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State Leadership and Skills Conference in Full Swing

April 15th, 2013

I had a great time participating at the Mississippi SLSC about a month ago. I then went to the California SLSC on April 3 and then on to Wisconsin the following week. It is such an exciting time of year for SkillsUSA and hundreds of thousands of students, teachers and partners across the nation. And it’s a wonderful time for me and every staff member who participates in our state events. There’s no better place to see the excitement of our program manifest. And, speaking of state conferences, the SkillsUSA Georgia SLSC saw incredible attendance, and it was captured on streaming video and archived for viewing by U.S. Education TV. We have contracted with the same production company to stream highlights of our NLSC this year, including the entire opening and awards ceremonies, the Championships and other major conference events and activities. We’re excited about this new process.

To view highlights of the Georgia SLSC, go to the following link. I know you’ll be impressed: www.useducationtv.com/default.aspx?sid=1214#5fd7e2eea6024a6d9663689c52603499_0.

Highlights

April 15th, 2013
  • We have worked with Youth Development Foundation Committee member Cameron Ferguson and Caterpillar Inc. to confirm that Mike Rowe will indeed be our keynote speaker at the 2013 NLSC Opening Ceremony. CAT will also sponsor the Opening Ceremony and Ribbon Cutting and Dave Bozeman, CAT Vice President of Manufacturing will address the audience at the ceremony. Dave was also a presenter at the Harvard conference. A press release on the event was sent out on April 3. Here is the link: www.prweb.com/releases/2013/4/prweb10588382.htm.
  • Staff reports that the State Certified Trainer training in Denver, Colo. on March 15-16 went very well. Eight advisors and one state director attended and the participants came from six states. Wyoming participated for the first time. The participants were all excited about receiving the new materials and looked forward to sharing what they had learned with their states.
  • Staff traveled to Atlanta to work with Gayle Silvey on membership strategies for next school year.
  • Staff traveled to the Texas High School State Conference in Corpus Christi, April 4-6 to work with alumni initiatives.

Engage Training for Chapter Advisors, Activate Training for Chapter Leaders and Engage Training for State Officers

April 15th, 2013

Activate TrainingEngage for Teachers

Engage is the two-and-a-half-day teacher training program from SkillsUSA that empowers teachers to grow their SkillsUSA chapters by using the latest information and tools in employability, leadership development and teaching strategies. The program is taught by experts within youth leadership development such as Dr. Tim Elmore. Dr. Elmore will lead participants to discover their vision for Career and Technical Education as it relates to their classroom.

Advisors will dive deep into the world of chapter operations and discover how to use chapter activities as classroom teaching tools. Answers on how to successfully engage students in chapter meetings, committees, recruitment, fundraising, public relations and the entire program of work will be revealed. Teachers will gain the latest techniques involved in giving clear directions, questions, processing and accessing student achievement.

Engage will focus on new educational resources being launched by SkillsUSA at the National Leadership and Skills Conference. Teachers participating in Engage will receive a set of all the new resources as a part of the training.

Activate for Students

SkillsUSA is all about encouraging students to assume leadership roles and to take action, whether at school, at home, or in their communities. SkillsUSA students serve as role models and on teams that get things done.

This three-day leadership conference will help SkillsUSA members find their “start button” through action-oriented, high-energy and motivational programming. Activate is open to all SkillsUSA members.

Participants will be led through a series of self-discovery, hands-on training which will include the following topics: values and character; maximizing strengths and talents; goal-setting; time management; responsibility and self-discipline; image projection; leadership characteristics; leading without a title; teamwork; building trust; conflict resolution; respecting others; communication; serving others and planning a service project. Students will complete the course feeling empowered with the necessary tools for success.

Leverage for State Officers

Leverage will provide officers with high-energy and motivational training that focuses on servant leadership. State officers will be learning in a way that is fun and unique to the SkillsUSA experience. Participation in the training will not only develop and hone the state officers’ own leadership knowledge and skills, but they also will learn how to teach those leadership strategies to the state members that they serve.

State officer teams are important to the success of the organization. What the officers do and how they do it can have a significant impact – not only on the image and essence of SkillsUSA, but also on career and technical education (CTE) in general. While being elected to a leadership position is a worthy accomplishment, it comes with a set of responsibilities. And for the state officer’s own growth and development, it also presents many opportunities that will last a lifetime.

All three trainings will be held June 22-24 in Bartle Hall in Kansas City, Missouri and the cost is $135.00 per participant. Visit: www.skillsusa.org/events/engage.shtml and/or www.skillsusa.org/events/activate.shtml for full details.

