Another amazing World Skills week has come to an end. Congratulations to all participants across the various skills areas, you are all winners!

Some highlights from the week of our Skill 39 competitors, who after months of training finally had the chance to put their hard work to the test during the 4-day competition.

More than 1,100 competitors attended WorldSkills from more than 60 countries and regions in the Americas, Europe, Asia, South Pacific and Africa.Cisco mentors advised teams during the Digital Challenge at WorldSkills and helped students apply technology to the world's social problems.

Emotions were high in the closing ceremony, where the winners from each skill area were announced. A big congratulations to the Skill 39 participants, and the 2015 IT Network Systems Administration winners, almost all of whom are Cisco Networking Academy students:

Four of five 2015 medal winners in IT Network Systems Administration are Cisco Networking Academy students

Gold: Min Woo Choi, Korea 
Silver: Wei Meng, Daniel Lee, Singapore 
Silver: PEI HUA CHU, Chinese Taipei 
Silver: David Csongradi, Hungary 
Bronze: Pekka Tuukkanen, Finland 

Seventy six percent of competitors were Networking Academy students, including 80 percent of the medal winners.

Seeing the level of talent that comes to these events, I would highly encourage employers to get involved and take an active role to support youth. What can you do?

• Research your local country level regional skills competitions and participate.
• Offer internships, apprentice or soft skills training to help competitors become better prepare for the work force.

This year Cisco implemented a mentoring program to connect competitors with employees to help them train for the competition, but also be a source of advice and guidance as they progress in their careers. The youth the future of our digital economy, so let's do our best to prepare them to succeed.

Learn how you can connect with Networking Academy alumni around the world today: https://www.netacad.com/get-started/employers