Road Closings
Please Note: The following roads will be blocked off during the convention due to Champions Plaza:

• 13th Street between Wyandotte Street and Broadway Boulevard, from 12:01 a.m. June 20 to midnight June 24.
• Central Street between 12th and 14th streets from 12:01 a.m. June 20 to midnight June 24.
• Several lanes around Bartle Hall will be closed for shuttle buses and the loading and unloading of supplies. 

Kansas City's 12th Street Bridge Under Construction
West 12th Street remains under renovations. The exception from 2009 is that the bridge is partially in operation leading to Kemper Arena. It is strongly recommended for those driving to Kemper for general sessions and contest observations to please us the detour route found at the following link: www.skillsusa.org/events/nlscdir.shtml

5K Champions Run on June 25
SkillsUSA will be holding the third annual 5K Champions Run in Kansas City during the national Conference. The Run is sponsored by Irwin Industrial Tools. This year the race takes place on Friday, June 25 at 9:00 a.m. and the tentative location is the Parkville Nature Sanctuary. The park is about 15 minutes from downtown and offers more than 100 acres of nature, walking trails, barrel-vaulted cellar, shelter, stone cellar, overlook, waterfalls and wetlands.

Transportation to the park will be provided from the Convention Center (students can shuttle from hotels to the Convention Center on Friday morning and then ride a designated bus to the 5K race, or use private transportation). The new day and location provides an alternative activity for students and instructors on Friday, and a chance to enjoy a beautiful park in the greater Kansas City area.

Registration is $15 per person and includes a unique T-shirt for the race. Awards will be presented to the first 300 finishers.

Blood Drive
There will be a blood drive this year as part of the National Leadership and Skills Conference. The drive will be sponsored by the Kansas City Community Blood Center and held from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in Bartle Hall, Room 2105 on Friday, June 25. Blood collected will be used in the Kansas City community. Appointments can be made ahead of time at www.esavealifenow.org. At last year’s blood drive, 38 donors registered to try to donate and 24 pints were collected. There were 33 first time donors.

Note: Donors must weigh no less than 115 lbs and must be at least 17 years of age (or a donor can be 16 years of age with written parental permission).

SkillsUSA TECHSPO and Career Fair
“Champions Plaza” [Barney Allis Plaza] will return to the SkillsUSA conference for the sixth year. Champions Plaza – featuring interactive stations, giveaways and contests – will take place outdoors on 13th and Central Streets between Wyandotte Street and Broadway Boulevard.

Also returning to the conference this year is SkillsUSA TECHSPO and Career Fair, featuring more than 76,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor exhibit space. TECHSPO and Career Fair will showcase a variety of exhibits including college opportunities, career-training materials, career recruiting services, curriculum materials, fundraising information and new information technology.

Indoor exhibitors are located in Bartle Hall Lobby 2200, Lobby 2300 and Lobby 2500 and the New Grand Ballroom Plaza. These exhibits will be open to the public, Wednesday, June 23, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Thursday, June 24, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Kansas City Metropolitan Area SkillsUSA Program
SkillsUSA developed the Kansas City Metropolitan Area SkillsUSA program in 2001 to promote the SkillsUSA program in the metro area for the benefit of local career and technical students. SkillsUSA national staff member, Byekwaso Gilbert runs the year-round program. To date, more than 6700 students have participated in the program to enhance their personal and professional development. Stronger industry partnerships have been fostered among the metro schools and local employers. Many individual students and instructors have received recognition through the KC Metro SkillsUSA program as well as at the SkillsUSA State Championships in Kansas and Missouri and at the national SkillsUSA Championships held in Kansas City each year. As a result of this collaboration with SkillsUSA, schools have produced better-prepared program graduates who are ready for employment or higher education. For more information, contact Byekwaso Gilbert at 816-374-5416 or by e-mail to bgilbert@skillsusa.org.