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Home > Executive Perspectives: Tim Lawrence's Blog

The 2010 SkillsUSA Championships

June 24th, 2010

Today is the big day for SkillsUSA Champions from across the nation. The 2010 SkillsUSA Championships is today! With 96 contests and more than 5,600 competitors, the championships encompasses Bartle Hall, its Conference Center, Municipal Auditorium, American Royal Center and downtown Marriott, Crowne Plaza and Phillips hotels.

Make sure to take the time to stop by and see the contests in Municipal Auditorium and make the trip down to the American Royal Center (next to Kemper Arena) to check out the TeamWorks, Welding Fabrication and Welding Art Sculpture contests. The SkillsUSA Championships is supported by more than 1,000 companies and associations.

A new “green” event this year is the State Farm Innovation in Sustainability Showcase. Chapters will be displaying their projects from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. in Bartle Hall Lobby 2100.

But it’s not only contests today. SkillsUSA TECHSPO continues both at the outside street exhibits and in the lobbies throughout Bartle Hall. There’s still time to register for the Champions 5K Run. You have until 4 p.m. today at the Alumni booth (No. 232). There will be another Meet the Candidates session, business meeting and the SkillsUSA Delegates will cast their primary ballot for our new national officers.

Tonight, make sure you head out to Worlds of Fun theme park. It’s a great way to blow off steam after an exciting day of competition.

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Highlights

April 15th, 2010
  • The final membership report will be coming out today, and it looks like it will be above 304,000 and alumni membership is over 9,000. This is a remarkable year.
  • Staff reports that orders and preview requests for the Skill Connect Assessments have been pouring in steadily this month and last. They say that previews result in orders. There’s interest in all of the assessments currently available. According to staff, orders are from across the country with some concentration on the eastern seaboard and the central states, but no particular pattern except “everywhere.” Staff also visited North Dakota recently to present to high school and college administrators. The college administrators were doubtful at first, but became very enthusiastic as the day progressed. The high school administrators were enthusiastic all along.
  • Online news clippings from September through March have gone to all of the state associations for their use. Staff reports that most of the recent stories are about local and state conferences and competitions – of course – but  there are also a lot of nice features including reports on State Farm grant projects such as an energy-independent portable classroom including photovoltaic solar panels and geothermal heating in Maryland.
  • And, Engineering Alliance continues to pick up momentum. We’ve been getting questions on how to sign up entire school districts. That’s a nice challenge to have. Staff will be part of the Project Lead The Way train-the-trainer conference later this month.

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Highlights

April 1st, 2010
  • The final membership count won’t be official until April, but as of March 24, we have already exceeded last year’s total paid membership by 4,800 members! That means SkillsUSA will have another record-breaking membership year. Congratulations and thanks to all of the state association directors for making this possible.
  • National staff is definitely on the road visiting the states. I just mentioned my recent visits to Georgia and Wyoming. Other staff members have recently visited – or will soon visit – Vermont, Texas, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Arizona, California, Missouri, Florida and North Dakota. Every visit is a joy.
  • And, finally, I’d like to conclude with 12 highlights from the FY10 second quarter shared with the board last week:

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Highlights

February 15th, 2010
  • As the Kellogg project is winding down in March, we held a PMO planning meeting on Feb. 2. We’re seeing the results of the past three years come to fruition. We’re getting good responses to our marketing mailings and to the assessments from the field. More mailings are scheduled this month for the big launch in March. We are booked for our final Technical Advisory committee meeting at the Office of Vocational and Adult Education, U.S. Department of Education, in March so the department can witness first-hand the results of our efforts with the Work Force Ready System and the vulnerable communities projects.
  • We had two new state directors here at the National Leadership Center on Feb. 5 from Vermont and the Virgin Islands for training on state association management. We also had six people here from colleges across the country working with staff to guide our college/postsecondary initiatives
  • State Farm zone managers have announced the 12 recipients of the $10,000 Innovation in Sustainability grants. The list is located on our Web site at www.skillsusa.org/educators/statefarm.shtml. A big thank -you to State Farm for its support.
  • The Engineering Alliance should be launched soon. We’re doing the last run-through of the Web site, making sure everything is where it’s supposed to be and that all the buttons, bells and whistles work. We’re also polishing up the press release, Web postings and e-mail announcements. Before the general announcement goes to the field, we’ll send a special announcement to our own state association directors so they’re prepared.

Happy CTE Month and SkillsUSA Week last week. It’s a pleasure to know that together we are doing so much good for so many people.

