National Officers’ Weblog

I don’t usually post to this blog since it’s for the national officers. However, this time I’m actually traveling with one of them and I wanted to give a report about what he’s been doing. I’m not one of the national staff members who does much traveling, but I am the only one who speaks Spanish. Since I wanted to bring a student who could also speak Spanish, I asked Carlos Galván to come with me. Luckily for us, his advisor, Mr. Roberto Salas also came along.

We arrived in Puerto Rico on Monday, April 21.  On Tuesday, we visited two schools. The first was the Escuela Superior Vocacional República de Costa Rica in the city of Caguas. This is the school where the 2007-08 state officer team attends. In Puerto Rico, they don’t elect officers from all around the island. Instead, the various regions submit a team from a single school per region. It’s kind of a winner take all situation. Carlos and I wondered if it might not be better to have representation from each of the areas, but we were assured that this has been tried and did not work well. Anyway, we toured this school and met many different teachers and students responsible for the career and technical education programs in the school.

Next, we drove to the Escuela Superior Vocacional Petra Zenón de Fabrey in the city of Fajardo. We got to tour the school and meet with various instructors. We also spent a significant amount of time with the school principal. The graphic design teacher gave us some beautiful posters designed there in the school by the students. 

Next we went to the Department of Education where we met with Mr. Bienvenido Mojíca who is the state director. We also met up with the assistant secretary for Career and Technical Education.

On Wednesday, we had a couple of hours before the conference began so we took a short trip over to El Yunque, a pristine rainforest about 40 minutes outside of San Juan. At the top of the mountain, there was a tower we climbed. From the top, you could see for 10 miles. 

The conference began that evening. Carlos was asked to give a motivational speech to the regional officers in attendance. That night, only about 100 people were there. An additional 200 arrived the next morning, Carlos spoke to them and got both the advisors and the students excited about what they are doing.

The next day, they began their fall meeting.  There was a brief talent show before the meeting began which was very cool and really fun. Our favorite was a young man who sang a reggaeton style song about SkillsUSA and vocational education. If you don’t know what reggaeton is, google it. It needs to be heard to be understood. Carlos, Mr. Salas (who is Carlos’ advisor) and I each got a chance to speak. Luckily for me and Mr. Salas, Carlos was allotted the most time so we didn’t have to speak as long as he did.

Each of the regions gave reports on their activities for the year. Again, we were impressed with how much community service they are doing. Finally, the three regions running for office gave their presentations about why they should be elected. Then the voting began. Bayamón was the school that won the election and they may be attending nationals this year. Traditionally, Puerto Rico brings the outgoing officer team president, but this year they may bring the whole new team. 

Carlos and Mr. Salas both were a tremendous help here. It was great to have them and we are all very proud of how Carlos represents SkillsUSA and the entire National Officer Team.

So far, this year has been a great one for your National Officers.  We have continued to travel around the country to represent you and your organization, SkillsUSA.  

Just last month, we all met together in Kansas City, MO to start planning for the 2008 National Leadership and Skills Conference.  It was definitely a successful meeting, but much more planning will be done over the months to come.  

Before the culminating event of the year (NLSC ’08), we look forward to traveling to various state conferences around the nation.  We hope to see you soon, whether it be at your state conference or at the soon coming NLSC.  

Thank you, Your 2007-2008 National Officer Team

Your SkillsUSA National Officers have been keeping busy in their travels! From states all over, many of us have attended Fall Leadership Conferences, Trade Shows, a few had the chance to fly out to Las Vegas for the Association for Career and Technical Education Conference in December, and all have had opportunities to represent SkillsUSA by meeting with our business and industry sponsors. As the next couple of months appear, we will begin to prepare ourselves for the ultimate: NLSC, the adventure that is only,… so far away. Happy New Year to All!

In September, about 250 delegates from states across the nation and the national officer team came together in Washington D.C for WLTI 2007. WLTI was a great success! We had the opportunity to articulate our visions for SkillsUSA and career and technical education to our congressmen and women and left a mark on Capitol Hill. We were able to tour Washington D.C. and soak in the rich history of our prosperous nation. We made lasting friendships and continued our growth as leaders in SkillsUSA and our nation.The highlight of WLTI was the wreath laying ceremony at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the speeches gave at the Eternal Flame of John F. Kennedy by our very own Shelby Adsero and Jeremy Montoya. For many, WLTI was a tremendous growing experience and an event that we will never forget.As a national officer team we have been very busy traveling around and representing SkillsUSA. This includes a national tech show in Kentucky, a goodwill tour in Kansas City at the Center for Energy Workforce Development Summit, and numerous State Fall Leadership Conferences in Idaho, Louisiana, Maryland and Michigan. Jack Frederick and Rodney Fennell had the pleasure of attending the mid-America conference in Nebraska, and word has it around the organization that the best part was Rodney getting pied in the face!We continue to look forward to representing SkillsUSA all across the nation,  -2007-2008 National Officer Team -

Welcome to the 2007 National Officer Blog! This year we want to ensure that everyone within the SkillsUSA organization is informed of all the activities of your National Officers.

National Officer Training:

Learning, Laughing and Loving, describes our experience at National officer training in Reston, Virginia this past July.

We learned about etiquette, the media, parliamentary procedure and writing right as well as many others. However, most importantly we learned to work together as a team and represent SkillsUSA in the best way possible. We gave several speeches to prepare us for our upcoming responsibilities as officers. Some heart-felt speeches made us cry but the majority of them just made us laugh. All of the speeches ranged from one minute to five minutes and led up to a fifteen-minute motivational speech at the national headquarters on the final day. While we all had butterflies in our stomach, this time the butterflies flew synchronized and we all delivered great speeches.

Through all of our educational sessions we made sure we had lots of laughs and stories to tell. We were even given the opportunity to tour Washington D.C. and participate in an Inner Quest ropes course experience.

On The day of touring in Washington D.C., our team split into groups. With so many places to go, we wanted to make sure everyone had the opportunity to go places they have never been. The Holocaust museum, Ford’s theater, Air and Space museum, the Hard Rock Café and shopping were many of things we got to experience.

During the day of the ropes course, we had a tragic experience. When we were deep in the forest participating in a challenge, one of our officers fell and broke his leg in three places. This tragic event forced our group to work as a team. With lots of patients and perseverance we carried him to the cabin and he was safely taken to the hospital. He returned to us just a day later in a cast and wheelchair, with a smile on this face and a willingness to get right back to work. This is just one story of the Champions among the hundred of thousands in SkillsUSA.

We all took home many memories from National Officer Training. Now, we are all prepared, willing, motivated and excited to serve SkillsUSA. We all are anticipating the upcoming Washington Leadership Training Institute and look forward to meeting just a few of the people we serve.

Thanks for the chance to represent SkillsUSA,
2007-2008 National Officer Team

Wow, it is a wonderful experience to be a national officer for this organization! I am absolutely loving every second of this spectacular opportunity. I have traveled five times since my election on “national officer business.” This includes two trips to D.C. one trip to Nebraska, Utah, and Michigan, as well as numerous small things in Wyoming. Latest, I got to go to Michigan on a Goodwill tour with Isias (Region V VP), Mr. Lawrence, and Mr. Gerheardt. On this trip, we traveled to five of SkillsUSA’s business partners and spoke to them about our experiences in SkillsUSA. The opportunity to visit with leaders in todays business world was a spectacular opportunity and experience. And, we got to go to Canada for lunch one day! What fun that was! I hope all is well with all the members and happy holidays!

Stephanie Usry

Welcome to the National Officer Weblog!