CPR Certification Offered during NLSC

April 15th, 2013

The Alumni & Friends Association is proud to offer CPR certification during the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference on Tuesday, June 25 from 9 a.m. to noon at the Kansas City Downtown Marriott, Truman Room B. Online preregistration is required of all participants at: www.surveymonkey.com/s/VZNYZKL.

Inaugural Alumni Roundtable Training and Volunteering at NLSC 2013

April 15th, 2013
Alumni Coordinating Committee

Alumni Coordinating Committee

“Speed date” your National Alumni Coordinating Committee representatives on Monday, June 24 from 9 a.m. to noon. In this fun, fast-paced and exciting roundtable training session, you will gain knowledge in a variety of alumni topics from starting a state association to planning activities for alumni. Reserve your place at the table by June 1: www.skillsusa.org/supporters/alumni.shtml#RT

We are also seeking dedicated individuals to assist with the NLSC. Alumni who volunteer daily at the conference can have their conference registration fee waived. Alumni help is needed on the booth team, leadership team, Championships team and special services team. While at conference, alumni volunteers will also have the opportunity to network with partners, members, staff and other alumni, and will get to participate in conference events. This is a great way for alumni members to stay involved and continue the SkillsUSA journey. The registration deadline to be an alumni volunteer is also June 1.

An NLSC 2013 alumni registration form and the list of alumni activities are enclosed with the hard copy of this Executive Update for state association directors. Please pass it on to alumni from your states. For more information about the alumni training or being an alumni volunteer, please contact Heidi Walsh at hwalsh@skillsusa.org, or go to: www.skillsusa.org/supporters/alumninlsc.shtml.

SkillsUSA Competitor News Release Template

April 15th, 2013

A sample template release is on the SkillsUSA advocacy site. It’s a template to be used by state association directors, instructors and others to get the word out to the media and Congress about the students who qualified to compete or won in the state SkillsUSA Championships. The news release can be sent to local news media through the advocacy site, five outlets at a time. It is also possible to send the release to your U.S. Senators and Representatives. The site can be reached by going to: www.skillsusa.org/about/policy.shtml and clicking on “advocacy site.” Please encourage your teachers to use this valuable tool to promote their students and instructional programs.

Harley-Davidson Raffle

February 27th, 2013

Harley Raffle

SkillsUSA will, once again, be raffling off a Dyna Super Glide Motorcycle at the 2013 National Conference Awards Ceremony, Friday, June 28, in Kansas City. This event is made possible thanks to a generous donation by Harley-Davidson Motor Co., Inc.

The SkillsUSA Alumni & Friends Association will be the beneficiary of this year’s raffle. Tickets are $5 each or five tickets for $20.

Tickets can be purchase online at this link.

Honorary Life and Outstanding Career and Technical Educator Nominees Reminder

February 14th, 2013

NominationsIf you would like to nominate someone for SkillsUSA’s national Honorary Life Membership or Outstanding Career and Technical Educator, please submit your nomination by going to the following assigned links and completing the online application.

The deadline for both applications is February 18.

To nominate someone for Outstanding Educator, visit: www.skillsusa.org/educators/outstandinged.shtml. For Honorary Life, visit: www.skillsusa.org/about/honlife.shtml.

 

If you have any questions, please contact Marsha Daves via email – mdaves@skillsusa.org or by phone – 703-737-0605.

Competition Central

January 31st, 2013

SkillsUSA medalistsThe SkillsUSA Store is here to help students look their best this conference season. Visit our “Competition Central” section at: www.skillsusastore.org/skillsusa/welcome.asp today to find the full line of SkillsUSA work uniforms, official blazers and wind jackets, along with everything else they need to succeed.

And, please reference the official competition uniform chart for photos and descriptions of the uniform components needed for each competition.

2013 SkillsUSA University Reminder

January 30th, 2013

We are currently accepting proposals from high-quality presenters of innovative, timely and dynamic educational topics to present at the 2013 SkillsUSA University. This year SkillsUSA University is sponsored by Universal Technical Institute. All sessions will take place at the Downtown Marriott Hotel or the Kansas City Convention Center on June 26, 27 and 28.

We ask state directors or instructors who would like to present to send emails with proposed topics to Nikole Clausen at nclausen@skillsusa.org.

Possible topics: local chapter activities; fundraising; community service; SkillsUSA Program of Work success stories; business etiquette; communication skills for students; local industry partnerships, etc. These can be best practices (with a local advisor presenting) or an expert in the subject area. If you do not want to present, but you have suggestions for workshop topics, please feel free to forward them to us.

The deadline for proposals is February 28. For more information and a Request for Proposal (RFP), go to: www.skillsusa.org/events/skillsuniv.shtml.