September 1st, 2010
Trade and industrial educators and administrators are invited to submit nominations for the ACTE National Trade and Industrial Education Division Awards. Individuals or groups may nominate qualified people. You may also nominate yourself. Please inform the person you are nominating.
Nominees will be contacted by the Trade and Industrial Education Division Awards Committee chairperson regarding the additional information required and the format to be followed. Materials to be submitted will include letters of recommendation, a statement of personal philosophy, photos and supporting evidence such as newspaper clippings, certificates, etc.
Awards will be presented at the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) Convention.
The deadline for nominations is September 30, 2010.
For more information and to submit your nomination, visit www.skillsusa.org/educators/acte.shtml
Tags: ACTE, ACTE Awards
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August 1st, 2010
The National Coordinating Council of Career and Technical Student Organizations (NCC-CTSOs) met at the Office of Vocational and Adult Education in Washington, D.C. on the 21st. The early part of the meeting was a proposal by the National Research Center for CTE to conduct additional research on the CTSOs. Specifically, the research would be modeled on the math study done by the center a few years ago to demonstrate the value of CTE in teaching mathematics. This would focus on CTSOs as an intervention model and would include professional development for advisors as the math study did.
In our round table discussion, we heard that ACTE and the National Association of State Directors of CTE consortium (NASDCTEc) believe that Congress will go ahead with level funding for CTE next year. NASDCTEc is pushing to have CTE written into the Elementary and Secondary Education Act particularly in light of career clusters. And, speaking of career clusters, SkillsUSA also received congratulations for the great job SkillsUSA Kansas State Association Director Ann Wick did showing how CTSOs fit into the career cluster model during the NASDCTEc Career Clusters Institute in Denver last June. Representatives of ACTE and NASDCTEc were pleased with the opportunity to present during the Call to Action session at conference.
Tags: ACTE, CTSOs, NASDCTEc, National Coordinating Council of Career and Technical Student Organizations
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May 1st, 2010
- On April 16, I went to Hershey, Pennsylvania where I had a great time at the 44th annual SkillsUSA Pennsylvania State Conference. State Association Director Jeri Widdowson told me this was the largest conference held in the state since she became director. There were 1,400 registrants, but with volunteers she’s estimating there were 2,000 people in attendance. They had great competitions and some wonderful teachers. I shook hands with every medalist, and I also had a chance to visit with another champion, board of directors member, Gerald Tylka.
- There’s a lot of movement in career and technical education (CTE) to capture a common vision of the role played by CTE in education and preparation for employment. As a matter of fact, there’s a lot of discussion that education, as a whole, should start to take on more aspects of CTE. That means students should be “college ready” (not requiring remediation at the postsecondary level) and “career ready” among many other things. The National Association of State Directors of Career and Technical Education Consortium (NASDCTEc) has released a vision paper for the field, and I believe it is worthy of a great deal of discussion. The link to read it is http://careertech.org/show/new_vision.
- The week of April 12th, the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) released a two-page definition of “Career Ready.” They say career readiness involves three major skill areas: academic skills (and the ability to apply those skills to concrete situations), employability skills and technical, job-specific skills. It’s an excellent addition to the discussion and certainly makes the case for CTE’s role in education overall, and by inference, the value of the student organizations. To give it a review, just click on http://acteonline.org/uploadedFiles/Publications_and_Online_Media/files/Career_Readiness_Paper.pdf.
Tags: ACTE, Career and Technical Education, Highlights, NASDCTEc, State Conferences
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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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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.
Tags: ACTE, CTE Month, SkillsUSA Week, Web Conference
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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.
Tags: ACTE
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December 1st, 2009
The annual Association of Career and Technical Education Convention in November was well attended – up approximately 20 percent over the year prior – to 5,300 educators and exhibitors. SkillsUSA was represented in many areas of the conference, and we were particularly proud to see former SkillsUSA board member, Ed Melott, onstage as the new president of ACTE.
Staff reports that our trade show exhibit was like old home week with lots of people stopping by our booth during the two days and some people checking out the Skill Connect Assessments and the new Online PDP. I also understand seminars held by SkillsUSA were well received, and we had good meetings with the Association for Skilled and Technical Sciences (ASTS) and the T&I Division of ACTE.
The second general session during the convention featured Assistant Secretary for the Office of Vocational and Adult Education at the U.S. Department of Education, Brenda Dann-Messier and Assistant Secretary of the Employment and Training Administration at the U.S. Department of Labor, Jane Oates. Both spoke of the important role CTE plays in the growing economy and – as we already knew from previous conversations – the two are working together to find ways to expand education and training opportunities for both youth and adults. I also attended a special invitation session with the secretaries. During a short comment period, I asked both secretaries as they work on integration of academic instruction and CTE to remember the importance of integration of employability skills and the unique role of CTSOs in delivering those skills. I also reminded them of the importance of business and industry partnerships in CTE and the role of student organizations again. Jane Oates, who has known SkillsUSA for years, said to Brenda Dann-Messier: “You’d better be ready for a long line of red blazers at your door.”
