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February 1st, 2010
SkillsUSA Ohio brought 60 student regional officers and their state officers to the Washington area for a week’s worth of leadership training. Ten advisors were with them, half coming to the conference for the first time. State director Mike Cowles put together a tremendous agenda for training and visits to Washington including a trip to the Capitol to meet with their senators. As one of the advisors said as he climbed on the bus: “This trip will be a lifelong memory.”
One of the Ohio student officers said to me on Tuesday, January 19: “I’m just not used to this. Being here with all of these students from Ohio, and the teachers, and the SkillsUSA national staff. I feel as though I’ve stepped up into a whole new league. I hope I’m ready for it.” I assured her that I was sure she was ready for it. That’s why she was here. To me, that’s one of those SkillsUSA moments when students discover they can be surrounded by students who are just as engaged and energetic as they are. It’s fun to see.
Tags: State Conferences
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February 1st, 2010
Our Tenth Annual Week of Excitement (also known as the week of national staff strategic planning) took place January 12-15. The focus included a number of major initiatives already underway – such as the Work Force Ready System and the Engineering Alliance – and what objectives will help move us to the Vision 2020 goals.
We’re still in the process of evaluating department recommendations. At present, we have 12 pages of objectives (including a few tactics) in the five goal areas. Oftentimes objectives submitted by departments overlap each other, but that usually tells us we’ve hit upon an important action area. Frequently mentioned among the objectives is more extensive use of communications, networking and news media. This includes updating and using new technology that will be needed to keep pace with the needs of our members and partners. There are also many references to alumni, inclusion and diversity, grant management and fund raising. We’re confident we are putting in place the things we’ll need to reach our SkillsUSA vision for 2020.
Tags: Planning, Staff News, Vision 2020
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February 1st, 2010
I met with the State Association Director Officers January 20-23. They reviewed and gave their recommendations on the strategic plan. They also worked through a number of issues to benefit state associations and discussed issues relating to the upcoming SkillsUSA Championships and the National Leadership and Skills Conference. They began planning for the August 2010 state association director conference to include more local sharing by directors and a regional emphasis. Best practice topics were discussed for inclusion in the agenda and the list will be submitted in the near future to all of the state directors to rank by priority. They also received staff updates via Web conference on things such as the Lowe’s grant, alumni, the audit and state association insurance and the Kellogg Foundation grant. A tentative agenda for the August training conference was developed. Curtis Barnett, chair of the State Association Director Officers and Utah state association director, kept the meetings moving.
Tags: NLSC, SkillsUSA Championships, State Directors
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February 1st, 2010
- SkillsUSA staff is collecting items for relief efforts in Haiti. In addition, our office will be a drop-site for local residents looking to assist in the Haiti relief efforts. Staff is collecting goods from the community on February 11 and goods will then be taken to Catholic Relief Services and The Greater Washington Haitian Relief Committee for distribution in Haiti. The effort was organized by a friend of a staff member who has worked closely with the Haitian Embassy in Washington, D.C.
- On January 25, SkillsUSA sent out the news release announcing CTE Month in February on behalf of the CTE community. This is the release prepared by the Association of Career and Technical Education, The National Association of State Directors for Career and Technical Education consortium and all of the student organizations to celebrate CTE Month and makes a unified case for CTE. We used the VOCUS system for distribution, and the release went not only to the news media but also to all of the major internet sites such as Google and Yahoo… so it should get really good exposure and pick up. Here’s just part of the message. “As America continues to tackle economic, education and workforce issues, recent research illustrates the critical need to earn a high school diploma and complete some form of postsecondary education or training. For instance, The Economic Benefits of Halving the Dropout Rate: A Boom to Businesses in the Nation’s Largest Metropolitan Areas, a report released this month by the Alliance for Excellent Education, examines the impact of cutting a single class’s dropout rate in half. The report states that more than 30,000 jobs could be created in one year based on increased spending and investments, with an estimated $5.3 billion boon to local economies by the time this one class of graduates reaches the midpoint of their careers.”
- Finally, Region I Board Member Holly Harriel submitted her resignation this week effective February 1, 2010. She’s leaving the Rhode Island Department of Education to fill a leadership role at Brown University. We wish her continued success and thank her for her service.
Tags: ACTE, Board of Directors, CTE Month, Haiti, Highlights
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February 1st, 2010
SkillsUSA has once again teamed up with the National Technical Honor Society (NTHS) to promote outstanding student achievement within technical education. SkillsUSA is offering four $1,000 scholarships through NTHS (two college/postsecondary and two high school), and these will be awarded at the 2010 national conference. The deadline is March 1, 2010. For more information, go to www.skillsusa.org/students/nths.shtml.
Tags: NTHS, Scholarships
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February 1st, 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. The SkillsUSA Store 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.
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.
Tags: CTE Month, SkillsUSA Store, SkillsUSA Week
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February 1st, 2010
As part of SkillsUSA week, on February 10th 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.
Tags: Advisors, ASK, SkillsUSA Week, State Directors, Web Conference
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February 1st, 2010
The SkillsUSA Alumni & Friends Association is sponsoring a Pin Design Contest this year. The winning design will become the official Alumni Pin for the 2010 National Leadership and Skills Conference. The winner will also receive a plaque, an industry prize and a complimentary registration for the national conference.
The deadline for pin designs to be received by the national headquarters is March 1. If you have any questions, please contact Niki Clausen at nclausen@skillsusa.org or call 703-737-0639. For more information and contest guidelines, go to: www.skillsusa.org/supporters/alumni.shtml.
Tags: Alumni, Pin Design
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February 1st, 2010
The newly revised Advisor’s Success Kit (ASK) Tools for SkillsUSA Chapter Management is now available. With live links to SkillsUSA’s many Web resources, links to a series of online e-learning tutorials, teacher-generated tips, interactive forms to facilitate chapter operations, and sample documents, chapter advisors will have they need to guide their students as they learn to run their SkillsUSA chapter. The development of ASK was sponsored, in part, by Newell Rubbermaid. For more information, go to www.skillsusa.org/shop/ask.shtml.
Tags: ASK
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February 1st, 2010
SkillsUSA membership is an exciting part of the technical program for many students, and we want to help all program graduates to continue their SkillsUSA experience.
SkillsUSA encourages all spring 2010 high school or college graduates to join the SkillsUSA Alumni & Friends Association. We’re extending our offer of free alumni membership to all currently registered members. Alumni Members are sent a membership card, a link to our online magazine, SkillsUSA Champions, a quarterly newsletter, as well as the online Alumni forum. SkillsUSA is working to provide more networking opportunities for alumni and more opportunities for involvement at the local, state and national level.
To register, go to www.skillsusa.org/supporters/alumnireg.shtml.
Tags: Alumni
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