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Highlights

December 15th, 2009
  • On Wednesday, December 9, several staff members rolled up their sleeves and put on their reading glasses to help review the hundreds of Lowe’s and State Farm grant applications for community and campus improvements and sustainability projects. Finalist selections were sent to Lowe’s and State Farm last Thursday. We’re looking forward to announcing the grants in January (State Farm) and February (Lowe’s).
  • Thanks to board members Curtis Barnett, Moe Broom, John Gaal and Larry Rabalais who joined a conference call to work on NLSC hotel lottery issues on December 10. Also on December 10, we had an all day meeting with intelitek to discuss marketing strategy for the Skill Connect assessments. Board member Greg Rintala flew in to be a part of the meeting.
  • As I mentioned previously, Jackie Parker of Newell Rubbermaid worked with our Inclusion and Diversity Committee at the end of November. Due to that work, the committee has created a new statement on inclusion and diversity for SkillsUSA: “In keeping with a tradition of respect for the individuality of our members and our role in work force development, SkillsUSA strives to ensure inclusive participation in all of our programs, partnerships and employment opportunities.”
  • Staff attended the National Association of Workforce Development Professionals Conference in Chicago, December 7-9, to exhibit the Work Force Ready System. More than 600 people attended – an increase from last year – with representatives from 33 states and 2 territories. This was our first time at this conference for the people who run programs such as Job Corps. They report they had quality conversations with some strong potential leads.
  • Staff attended the Georgia Fall Leadership Conference for Postsecondary in Atlanta in late November. It was reported that 600 people attended, half of them SkillsUSA members, and that Cassie Palmer did a great job managing the conference. Staff also said that because Commissioner Jackson was so impressed by our national conference in Kansas City this year she’s endorsed SkillsUSA in Georgia and is promoting SkillsUSA membership in the colleges.
  • This coming March, SkillsUSA will be helping Skills Canada to conduct its first leadership institute to mirror what we do in leadership training at the national conference. This is coming about in part at the request of Lowe’s which is supporting Skills Canada and would like the association to move beyond only contests in its program.
  • Staff reports that sales are up for the revised levels one and two of the Professional Development Program Online “and usage is way up.”
  • And, all the updated computers are installed (so staff using PCs are happier about that), warmer weather and programmable thermostats are making a positive change in our heating bills (and staff is warm and happy about that), and on Friday we went to Mount Vernon for our annual SkillsUSA Holiday Celebration. It was cold, but we were all together and honored several staff members for their service, so staff is happy about that too.

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State Farm Innovation in Sustainability Grants Offered

November 15th, 2009

SkillsUSA is pleased to announce a new program with our corporate partner, State Farm Insurance. In the past, State Farm has been committed to teacher development and training. They are increasing their support to SkillsUSA by establishing the Innovation in Sustainability Grant Award Program. The purpose of the Innovation in Sustainability Grant Program is to stimulate student awareness and interest in their environment and provide them with an understanding as well as skills and a voice to make a significant impact in their communities.

SkillsUSA chapters may apply for a State Farm grant of $10,000 to fund a green or sustainable program or project that uses innovation to ensure today’s needs are met without compromising future generations. One grant per State Farm zone (for a total of 12 grants) will be awarded for a project that culminates in a national showcase during the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference June 20-25, 2010.

Each $10,000 grant will designate $7,500 for project expenses and $2,500 in travel expenses to send one advisor and two students to the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference in June 2010. Winning chapters will present their projects to a panel of State Farm judges during the conference at the State Farm Showcase in Kansas City in June 2010. A first-place chapter will be selected from the presentations and will receive a $3,000 school award, the second-place chapter will receive a $2,000 school award and the third-place chapter will receive a $1,000 school award, in addition to the $10,000 grants.

Grant Parameters

Schools may apply for grants as a whole school or as an individual training program. Schools may also team up with another SkillsUSA chapter at a different school on a larger project. All trade areas are encouraged to apply for this program – the key to these grants is innovation. Examples of potential projects might be work with alternative fuel sources, recycling programs, construction of renewable energy sources, implementing weatherization projects, developing chemical disposal plans, creating organic food gardens and developing reforestation initiatives. The projects can be anything that is “green” or a sustainable project that uses innovation to insure that today’s needs are met without compromising future generations.

Applications

To apply, schools should submit an application, which is available online or as a PDF document. Electronic applications are preferred, but mailed applications will be accepted. For more information or to access the application, go to: www.skillsusa.org/educators/statefarm.shtml.

Deadline

Applications must be submitted by November 30, 2009. Successful applicants will be notified by January 29, 2010. Projects must be completed by June 1, 2010.

Questions

Please direct all questions on the program to SkillsUSA grant manager Kelly Horton at 402-309-4679 or email: khorton@skillsusa.org.

Thank you for sharing this exciting new program with your local chapter advisors!

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