
To prepare for a career in a modern production facility, students need experience working with professional equipment. Learning how different mesh counts affect ink deposit or discovering how premium screen printing inks cure under a commercial conveyor dryer cannot happen in a theoretical vacuum. During the competition, students demonstrate their ability to manage these exact variables under tight deadlines. They enter the professional field ready to contribute to a smooth shop workflow.
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How Your Shop Can Get Involved Locally
We want to challenge every shop owner, production manager, and established screen printer reading this post to look at these trade students as your future peers and collaborators. We highly encourage you to connect with local trade schools, high school graphic art programs, and regional SkillsUSA chapters in your own community.
You can volunteer your time as a local judge, offer informative shop tours for local classes, or donate leftover supplies to help a classroom instructor manage a tight budget. Mentoring the young printers in your area strengthens the local workforce and helps secure the long-term health of our entire trade. When we support the youth today, we elevate the entire screen printing community for years to come.
Support the Future of Print
An immense thank you goes out to this year's incredible panel of expert judges who volunteered their time and expertise to support these students: Kevin Kauth from Saati (The Emulsion Guru), Ray Smith from Avient, Zach Achorn from Self Made, and Amber Massey from T-Shirts for Hope. We also want to give a massive shoutout to Lane Seven for generously donating all of the test garments used throughout the competition.
The SkillsUSA program relies on dedicated, passionate industry leaders to keep refining and maintaining this vital trade track. If you want to help this program grow, consider making a direct financial donation to the SkillsUSA Screen Printing Technologies endowment fund. Your support directly funds equipment, core supplies, and advanced technical training for both the youth and their classroom instructors.