- Membership has broken through to 300,483. That means when we add in alumni and other memberships, we’ll be over 320,000 for the year. In an economy that’s really hitting our schools, it’s something to celebrate.
- I attended the HVACR Instructor National Workshop in Landsdowne, Va. I was the featured speaker at the closing on March 25 and did both a legislative and SkillsUSA update.
- The Manufacturing Institute of the National Association of Manufacturers has just published a report called “Roadmap to Education Reform for Manufacturing.” Among its recommendations to overcome skilled worker and skill shortages: “Expand successful youth development programs . . . These programs must be replicated and brought to scale if we are going to reach the number of students necessary to reinvigorate manufacturing . . .” And, the first of the three listed organizations is SkillsUSA, and it is cited two more times as well. Thanks go to Emily DeRocco and Lynn Scheitrum of Air Products for making this happen. Here’s the link: http://institute.nam.org/view/The_Manufacturing_Institute_Releases_Roadmap_for_E/info
- Brenda Dann-Messier, assistant secretary of education, has requested that student organizations take students and teachers to Washington in May to hold a town hall-style meeting in her CTE Community Conversation series. She wants to hear from the students and then the teachers on career clusters and career pathways. SkillsUSA will be there.
- And, the YDF Capitol Hill visits on April 7 were a huge success. Meetings were scheduled with staff members from the Senate Health, Labor and Pensions Education Committee and with two of Senator Rockefeller’s aides on the Commerce Committee. We met with Brenda Dann-Messier and individual YDF members made constituent visit appointments. I’ll give a more detailed report next time.
Highlights
April 15th, 2011Highlights
April 1st, 2011- Membership now stands at 299,879 paid student and professional members and 30 states have now exceeded their membership last year. Memberships continue to come in slowly, and we now have 18,969 alumni members. . A reminder – professional and alumni memberships count; so, be sure to add yours as soon as possible and encourage others too. Here’s another reminder of the Web link that has simplified the process for individuals joining SkillsUSA as professional members (non-advisors/instructors): www.skillsusa-register.org/reports/JoinAsProfessional.aspx.
- On March 8, we received a “Sustainability Post-Occupancy Evaluation” (what we call an “energy audit”) on the SkillsUSA National Leadership Center conducted by Second Eden Studio. The draft report looks at eight areas including energy, carbon, water, and building materials. A nice feature of the audit is that suggestions for improvements are ranked in three categories: low or no cost, moderate cost and then the big one, investment. That’s language we understand. The final report is due June 2011.
- Nicholas Pinchuk of Snap-on was honored as the Business Leader of the Year by the Association of Career and Technical Education during the Policy and Planning Seminar on March 8. I was honored to attend, along with SkillsUSA Board Member, Greg Rintala of Snap-on.
- Staff spoke recently to trainers of the International Training Institute for union apprentices. She said of the 150 trainers in the audience, only 10 had ever heard of SkillsUSA; but, they thought they needed to know a lot more now.
- On March 16, I taped a radio interview with “The Money Pit” Home Improvement Media. It was broadcast on Sunday, March 20, and was nationally syndicated to 210 stations including WABC AM in New York City. I covered information on the need for skilled workers in construction and what it means for students to be career ready. The Money Pit connection came about through the CEO Champion of the Year program for John McGlade of Air Products last fall. Tom Kraeutler, president, was one of the invited news media guests for that event.
- It was reported to the staff on March 16 that we now have orders for 6,200 Skill Connect Assessments, double last year’s orders. She said three states have already ordered assessments for their state competitions and two more are to come.
- And, finally, we already have 60 SkillsUSA University presentations booked, and the Championships office has held six webinars with technical committees and national education team members to get ready for conference.
Highlights
March 1st, 2011- Air Products’ John McGlade, CEO Champion of the Year, will be a featured speaker at the National Association of State Directors of Career and Technical Education consortium (NASDCTEc) spring meeting in Washington, D.C. SkillsUSA is delighted John will take the time to talk to the state leaders of CTE about their new vision for CTE, the value of CTE and maybe just a little about the value of SkillsUSA. Thanks to Laurie Gostley-Hackett, Youth Development Foundation Committee member from Air Products, for her coordination of John’s participation.
- In answer to proposed cuts to Perkins funding this year, and in support of both NASDCTEc and the Association of Career and Technical Education (ACTE) urgent requests to contact Congress, SkillsUSA sent out more than 16,000 e-mails asking our professional members and technical committee members to call Congress. We’re getting reports back from the field. One said: “Our congressman said his office has been flooded with faxes and e-mails so he’s shut them down. Calling is the only thing that works.” It appears this will be a busy year for advocacy given the pressure of the federal budget.