And, I was invited to serve on an expert panel of four during a meeting with representatives of the Chicago Public Schools who are working on a retooling plan for CTE in Chicago. With me on the panel were Jim Stone, National Research Center for CTE, Bill Daggett from the International Center for Leadership in Education and Greg Betheil with the New York City Department of Education. Also attending the meeting was Special Assistant and Advisor to Secretary Duncan, Greg Darneider. (Remember, Secretary Duncan was the CEO of Chicago Public Schools, so there’s a direct interest.) It was a lively discussion.
Tags: ACTE, Government Relations, Work, Work Force Ready System
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November 19th, 2009
This week I’m attending the conference for the Association of Career and Technical Education (ACTE) in Nashville, Tenn. We had a great board meeting and CMI at Tennessee State University yesterday.
Former SkillsUSA Board of Directors member, Ed Mellott.
I’m in opening session now. I’m very proud to see Ed Mellott, former SkillsUSA Board of Directors member, leading the session as the 2009 ACTE president. I’m also proud to see the Tennessee SkillsUSA students as welcome/greeters to welcome all to opening session this morning.
Chef Jeff Henderson speaks at the Opening Session.
The keynote speaker of the opening session is Chef Jeff Henderson. He’s a former prison inmate, now mentorand star of the Food Network program, The Chef Jeff Project.
I’m looking forward to the workshops today ‑ including two sessions on the Work Force Ready System. Make sure to review the ACTE Staff schedule for other SkillsUSA workshops throughout the convention.
SkillsUSA staff and National Officer Brandon Mullings at SkillsUSA's booth.
Our booth opens today at 10 a.m. (CST). We have some great SkillsUSA National Officers here leading the booth.
Tags: ACTE
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November 1st, 2009
- I’m delighted to report that Niki Clausen will be our new full-time alumni coordinator. Niki will start in her new position on November 2. She brings a wealth of background and experience as a former SkillsUSA national officer, a culinary teacher, a SkillsUSA chapter advisor, Oregon state association director and as a member of the national alumni coordinating council. Thanks go to both Lowe’s and Air Products for their support in making this happen.
- The October 6 ACTE (Association for Career and Technical Education) “Cooking Up a Future” Congressional Reception on Capitol Hill was quite successful this year. According to ACTE, at least four members of Congress and staff from over 100 congressional offices attended during the two-hour event. SkillsUSA was one of four student organizations participating and the only one doing a demonstration. Thanks to Chef Christine Gloninger and Chef Frans Hagen, three students from Annandale High School were preparing and serving crepes to the guests. They ran the exhibit to visit and everyone did.
- We had a great conference call with Brian Spiro and Tim Humes of Carhartt to discuss their future support for SkillsUSA including Carhartt becoming a clothing supplier through E-Group.
- During our meeting on October 13, the Architectural Woodwork Institute committed to increasing its support for SkillsUSA and helping form new chapters in states where AWI has member companies.
- The Senate confirmed Brenda Dann-Messier on October 5 to be the new assistant secretary for vocational adult education in the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE). The assistant secretary has a strong commitment to adult learning and helping students to transition into postsecondary education. We look forward to working with her.
Tags: ACTE, Alumni, E-Group, Government Relations, Highlights, Partner News
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November 1st, 2009
State Farm is sponsoring a Chapter Management Institute (CMI) that will provide instructors with the tools they need to develop, manage and advise a SkillsUSA Chapter in their school or classroom. Participants explore the mission of SkillsUSA; learn to use the multitude of resources available and engage in hands-on activities. The training utilizes interactive sessions and provides answers to questions such as: How do I get students involved? What is the best way to organize our activities? What does a chapter set out to do? What is a Program of Work? What materials are available to help students? This is a must for beginning or novice advisors wanting to start a chapter or better manage an existing chapter.
Take advantage of this low-cost training to learn how SkillsUSA can help your students to succeed – on the job and in life. The training will be held on November 18 from 1:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at Tennessee State University – TSU Avon Williams Campus, Room 313, 330 10th Avenue, North, Nashville, Tenn.
Training and materials are free to participants. There is a $30 registration fee to cover evening meal and breaks. Note: Bus transportation from Gaylord Hotel 9 Delta Entrance) to TSU is available for an additional $20.00.
To register, call Stephanie Bland at 703-737-0622 or email to sbland@skillsusa.org. Include your name, school, school address, phone number and e-mail address. Please let Stephanie know if you are interested in bus transportation when you register.
Registration Deadline: November 2, 2009
Note: Minimum attendance for each seminar is 25 participants.
For more information: www.skillsusa.org/educators/cmi.shtml.
Tags: ACTE, Chapter Management Institute
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