The smiles of students and instructors are everywhere during SkillsUSA state conferences this spring, along with the cheers of state student officers taking on new offices and the looks of deep concentration on the faces of student contestants. National staff is on the road cheering our students and teachers on and delighting in the work of our state associations. Attendance across all conferences appears to be level or slightly higher than last year. Something else we’ve all noticed: state dignitaries are attending our conferences as well and state directors of CTE are much in evidence. People are paying attention to what our students are doing.

On March 31, I spoke during the Rhode Island Awards and Recognition Ceremony. The featured speaker was Charles Fogarty, director of the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training. Vanessa Cooley, Rhode Island CTE director also attended. Josh Klemp and his team put on the high-quality conference Rhode Island is known for. The next morning, I enjoyed a great culinary program breakfast at the Providence Center and Technical Academy, an absolutely amazing school. One of the real thrills, though, was being served by two students who had won medallions the evening before. They were still wearing them, and their faces were just beaming.

From April 4 – 6, I was a special guest at the Kentucky Leadership Conference and SkillsUSA Championships in Louisville. Beth Brinly, commissioner of the Workforce Investment Cabinet was a featured speaker during the opening ceremony as was John Marks, the executive director of the Office of Career and Technical Education. Among the many things Steve Phillippi, Kentucky state association director can be proud of is the $3 million in scholarships offered SkillsUSA students every year.

Staff members have been visiting state conferences as well, including, Maine, Nevada, Texas, Virginia, Utah and Missouri. At the Missouri conference the keynote speaker was the secretary of education who said high schools should be working more closely with CTE programs.

If SkillsUSA is all about the students – and a good deal of it is – then there’s almost no better time to see and hear them than going to state spring conferences. Each conference is different, but they’re all fun. I’ll be attending nine this year, so I’ll be having lots of fun.

On March 23 – 25, I was in San Antonio for the SkillsUSA Texas College/Postsecondary Conference. The keynote speaker was U.S. Representative Francisco Canseco, and he spoke highly and favorably of the Perkins Act and SkillsUSA and he stressed the importance of skilled workers to rebuilding the nation’s economy. Richard Chappel of Snap-on Industrial was the industry conference chairman, and I spoke to the group as well. Texas has a strong group of state officers and 375 great students attended. Congratulations to Stacy Scott, state association director, and to Larry Haefling and Dr. Federico Zaragoza.

On March 26, I went to the West Virginia State Leadership and Skills Conference in Martinsburg. The keynote speaker there was Larry Faircloth, owner and president of a realty company, but also a candidate for governor. He talked about creating jobs in West Virginia and how he sees SkillsUSA and CTE as parts of the answer. I was there for the second day of competition and spoke to the teachers and during the awards ceremony. It was great to spend time with Paul Lovett, the energetic new state association director, and with corporate member, Rick Gillman.

I’ve been traveling through the states attending state leadership and skills conferences, and I’ve seen student performances that have amazed me. From state officers, leading massive delegations and officer candidates speaking about life-changing experiences – to teams in leadership competitions and highly-skilled students in skilled and technical competitions – this is the time of year that always grounds me in why SkillsUSA was founded 45 years ago. It also proves the value of our state associations and leaders.

The most amazing group of people is our state association directors. During state conferences, I see them put into practice our core values including integrity, respect, responsibility and service, and those values are reflected in their students.

I was in Ohio from April 22 – 24. The state officer team was excellent, and the team used a creative new way to perform the emblem ceremony at the opening of the conference. The Championships filled the entire Ohio State Fairgrounds and alignment to national standards and business support was evident everywhere. There was also an impressive group of VIPs attending and Lowe’s had a huge support contingent on site. Speaking of VIPs . . . I also spent time with Byrl Shoemaker, former director of vocational education in Ohio and founder of the first Ohio youth club for T&I students back in 1946. Byrl is now 91 years young and he attended our Founders’ Day Celebration at the National Leadership Center on May 7.

From April 26-28, I was in Tennessee for a high-quality conference and Championships with a unique state conference model. They hold two conferences in one event. There’s a postsecondary conference and another for high school. Both state officer teams were excellent. There were two opening banquets and two awards ceremonies; but, they did hold the Championships for both high school and postsecondary students in the same venue – a packed Chattanooga Convention Center. Thanks go to state directors Carol Myers and Carl Creasman and corporate member Chancellor James King and his staff for all their hospitality and hard work. Tennessee has over 12,000 postsecondary members and is developing new and exciting programs.

While in Chattanooga, I also spent the full morning with State CTE Director Ralph Barnett and CTSO Director Will Lewis and with two Sequoyah High School teachers and the system CTE director. We visited a unique racecar fabrication lab and spent time at the Carpenters’ Local where the state TeamWorks competition was held.

From March 11 through 13, I attended the SkillsUSA Georgia High School Division conference and Career Expo in Atlanta. It’s hard for me to believe, but this conference becomes more impressive every year. There were almost 6,500 attendees including over 4,600 students and 815 teachers. They had 260 companies involved in the Construction, Transportation and Public Safety Career Expo, and the entire convention center floor was filled with contests surrounded by areas of exhibits called “worlds” such as World of Energy, World of Manufacturing and so on. The state bused in students from area schools during the two days of the event, and, this year, the superintendent of schools attended. And, there were over 1,300 industry representatives involved in the contests, as exhibitors or as volunteers and guests. SkillsUSA Georgia does a great job with the SkillsUSA branding too with lots of faces of champions on their materials. Congratulations go to Corporate Member “Sonny” Cannon and to State Association Director Gayle Silvey. They and the Georgia team are doing an amazing job.