A Tamaqua Area High School graduate is preparing to compete in what’s been called the “Olympics of Skilled Trades” in Shanghai, China.

Alexis Squyres, a 2023 graduate of the school and the Schuylkill Technology Center’s Precision Machine Trades program, earned her way to the 2026 WorldSkills competition, where she will compete in CNC milling.

“I originally heard a little bit about WorldSkills years ago, but I never thought I would see it or compete in it,” Squyres said.

She’ll vie against competitors from across the globe in CNC milling, a manufacturing process that uses computer-controlled machines to cut, drill and shape materials into complex parts.

“My dad has a business where he does a lot of welding, and when I was in middle school I would weld ‘creatures’ with scrap metal,” Squyres explained of her father, Lee Squyres’ business, Tree Equipment Design. “In high school, I wanted to do welding at STC, but ended up in Precision Machining. I really enjoy the detailed work and learning how to turn a block of metal into useful parts.”

While she was a high school senior, she competed in SkillsUSA competitions for 3-axis milling programming and placed third in Pennsylvania.

And as a student at Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Lancaster, she placed at the SkillsUSA nationals in Atlanta to earn the spot in China.

“WorldSkills is held every 2 years, always at a different location. This year it is in Shanghai,” Squyres said. “There were 26 competitors in CNC Milling in Lyon, France, in 2024, so I expect about the same.”

She believes that the competition is a great way to spotlight trades that most aren’t familiar with. Plus it also helps promotes career and technical education, she said.

“I never could’ve predicted that my start as an STC student, as the only female in the machine shop would take me through this crazy path,” Squyres said.

To prepare for WorldSkills, she has practice prints to “draw” in special software.

“Typically I meet with my ‘experts’ online once a week or every other week to review my progress or any tips or tricks,” she said.

She was also on hand for the recent SkillsUSA nationals where she was recognized as part of the WorldSkills team — and had the opportunity test her programming strategy with industry experts.

And at the end of the month, she’ll travel to Austria for a week. While there, she will visit DMG Mori, a global supplier of metal-cutting machine tools and competition sponsor. She’ll learn about equipment there.

Next up is the Sept 22- 27 competition in China.

“I’m so overwhelmed that I don’t know what to think, but it’ll be awesome to look back years from now and say, ‘I did that,’ ” she said. “I am amazed that I will represent the U.S. at this competition that other countries take extremely seriously.”

Squyres works for Phillips Corporation, a global manufacturing solutions provider in Greensboro, North Carolina.

“I travel across North Carolina and parts of Virginia and South Carolina to do training at machine shops with Haas equipment. I teach control navigation, how to store information about your tools and where your workpiece is, and how to use the probing system that most new machines have, an ever-evolving technology,” she explained.

She also teaches Mastercam and Autodesk Fusion CAD/CAM programming.

Squyres noted that Phillips partners with Haas at SkillsUSA competitions, so she helped judge programs at the North Carolina State competition in April.

When she’s not working, she enjoys color pencil drawing — especially of birds — and going outside for a walk or other adventure.

“I also have done pyrography and I really enjoy woodworking and want to improve my bird carving skills in the future,” she said, noting that she has pet ducks and geese at her Tamaqua area home.

She is also the daughter of Alla Squyres.