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The People of Haiti Need Our Help

January 15th, 2010

SkillsUSA is joining the world in seeking to alleviate the suffering from the recent earthquake in Haiti.

Aerial View of the earthquake damage in Haiti

President Obama has said, “We need to summon the tremendous generosity and compassion of the American people. I want to thank the many Americans who have already contributed to this effort. I want to encourage all Americans who want to help to go to whitehouse.gov to learn more. And in the days ahead, we will continue to work with those individuals and organizations who want to assist this effort so that you can do so.”

SkillsUSA is deeply concerned about the Haitian disaster and we encourage our chapters to support efforts that bring quick aid and relief to the Haitian people. The need is so immediate that a national effort or fundraising campaign would probably be too late to help those in such desperate need.

Therefore, SkillsUSA’s efforts will be directed to national charities and relief agencies that already have programs in place. We strongly our chapters and members to support the efforts of The American Red Cross.

We also believe the “Text 90999 Project” is an appropriate and powerful way for  an individual to make a personal contribution immediately to disaster relief efforts in Haiti.

Text the word Haiti to 90999 and $10 will be charged to your phone bill and given to relief projects run through the Red Cross.

Of course local chapters will (and should) have student-led efforts to help the victims of this disaster. We are asking for reports from our chapters and state associations on these efforts and will publish these as best practice ideas for other schools to follow.

Send your stories by clicking the “Contact Us” link at the top of this page.

Thank you for your support. I know our members will step up, as always, to provide service and support to those less fortunate.

A New Year Begins with a Week of Excitement

January 15th, 2010

Happy New Year. Things were quiet around here two weeks ago as staff enjoyed time with family and friends during the week leading up to the New Year, but the pace has certainly picked up since then. We’re back in the swing and just completed our “Tenth Annual Week of Excitement” during strategic planning this week.

The excitement began on Tuesday, January 12, with a full staff meeting for the day to review our progress this past year, discuss our current initiatives and then we took a long look forward toward the goals in Vision 2020. We wrote objectives by departments toward reaching those goals in the FY2011 and FY2012 plans, over the next two days and then the directors convened today for a reporting session. Preliminary objectives will go to the state association directors’ executive committee next week. At this pace, it feels as though the year will be over before we know it.

Highlights

January 15th, 2010
  • Tom Hall, director of the publications department at SkillsUSA reported that on January 7 two SkillsUSA projects recently won awards. Our most recent annual report won an award in the annual Printing Industries of Virginia competition. With many other associations based in Virginia or having their annual reports printed here, this is quite an accomplishment for us. Congratulations go to Tom Kercheval, the B&I staff and everyone else who had a hand in our annual report. Also, in the Association TRENDS 2009 All-Media Contest, SkillsUSA’s 2009-10 Membership Kit won a gold award in the Membership Promotion Kit category. The 2009 competition included more than 425 entries in 26 categories of association communications. As the best in its category, our kit will be displayed in a “Winners’ Gallery” in D.C. next month, as well as on the TRENDS Web site. Congratulations go to Karen Perrino and all staff who worked on this project.
  • As reported before, Dave Worden joined the staff last Monday as the program director of the national SkillsUSA Championships. Dave brings years of experience with SkillsUSA – dating all the way back to 1978 – and tremendous experience in industry and as chairman of the Power Equipment Technology contest. We look forward to having his expertise and sense of humor on the national staff.
  • Staff traveled with a representative from the U.S. Department of Labor last week for a tour of CAT North outside Baltimore, Maryland. CAT is one of our favorite model SkillsUSA programs. The tour was part of DOL’s consideration of a grant for SkillsUSA activities and chapters in YouthBuild programs nationwide. We had a good discussion with representatives from YouthBuild and DOL on Monday of this week.
  • On Monday morning, January 11, we had meetings with the Engineering Alliance. Representatives from Project Lead the Way and the Technology Student Association (TSA) joined us. The official launch of the Engineering Alliance is today, January 15. The Web site address is www.engineeringalliance.org
  • John Foster, president and chief executive officer of NOCTI stopped by for a visit on January 5 to discuss a number of things including work NOCTI is doing on pathways and NOCTI support for the national SkillsUSA Championships. It was great to visit with John to discuss future cooperative efforts.
  • And, I visited last Friday with Board Member Emily DeRocco. We’ve wanted to get together to discuss the National Association of Manufacturers certification system and the possible fit of the Skill Connect assessments. We had a great discussion on this topic and the work of the Manufacturing Institute.

New Day for Opening Ceremony and Official Start of the SkillsUSA Championships

January 15th, 2010

Even though SkillsUSA returns to Kansas City June 20-25, 2010 for the 46th annual National Leadership and Skills Conference (NLSC), the first conference of this decade opens with a new schedule. For the first time ever, our Opening Ceremony and the official opening of the SkillsUSA Championships are being combined. All the excitement of both events will take place on Wednesday, June 23 at 7pm at Kemper Arena. The Champions Festival will be held on Tuesday evening in an exciting new venue. Delegations should still plan to arrive by Monday as the rest of the schedule for the week remains the same.

CTE Month and SkillsUSA Week

January 15th, 2010

February is Career and Technical Education Month and February 7-13 is SkillsUSA Week. SkillsUSA Week activities are a great way to highlight the good work your state association and local chapters are doing. For SkillsUSA Week ideas, see the Chapter Management section on the SkillsUSA Web site. SkillsUSA offers downloadable public service announcements at: www.skillsusa.org/educators/skillsusaweek.shtml.

