Activities began with the board meeting on November 30. The meeting was well attended, both in person and online. The first quarter report for FY11 showed our work to be ahead of schedule. We had a good report and discussion on the Work Force Ready System as well as discussion about the national conference in Kansas City. Vision 2020 was approved in its online form, and the board requested that a summary statement be prepared to replace the vision that currently appears in the strategic plan. And, revisions to the FY11 budget were approved.

A big thank you goes to The Southern Nevada Career and Technical Academy in Las Vegas for hosting our board meeting. Culinary students prepared lunch and provided snacks throughout the day. The school provided excellent meeting facilities and great technology for the board Web conference. Three SkillsUSA Nevada state officers were with us. It was great to meet inside one of our schools. School administrators told the board that the school’s dropout rate is less than 1 percent. That’s a sign of what CTE can do. (Oh, and former SkillsUSA board member Mike Raponi is now the official Nevada CTE director. It was great to see him too.)