- In an effort to encourage more U.S. participation in the WorldSkills Competitions this October, we have been working with the London organizing committee to offer special hotel/conference packages to our members. These packages would be available for five-night stays either at the beginning or end of the conference (from October 5-8) and would include breakfasts, admission to the competitions and to the opening or closing ceremonies, transportation to and from the airport and an excursion. The costs are approximately $500 (U.S. dollars) per person based on SkillsUSA registering at least 50 people. The organizing committee has put together various other hotel packages, and their travel agency will work directly with individuals who prefer to plan their own trips. Contact them by e-mail at worldskillslondon@travelplaces.co.uk. All information regarding the competitors, the 2011 WSC schedule and the housing packages can be viewed on our Web page at www.skillsusa.org/compete/worldteam.shtml. Please direct any questions to akranenberg@skillsusa.org.
- Here’s a list of additional reports. The executive directors of the Career and Technical Student Organizations (CTSOs) held a meeting with Brenda Dann-Messier, assistant secretary, U.S. Department of Education, on February 15 to discuss CTSO policy. We started the energy audit of the National Leadership Center on February 25 and hope to have a preliminary report ready by the next board meeting. The second half of the staff has now gone through (and passed) Red Cross CPR and First Aid training. Cindy Sutton, former YDF member and now executive VP of Earth Alive dropped by the office on February 7 with the two co-founders of Purple Heart Homes seeking advice for the start up of a nonprofit. And, finalists for the Lowe’s national conference pin and T-shirt designs have been selected. Lowe’s will be announcing the winners soon.
Highlights
February 15th, 2011Membership as of Friday was 269,044 and that’s exceeding the previous year same day total by 15,960. We have just about two weeks until the membership deadline, and we’re cautiously optimistic.
We added a new corporate partner. Blaklader-North America has come on board as an unrestricted sponsor for the SkillsUSA Championships.
The 2011 Lowe’s SkillsUSA Grants have been announced. Schools and colleges received Community Service Grants in 12 states and Campus Improvement Grants in 16 states. The list can be found at: www.skillsusa.org/educators/lowesgrants.shtml#Lowes 2011.
Two representatives from Project Lead the Way (PLTW) came to the SkillsUSA National Leadership Center to visit recently. Rosanne White and Sandy Honour of TSA (Technology Student Association) joined us. The discussion was around a new online portfolio program developed by PLTW to encourage student innovation for pre-engineering students. It’s supported by a grant from the Kern Family Foundation and is tied in with the Small Business Administration. They also pledged continued financial support for Engineering Alliance Web updates this year.
We’re working on the strategy for the April Youth Development Foundation Committee meeting visits in Washington, D.C. We know the committee will have great things to say about career and technical education and SkillsUSA.
Highlights
February 1st, 2011- Membership as of January 31 stood at 243,342. That’s 9,927 over our membership on this date last year.
- As a follow-up to our challenge to make our national headquarters campus energy neutral by 2020, we met by teleconference with DPZ Architects and Town Planners and with Second Eden Studio, a green consultant/design firm. Since that meeting, we have received a quote from Second Eden Studio to conduct an energy audit of our building/campus. The audit will help us determine the needs and budget for this initiative over the next nine years.
- Recently, I was in Chicago, meeting with the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF) and their affiliate staff members who manage “ProStart” and “ServSafe” certificate programs. I met with NRAEF program managers and the interim executive director. We agreed to crosswalk our technical standards with their national standards and to align them as fully as possible. NRAEF also agreed to appoint a representative to serve on our national technical committee for culinary arts.
- While the Ohio group was here, Momentum, one of the U.S. Army’s agencies, and representatives of the Army met us to discuss our partnership and how to engage in more students at the local and state levels. They joined staff and the Ohio group for lunch and heard very passionate presentations by our students.
- And, we’re still carrying the word on state association boards. Staff traveled to Massachusetts to assist its board with strategic planning, and I went to Arizona to conduct board training and strategic planning. As a result of our work together, the Arizona board and I developed a new strategic plan for the state association. The national office staff produced and published the plan, and it was e-mailed to all Arizona board members within one week of our meeting.
Highlights
January 15th, 2011- Membership as of January 13th stands at more than 202,944 or more than 13,268 over our membership on this date last year.
- Speaking of membership, the Membership Mega Prize program is gaining sponsorships including the Louisville Convention and Visitors Bureau, N.E.W. Customer Service, Klein Tools, Kobalt Tools and IRWIN tools. For information on the drive to increase our membership through incentives, please go to www.skillsusa.org/join/megaprize.shtml.
- The report on the State Farm grant is complete, and staff did an extensive job recently reviewing Lowe’s applications for campus improvement and community service grants. To view it online, go to www.skillsusa.org/educators/statefarm.shtml.
- This year’s national staff charitable donation was to benefit the 27-year old son of a cosmetology teacher at C.S. Monroe Technology Center in Leesburg. The young man has a family, lost his job and his health benefits and is being treated for cancer. The national staff was extremely generous and the donation was genuinely appreciated. A lot of students at the school are also working to raise money for the same cause.
- Bruce Potter’s official last day with the national staff was Tuesday, December 28 and he has moved on to begin his new job as high school state association director for New York state. We wish him all the best.