For SkillsUSA clothing or gifts go to www.skillsusastore.org. Our supply service can also help you with custom items for your state conference or other events. Call Steve Korker at 703-716-3330, Ext. 137 or e-mail: skorker@egroup-inc.com.

On February 10 at 3:00 p.m., SkillsUSA will be holding a live teacher event at the SkillsUSA National Leadership Center. On February 11th at 11:30 a.m., SkillsUSA will be holding a Web conference. Both the event and the Web conference will be held to announce the release of the new ASK: Advisor ‘s Success Kit and the newly updated PDP Online. Attendees at the teacher meeting at the National Leadership Center and those who register in advance for the Web conference will receive a free copy of the new ASK: Advisor’s Success kit and other SkillsUSA materials (total value of $50 or more). I will give a SkillsUSA organization update, and members of the SkillsUSA training team will also update teachers on various SkillsUSA resources.

All state directors and instructors are welcome to attend the teacher meeting and/or participate in the Web conference. To attend the teacher meeting, please RSVP to Niki Clausen at nclausen@skillsusa.org. To participate in the Web conference, go to the following link on February 11 at 11:30 a.m. EST: http://web.ganconference.com/?meeting=3663486 To dial in for audio, call: 888-222-0475 Attendee Code: 6837807.

ACTE also offers excellent resources related to Career and Technical Education Month, which is celebrated the entire month of February. Go to: www.acteonline.org for more information.

Message from ACTE

January 15th, 2010

CTSOs are great advocates for career and technical education throughout the year. It is a student’s experience in career and technical education programs that bring to life the decisions legislators make regarding CTE.

The Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) wants to be sure federal legislators make those connections between their decisions and student experiences. ACTE invites students to attend the National Policy Seminar, March 8-10, at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Va. A special student rate and specific student content will make this a worthwhile event for students to learn how they can better participate in advocacy efforts.

For more information and to register go to: www.acteonline.org.

How Green is Your SkillsUSA Program?

January 15th, 2010

SkillsUSA is joining many other organizations by “going green,” and we’ve now had our own national Green Team for two years. Surveys of our members indicate that students are environmentally conscious and committed to the principles of environmental stewardship. SkillsUSA is working to create a greener national conference, asking TECHSPO exhibitors to consider eco-friendly booth exhibits and giveaways, offering recycling throughout the convention center and striving to appropriately recycle/donate leftover contest materials and food to reduce waste. We’d like to learn what state associations are doing to go green. We’d also like to hear about local chapter service projects based on eco-friendly procedures, environmental education or sustainability. We are encouraging eco-friendly projects be conducted during the SkillsUSA National Week of Service and these will be showcased in the future. Please send information on your green initiatives to us, and please forward this information to local chapters. Send information to greenteam@skillsusa.org.

2010 SkillsUSA University Reminder

January 15th, 2010

We are currently accepting proposals from high-quality presenters of innovative, timely and dynamic educational sessions to be presented at the 2010 SkillsUSA University in Kansas City, Mo. All sessions will take place at the Downtown Marriott or Bartle Hall of the Kansas City Convention Center on June 23, 24 and 25.

If any state director or instructor would like to present, please send an e-mail with a proposed topic to Deborah Kenn Tripp at dtripp@skillsusa.org.

Possible topics: local chapter activities; fund-raising; community service; SkillsUSA program of work success stories; business etiquette; communication skills for students; local industry partnerships, etc. These can be best practices (with a local advisor presenting) or an expert in the subject area. If you do not want to present, but you have suggestions for workshop topics, please feel free to forward them to us.

A memo has gone out to all technical committee chairpersons and to presenters from last year. If you know of people who might like to present, please feel free to forward them this information. The deadline for proposals is February 22, 2010. For more information and a Request for Proposal, go to: www.skillsusa.org/events/skillsuniv.shtml.

See PDP as Never Before

January 15th, 2010

All levels of the all-new version of PDP Online are now available. This includes, for the first time online, the SkillsUSA competencies. The SkillsUSA student competencies feature 20 SkillsUSA-related competencies, plus the guidelines for completing the American Degree.

PDP Online is an exciting way for your students to connect to their careers, their communities and their futures. With content that now matches the latest printed edition, it’s a flexible way for students to build the career-enhancement skills they’ll need to succeed. For more information and to see a demonstration, go to www.skillsusa.org/educators/pdponline.shtml.

Cliff Weiss Essay Contest

January 15th, 2010

The Association for Career and Technical Education announced the topic for the Cliff Weiss Essay contest in the memory of former ACTE Senior Director of Communications Cliff Weiss (1951-2004). This year’s topic for secondary and postsecondary students is “How is CTE an investment in your future?”

In the essay, students will illustrate how career and technical education (CTE) has helped them enter or make strides towards a challenging career field or postsecondary education. ACTE will use these essays to inform policymakers, parents and educators about CTE’s role in preparing students with the knowledge and skills necessary to be competitive in today’s global economy.

The contest is open to secondary and postsecondary students taking at least one course in CTE. The essays should be between 400-600 words, in Microsoft Word format, one entry per person, and e-mailed by Friday, February 12, 2010 to essaycontest@acteonline.org. A secondary and postsecondary student winner will each receive an award of $250 in addition to having their essay published in ACTE’s Techniques Magazine.

For complete rules on the contest, please visit ACTE’s Web site at http://www.acteonline.org/essaycontest.aspx or contact Sabrina Kidwai at skidwai@acteonline.org. Winners will be announced at the end of February.