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2013 SkillsUSA University

January 15th, 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.

Tags: NLSC, SkillsUSA University
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Call for Talent Reminder

January 15th, 2013

National Anthem Singer Do you know a talented singer who would enjoy a special performance opportunity? SkillsUSA seeks singers for the Opening Ceremony or Awards Ceremony during the 2013 SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference. We are looking for a SkillsUSA student member to sing the national anthem or another patriotic song appropriate for opening special sessions. Singers may sing a capella or to a pre-recorded instrumental track.

Send in all audition videotapes on DVD, postmarked by February 1, 2013 to: Heidi Walsh, SkillsUSA, 14001 SkillsUSA Way, Leesburg, VA 20176. Questions may be directed to her at 703-737-0610 or hwalsh@skillsusa.org.

Tags: NLSC, SkillsUSA Talent
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Call for SkillsUSA Talent Reminder

December 20th, 2012

Tags: NLSC, SkillsUSA Talent
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Save the Date: 2013 National Leadership and Skills Conference

November 30th, 2012

SkillsUSA’s National Leadership and Skills Conference will be returning to its usual schedule in 2013. The conference dates were skewed by a couple days this past June in connection with Kansas City hosting the Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game.

The NLSC 2013 schedule will be as follows: 49th NLSC – Kansas City, Mo – June 24-28, 2013.

So, the 2013 NLSC schedule will be from Monday to Friday. This means the Opening Ceremony will be held on Wednesday, June 26, the SkillsUSA Championships will be held Wednesday and -Thursday, June 26-27, and the Awards Ceremony will be held Friday, June 28.

For the complete NLSC 2013 condensed agenda, go to: www.skillsusa.org/events/nlscagenda.shtml.

Tags: NLSC, Save the Date
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2012 Awards Ceremony DVD Reminder

November 15th, 2012

Winning a national medal at the SkillsUSA Championships is a monumental achievement. Relive the moment of glory with this DVD of the Awards Ceremony from SkillsUSA’s 2012 National Leadership and Skills Conference. This is the same footage that appeared during the live Internet stream of the event and on the big screens at Kemper Arena. Some speakers and performances have been edited for copyright reasons. The DVD includes closed captioning. To order, call 800-321-8422 or go to: www.skillsusa.org/store/dvd.html.

Tags: Awards Ceremony, DVD, NLSC
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2013 American Airlines Discount Program for SkillsUSA

November 1st, 2012

American Airlines continues an airline discount program for the 2013 National Leadership and Skills Conference and the 2013 Washington Leadership Training Institute. See the following for instructions:

2013 NLSC

Attendees using correct code can use the five percent discount on the lowest published fare. The discount is good for American Airlines flights into Kansas City International Airport – MCI – Kansas City, Mo. A discount agreement is valid June 16 through 30, 2013. To make airline reservations, call American Airlines at 1-800-433-1790 from anywhere in the United States or Canada and refer to your Promotion Code 1963DK or go online to www.AA.com and choose “More Flight Search Options” and insert the promotion code in the appropriate box. At this time there is no ticketing charge for reservations made and ticketed on www.AA.com. Please allow one hour for the code to be loaded for use on www.AA.com. The percentage discount can be booked online at www.AA.com for American Airlines and American Eagle flights only.

2013 WLTI

Attendees using correct code can use the five percent discount on the lowest published fare. The discount is good for American Airlines flights into Reagan National Airport (DCA-Washington, D.C.) Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI-Baltimore, Maryland) and Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD-Herndon, Virginia). A discount agreement is valid September 15 through 29, 2013. To make airline reservations, call American Airlines at 1-800-433-1790 from anywhere in the United States or Canada and refer to your Promotion Code 8493BC or go online to www.AA.com and choose “More Flight Search Options” and insert the promotion code in the appropriate box. At this time there is no ticketing charge for reservations made and ticketed on www.AA.com. Please allow one hour for the code to be loaded for use on www.AA.com. The percentage discount can be booked online at www.AA.com for American Airlines and American Eagle flights only.

Tags: Airline Discount, American Airlines, NLSC, WLTI
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National Conference Pin and T-shirt Competition Reminder

November 1st, 2012

February 1, 2013 is the deadline for entries to the SkillsUSA National Conference Pin and T-shirt competitions. This event is open to all paid student members of SkillsUSA. This is a great way to have a student and advisor from your state recognized in front of a national audience. A plaque for the teacher and student, plus a school grant to the advisor of the winning student will be announced at a later date. Rules are in the membership kit and are also posted on the SkillsUSA website at: www.skillsusa.org/compete/pindesign.shtml. Questions may be directed to Heidi Walsh at 703-737-0615 or to hwalsh@skillsusa.org.

Tags: Contests, NLSC, Pin Design
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2013-14 Technical Standards

October 15th, 2012

The Technical Standards are valid for two years. These Standards are the result of many hours of work from a collaboration of industry partners, subject matter experts and SkillsUSA staff who worked diligently to create a user-friendly product. The Standards provide our chapters and students with an up-to-date official competition guide for both the 2013 and 2014 SkillsUSA Championships. We post changes to any of the contests on our website on the “Contest Updates” page. If a posting appears on the updates page, it supersedes the Technical Standards as written. The 2013-2014 Technical Standards will be without the score sheets as they change year to year. These are available at no charge by going to: www.skillsusa.org/compete/scorecards.shtml.