- National staff worked through strategic planning this week. It was our 11th Week of Excitement. We took some different approaches this year, beginning with Vision 2020 and the big picture, and then wrote some macro objectives to which we wrote department strategies, tactics and business plans. It was very exciting. We’ll be making our first report on new objectives to the state association director association officers at the end
Highlights
January 1st, 2011- Membership as of December 22 stood at 180,132 or 13,670 over our membership on that date last year. It also appears that Total Participation Plan membership is increasing over last year.
- Staff attended a panel discussion recently hosted by the Manufacturing Institute of the National Association of Manufacturers and Youth Development Foundation member Emily DeRocco. The subject of discussion was the disconnect between the skilled worker needs of manufacturing employers and the education system. Panelists included former SkillsUSA board member Bryan Albrecht and current YDF member Lynn Scheitrum of Air Products.
- There are two new developments at the National Leadership Center. Staff reports that the wheelchair lift is now installed and has received its certificate of completion. Thanks go to Lowe’s for helping to underwrite this important improvement in service to our guests and members. And, SkillsUSA will be installing a new FIOS connection that should boost our Internet speed considerably and at a much reduced cost.
Highlights
December 12th, 2010- Membership as of December 14, stands at more than 168,436 or nearly 15,820 over our membership this date last year. And, it’s been announced that Rhode Island is the first state association this year to exceed its overall 2009 membership total.
- SkillsUSA’s Vision 2020 goal statements are now visible to members, sponsors, state associations and the public. The short statement of SkillsUSA’s future vision has its own Web landing page, and there’s a one-page PDF that goes into a little more detail. Just click on: www.skillsusa.org/about/vision2020.shtml.
Highlights
November 15th, 2010- Of course, the big news was the SkillsUSA CEO Champion of the Year dinner, but I covered that in a fairly comprehensive report previously. SkillsUSA continues to receive rave reviews and congratulations from those who attended.
- As I reported in a previous e-mail, I spoke during the North American STEM Education Symposium and attended the Graphics EXPO in early October. I’ve also recently met with Robert Hivish of Xerox, who talked about digital components in our graphics competitions. As a result of the STEM Symposium, Staffspoke recently to the Hartford County, Md. public schools where they’re interested in using our Work Force Ready System standards and assessments for the school system. They also invited representatives from nearby Pennsylvania schools. Another STEM development—Rosanne White, executive director of TSA and I were invited to the first annual Project Lead The Way STEM Conference in Washington, D.C. Approximately 900 attended. We served on two separate panels, to discuss the power of competitions in inspiring students STEM success. It was also a great opportunity to discuss the Engineering Alliance. While at the conference, Rosanne and I met with John Lock, president of Project Lead the Way, regarding the Engineering Alliance and reinforcing STEM skills. And on November 1, YDF member Mike Ogilvy and Brenda Quinn of intelitek visited to talk about the Center for Energy Workforce Development assessment project. SkillsUSA is just connected everywhere!
- Staff recently attended a meeting at the Department of Labor to discuss the YouthBuild grant. Plans for funding the grant are underway as are strategies and site selection. It looks as though the initiative could be in place starting next summer.
- Finally, thanks again to YDF member Dave Camden of Toyota, SkillsUSA now owns a brand new, beautiful and fully-loaded 2011 Toyota Sienna van.
Highlights
November 1st, 2010- I spoke during the North American STEM Education Symposium held October 3 and 4 in Manchester, N.H. My presentation was on the Skill Connect Assessments and how they can be used to assess STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) skills. Approximately 150 STEM educators attended, and the presentation was well received. As a matter of fact, one member of the audience who identified herself as a school administrator stood up and addressed the audience saying: “These are the best assessments on the market. Check them out.”
- Next stop was Graphics EXPO at McCormick Place in Chicago from October 4 to 7 at the invitation of Eileen Cassidy and Ralph Nappi of NPES. Two SkillsUSA students were honored during the show. One was a Championships gold medalist for three straight years and the other student – who is from the same instructional program – was the NPES design contest winner. I met with executives from Heidelberg and Xerox while there. Xerox is very interested in the Skill Connect Assessments.
- I conducted board training in Indianapolis, Ind. on October 12 and met with Julie Yeater, former SkillsUSA board president. Indiana is attempting to recruit more board members from industry. So, board member Ted Norman of MSSE and I made some calls, and I’m pleased to say that Snap-on, Caterpillar, Air Products, State Farm and Lowe’s have all expressed interest in having their local representatives serve on state association boards across the country.
- During our last staff meeting, we received several pieces of good news. Six sites have been selected and mentors identified for the YouthBuild grant project. A meeting is scheduled with U.S. Department of Labor officials to discuss the project. The Alumni Coordinating Committee met here in Leesburg recently. Alumni membership is now over 17,300, and Ohio, Texas and Wisconsin alumni are working on their constitutions to establish their state associations. We’re writing a contract with The Center for Energy Workforce Development to develop a new assessment for the center using our employability skills assessment and engineering assessment and cross walking both to the Career Skills Education Program. The Center is working under a Gates Foundation grant. Staff reported on excellent meetings in Kansas City with the IBEW, Teamsters and the Kauffman Foundation, among others.
- And, membership is up 13,248 over last year at this time and 1,139 Skill Connect Assessments have been sold this year.
