For Jesse Connell and Luis Angel Melendez Novas, a gold medal in the national SkillsUSA competition in June began months ago when they convinced instructor Ron McGary to help them get the software needed to compete. “They told me they never had somebody do this for Lanier Tech,” Novas said. “So when we went to first meeting for SkillsUSA, they said, ‘We don’t have anything for robotics here ... The school doesn’t have the right software.’ We talked him into it.”