Morris City Council recognizes SkillsUSA state champion

MORRIS – Robert Osborn was recognized by the Morris City Council during Monday night’s meeting for bringing home the title of SkillsUSA Illinois State Champion for Criminal Justice in April.

“He’s a great young man. He’s done a tremendous job at all of these competitions, and it’s just great to have kids that are doing well and excelling at the things they want to be doing in life. So, we are very fortunate and we are hoping we can even get him down the line,” Mayor Chris Brown said.

SkillsUSA offers students training in multiple studies such as, early childhood, building trades, welding, automotive, health occupations, criminal justice and more the opportunity to compete at local, state, and national levels in their field of study in the hopes of preparing them for their future career.

Each competition offers its own unique challenges to prepare the student. Criminal justice has the student dress in full uniform to conduct a traffic stop, investigate a report of a suspicious person, and perform an oral interview for a potential job opportunity.

“Nationals had a lot more than state at roughly six competitions, where we did something along the lines as a suspect interview, a 911 hangup, a disturbance between two people that just had a traffic accident-it was more treacherous than state, but it was more enjoyable,” Osborn said.

Osborn graduated from Morris Community High School this year and Osborn competed at the SkillsUSA event as a Grundy Area Vocational Center Student. He was awarded a Skill Point Certificate in the 2022 SkillsUSA Championships on June 24 in Atlanta, Georgia and placed 9th overall.

Osborn has been working toward his dream of becoming an officer since he was a child, participating in the Grundy County Sheriff’s explorer program, where he was promoted to sergeant. He plans to attend Joliet Junior College and study criminal justice to pursue his dream of becoming a K9 officer.

“I put in a lot of hard work in the criminal justice field. It has been my goal since I was in third grade to become a cop and taking these little steps and doing these classes is a building block for me to accomplish that goal, so it’s definitely awesome,” Osborn

Morris Alderman Derrick Wren took time at the end of the meeting to congratulate Osborn on his hard work and drive throughout the years.

“As long as I have known Bobby, he has always spoke about becoming a police officer. Your dreams are coming true. I look forward to seeing where this takes you in your life. Congratulations sir,” Wren said.