September 30th, 2011
- Washington appointments for SkillsUSA WorldTeam are coming right along. We now have a confirmed appointment and location for a briefing on the House side hosted by the CTE Caucus. Both Representatives and Senators will be invited to the briefing. It also appears we’re set to meet with staff from the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee in the afternoon. Invitations have also been extended to The White House and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. We’re hopeful of team coverage in the AOL/Huffington Post in addition to continuing coverage in PARADE. The reporter working on the Huffington Post story said her editor saw the PARADE article and said: “Here’s the way to put a face on what we’re covering. Let’s do profiles of these students.”
- On September 7, SkillsUSA West Virginia Director Paul Lovett and I visited my alma mater Mercer County Technical Education Center. We spoke to 24 teachers and administrators, did some training and delivered some SkillsUSA materials. The result? Mercer County Tech is going to be a 100 percent school with 600 members.
- On September 16, I joined Rosanne White and Sandy Honour of Technology Student Association in Baltimore for a meeting with Dr. Vince Bertram, the new CEO of Project Lead the Way. It was our first opportunity to do an orientation on the two organizations for Dr. Bertram and to discuss a relaunch of the Engineering Alliance. Dr. Bertram was extremely interested, and we’ll follow up with a proposal.
- And, on September 22, I presented to the U.S. Department of Labor Advisory Committee on Apprenticeship near Baltimore, Md. They wanted me to speak about SkillsUSA because they believe there are many areas in which we can be cooperating. I was accompanied by Caleb Houston our parliamentarian from Ohio. The opportunity was created in large part by our long-time friend Bob Baird of the Independent Electrical Contractors, along with Steve Mandes of National Institute for Metalworking Skills and Greg Chambers of Oberg Industries, Inc.
Tags: Career and Technical Education, Department of Education, Department of Labor, Government Relations, Highlights, Media Relations, Project Lead the Way, TSA, WorldSkills Competition, WorldSkills London, WorldTeam
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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.
Tags: Board of Directors, Department of Labor, Engineering Alliance, Government Relations, Highlights, National Association of Manufacturers, NOCTI, Partner News, Project Lead the Way, SkillsUSA Championships, Staff News
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