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Holiday Highlights

January 1st, 2010

It’s the season for cards and short messages, so I’m going to keep this brief as the holidays come by.

On December 14, I visited the Virginia Department of Education in Richmond to discuss the addition of the Skill Connect assessments to the Virginia approved assessment list. It was great to see and visit with Liz Russell, state director of career and technical education, Ed Sullivan, specialist and corporate member of SkillsUSA and other old friends from back in the day. Liz was very supportive of the Skill Connect assessments, and she will submit the entire list to the Virginia Board of Education in January for approval.

As I mentioned in a prior post, we held a full-day meeting here at the national office with intelitek on December 10 to discuss sales strategy for the Skill Connect assessments. The plan is to finalize strategy in January for the sales season this spring. At a minimum, we will have 30 assessments available in March, plus the four assessments offered in partnership with the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence. Particular thanks go to Board Member Greg Rintala for flying in from California to be part of the discussion. We benefited greatly from his experience.

Speaking of experience, on December 11, during the SkillsUSA staff holiday celebration, we recognized a cumulative 75 years of service from three staff members. Heidi Ambrose was honored for 20 years service; Susan Trent was honored for 25 years and Tom Holdsworth for 30 years. Several additional staff members were recognized for their first through seventh anniversaries. We toured George Washington’s Mount Vernon home and had a great luncheon on the grounds. It was a meaningful trip for staff to be surrounded by the history and patriotic feeling of Mount Vernon, the home of the “patriarch of liberty” to paraphrase The Marquis de Lafayette.

We are looking beyond the holidays. Meetings are coming up in early January with Project Lead The Way on the Engineering Alliance and with representatives from YouthBuild. The hotel lottery for the next national conference is complete. All the states are in the rooming block and all of the hotels are assigned.

It is the season to be grateful and I am. So is the SkillsUSA staff. We appreciate the support we receive from the state association directors, corporate members, national technical committee and all the other friends of the organization. We look forward to working with all of you to make 2010 our best year ever. Happy 2010!

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New Program Director of the SkillsUSA Championships

January 1st, 2010

SkillsUSA is delighted to announce the appointment of David Worden as the program director of the national SkillsUSA Championships, replacing Ada Kranenberg, who is retiring after 27 years of dedicated service to SkillsUSA. Dave will begin his duties at SkillsUSA on Monday, January 4.

Dave has served as the national technical committee chairman of our Power Equipment Technology contest since 1994. Dave received SkillsUSA’s prestigious Torch Carrier Award in 2005 and served a term from 2005-2007 as Region III Representative to the SkillsUSA Alumni & Friends Association. Earlier in his career, Dave volunteered with SkillsUSA Massachusetts and served its state-level Championships for 15 years. He also served on advisory councils for career and technical education in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York.

Professionally, Dave has experience as a general manager for Mower MD and enjoyed an eight-year tenure with Kohler Co. in Wisconsin, finishing as a senior training specialist — International. He has been an active member of the Equipment & Engine Training Council, presently serving in a volunteer role as vice president of the EETC board. Dave won the EETC’s Spirit Award earlier this year.

Ada will return to SkillsUSA for the month of January to work side-by-side with Dave during his orientation. Dave’s e-mail at SkillsUSA will be dworden@skillsusa.org and his phone number will be 703-737-0611.

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Highlights

November 15th, 2009
  • On October 21, I met in St. Louis with executives in the Global Opportunities Product Lifecycle Management division of Siemens. The meeting was arranged by board member Cameron Ferguson, Caterpillar, and student national officers Jason Brigner (Region III) and Brandon Mullings (college/postsecondary vice president) made the SkillsUSA presentations to Siemens. We talked about support for the SkillsUSA WorldTeam and getting their support on the Youth Development Foundation, on Championships technical committees and providing subject matter experts for engineering assessments in the Work Force Ready System. They’re very interested in giving software grants to schools.
  • We signed an agreement with GAERF (Graphic Arts Education and Research Foundation) to offer five co-branded PrintED/SkillsUSA Skill Connect assessments. The five are graphic communications, advertising design, screen printing, digital file preparation/digital file output and offset press operations/binding and finishing. News releases and official announcements are still being prepared. We’re very enthusiastic about this partnership because we are partnering with THE organization that certifies instructional programs and is recognized by the graphics/printing industry.
  • My trip to California on October 16 and 17 went well. I worked with the California board on board training, state association policy and worked with them on strategic planning.
  • Development of the instructional program for the Engineering Alliance is going well according to staff. Staff developed the EA logo, and we’re in the process of getting it trademarked.
  • According to our marketing director, “Monster Garage” on the Discovery Channel is now talking about having eight SkillsUSA students participate in the programs to be taped at the end of November and possibly airing this coming spring. Thanks go to Lowe’s and Kobalt Tools for making the connections.
  • On October 26, staff attended a manufacturing summit in Washington, D.C. hosted by NIMS (National Institute for Metalworking Skills) and the Swiss Embassy. Approximately 80 people attended. A common theme throughout was the frustration of domestic employers – and the disbelief of foreign manufacturers – with the U.S. public education system. “Over and over again we heard: “We want better CTE and we want more CTE.”” Assistant Secretary of Labor Jane Oates spoke during the summit.
  • We had a good training seminar on diversity for department directors on October 20 with Ellen Hyslope from Human Resources at Middleburg Bank. Her key message to managers: Make sure you’re focused on creating equal opportunities for all employees.
  • The Youth Development Foundation Committee’s spring meeting is scheduled for March 17-18. It will be held here at the national center and there will be a joint session with the board of directors at that same time.

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Highlights

January 1st, 2009
  • SkillsUSA publications were recognized for excellence by Association TRENDS Magazine. Out of over 300 entries, SkillsUSA Champions took silver in quarterly magazines “What is SkillsUSA?” took gold in the informational CD or video category and the revised Professional Development Program took gold in the educational program category.
  • On December 10, staff and I visited with the Kansas City Convention and Visitors Association (KCCVA) and with Hartsook, our fund-raising consultants, in Kansas City. Much of our meeting was dedicated to the fund-raising campaign for 2009. We talked about broadening fund raising to a larger area than just Kansas City. The KCCVA is optimistic about new hotels downtown being under construction during the next five years. And, SkillsUSA plans to hold a meeting in January with I-Build, a construction competition for middle-school students that is gaining popularity in Kansas City. Perhaps there are some areas of synergy.
  • The Lowe’s grant applications are in for community service and campus improvement projects and staff is busy reviewing all of them to select the finalists. Staff reports there are some good-looking proposals.
  • On December 12, we held our annual holiday celebration and staff recognition event with a trip to Washington, D.C. We visited the National Christmas Tree and the National Botanical Garden and then went to marvel at the newly remodeled and just reopened Smithsonian American History Museum. After lunch in D.C. we climbed aboard the motor coach and headed back to the national office to recognize our wonderful staff. It was a great day.

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