The CD-ROM package, including the Standards, an information piece, a poster and the 2012 contest projects, can be purchased for $19.95 through the SkillsUSA online catalog at: www.skillsusa.org/store/contests.html. Contest singles cost $10.95 each and include the 2012 contest project (if available) as well as helpful hints from some of our technical committee members.

The Standards are available as a 480 page perfect-bound book version for $35.95, plus shipping and handling. To purchase this printed version through the online catalog, look beneath the listing for the CD-ROM package and link for purchasing on Lulu. This button will take you to LuLu.com to place your order. To further our efforts to produce more eco-friendly materials, we’ve chosen LuLu to deliver this on-demand printed version. Delivery time is approximately three to five days, depending on the selected delivery option. Please be advised the book version of the technical standards does not contain the 2012 SkillsUSA Championships contest projects.

Tags: Contests, NLSC, SkillsUSA Championships
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Highlights

September 1st, 2012

The Best of Brand Awards were presented during the state directors’ conference in Rapid City. Congratulations go to: SkillsUSA Georgia for capturing Best of Brand in the Website Category and Best of Innovation, Membership Recruitment Category; SkillsUSA Massachusetts for Best of Brand in the Multi-Media Category and Best of Innovation, Advocacy Category; and, SkillsUSA Wisconsin for its Best of Brand in the Print Category.
In early August, I had a great trip to Yakima, Wash., to do two presentations on the Skill Connect Assessments. The first was a panel discussion including other assessment providers. The second presentation was strictly on our assessments. Both presentations were packed with people. I also got to spend some great time visiting with Eleni Papadakis, the Washington state CTE director.
I received a nice letter from Assistant Secretary of Education Brenda Dann-Messier thanking SkillsUSA for inviting her to participate in the national conference. The part I liked best comes at the end of this paragraph (that I’ll paraphrase): ”The Administration’s blueprint for Perkins reauthorization calls for transformation of our career and technical education programs based on our key principles: effective alignment of CTE and labor market needs … strong collaboration [among education and employers] … meaningful accountability [for academic, technical and employability skills] … and increased emphasis on innovation. Through your national skills competitions, and the many state and local competitions and activities that SkillsUSA offers throughout the year, your organization is already demonstrating the key reform principles in action!”
In a quick update on national conference media coverage, we’ve documented over 100 stories about conference and/or winners in the greater Kansas City region from May into August. As a matter of fact, there’s a feature on a local medalist that ran several times beginning August 22, so it keeps on going. That figure is up over the 85 stories last year. The news releases on medalists and Skill Point recipients were emailed out almost immediately after conference, arriving before the July 4 holiday. A total of 5,581 releases were sent to daily and non-daily papers. And, trade press has been very good. Some of the trade press celebrates the fact that there are more contestants in the contests they cover. They see that as a sign of increasing interest in their fields.
Champion of the Year invitations were delivered directly to Member offices on Capitol Hill on August 20. In all, we invited 11 Senators and 12 Representatives, including Paul Ryan who just happens to represent the district in Wisconsin where Snap-on has its headquarters. We also invited representatives from the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Labor. A press conference is scheduled at the National Press Club during the morning of September 18.
During our staff meeting on August 8, it was reported that Skill Connect Assessment sales were up 28 percent over last year and that we are seeing much more pre- and post-testing using the assessments. Staff also reported publication sales were up three percent over last year as of the end of June and the marketing department is still crunching the numbers on a survey taken by 650 students at conference.
Board President, James King, was here for the staff meeting and he told the staff ”There’s interest in CTE because we teach marketable skills. The leadership component is what was missing and that’s what SkillsUSA does. I can’t think of any organization in America that does more for students than SkillsUSA.”

Tags: Best of Brand, Board of Directors, Champion of the Year, Champion of the Year Dinner, Government Relations, Highlights, Media Relations, NLSC, Skill Connect Assessments, State Directors, Work Force Ready System
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Making Important Connections in Louisville

August 15th, 2012

Chris Powell and I traveled to Louisville on August 1 to meet with the Louisville Convention and Visitors Bureau’s CEO, Jim Wood, for dinner and to meet with General Electric executives on August 2. Jim had held a preliminary meeting with GE executives a few weeks ago to discuss a partnership between GE and SkillsUSA. GE’s Appliance Manufacturing Division is headquartered in Louisville, and we met with Deborah Wesler, GE’s global manager of communications and PR, and with their community relations manager. It was a great meeting, and we left very happy with the results. GE is considering support of the NLSC when we move to Louisville, including possible warehouse space in their Appliance Park facility, donation of appliances for the Championships, employee volunteer support and even a potential annual cash contribution. Thanks go to Jim Wood for making the connection for us. We are hoping for more such connections and prospect meetings as we prepare for the big move in 2015.

Tags: Louisville, NLSC
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