The 2011-12 SkillsUSA membership kits have been mailed to all chapters that affiliated with SkillsUSA last year. Extra kits will be mailed to all state offices soon. The kit includes enrollment instructions, programs, scholarship and recognition opportunities, membership cards, a recruitment poster, a SkillsUSA Creed poster, an affiliation sticker and fliers on the Work Force Ready System and new products. The kit also includes the 2012 SkillsUSA Championships overview flier. This year’s membership incentive is the book, “Leveraging Your Leadership through Effective Chapter Meetings,” for all chapters that register 20 or more students plus one professional, by the November 15 full services deadline.
2011-12 Membership Kits
August 14th, 2011Highlights
May 15th, 2011- The final official membership total is 320,287. That includes 300,302 student and teacher members and 19,302 alumni members.
- On April 27, SkillsUSA staff and Gayle Silvey, Georgia state association director, did a test drive of the SkillsUSA chapter registration software with a group of teachers from Middletown Middle School in Maryland. They also spent time on the website comparing SkillsUSA’s site to others and deciding what organization to join based upon their online experiences.
- Staff projects sales of Skill Connect Assessments might well reach 15,000 in May.
- Lowe’s has invitations out to 20 of its vendors to attend national conference. Staff reports some have already spoken of support.
- I’m sorry to report that Milt Ericksen from the Arizona Department of Education and representing NASDCTEc on the board has announced a job change, and he will be moving to the Arizona state agency that represents health and nutrition. As a result, NASDCTEc will be naming a new representative to our board. I expect to hear shortly. I personally thank Milt for all he’s done for SkillsUSA through the years, and I wish him well in his new endeavor.
- April 29 – 30, I attended ProStart, the competition of the National Restaurant Association in Overland Park, Kan. SkillsUSA and ProStart are going to be aligning our standards for competitions, and I hope doing much more together.
- And, I just returned from my final state conference visit to Florida. Carl Miller did a great job managing Florida’s largest state conference ever. SkillsUSA Florida also achieved the highest membership ever this year. Brandon Mullings, 2009-10 national officer, served as a keynote speaker, and it was great to spend time with him during the conference. SkillsUSA Florida ran 110 contests and over 3,000 attended the event.
Highlights
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.
Mighty Good in Minnesota
December 1st, 2010From Washington, D.C., I flew to Minneapolis to present at the Minnesota Career and Technical Education Conference in Plymouth, Minn. It was great to work with Board Member Marlys Bucher and State Association Director Jennifer Polz. Jen and I gave two presentations on the SkillsUSA Work Force Ready System and our Skill Connect Assessments. The conference was attended by 270 teachers, school administrators and state department of education and Minnesota College and University System staff. The assessments were well received, and I had an excellent conversation with Minnesota State Director for Career and Technical Education, JoAnn Sismer, regarding support for SkillsUSA and the integration of our assessments as an option for meeting federal requirements that measure technical skill attainment.
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.
Highlights
October 1st, 2010- On September 7, three representatives of organized labor met with us here at the national center. The thrust of the meeting was to explore ways the AFL-CIO and SkillsUSA could be working together more closely, particularly, in image building for the skilled trades and recruitment of our students into apprenticeships. As they said: “These are the people we want to hire.” Leading the meeting was Robert J. Pleasure, special assistant to the president of the Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO. He was joined by Eric L. Packard, training specialist with the UA (United Association of Plumbers and Pipe Fitters) and our old friend, Rick Sullivan, from the Ironworkers. The meeting began with a presentation by two of our national student officers, Robin Cronbaugh, Region V vice president, and Sam Soto, college/postsecondary president.
- The National Coordinating Council for the Career and Technical Student Organizations met in Reston, Va. on September 15. Included with the regular business meeting was a special presentation on social networking called “socialnomics.” We know that as student organizations, we have a lot to consider with social networking as a way to reach students, but also to protect our brand. It was a great presentation by ACTE (Association for Career and Technical Education) and FCCLA (Family, Career and Community Leaders of America). Other SkillsUSA staff attended the session as well.
- We’re working on our Vision 2020 goal of reaching one million people per year. I spoke recently with Richard Grimsley of Project Lead the Way (PLTW) and Rosanne White of the Technology Student Organization about marketing for Engineering Alliance (EA). PLTW has a goal of reaching into 15,000 middle and high schools by 2015. If EA takes off, SkillsUSA will be connected to those schools too.
- On September 10, YDF member Bill Maddox of N.E.W. took a group of our staff members to a Washington Nationals baseball game, and we got to watch from the N.E.W. suite at the ballpark. Bill is looking to secure the box for next season to offer it as a SkillsUSA membership mega prize.
- The SkillsUSA CEO Champion of the Year dinner is shaping up nicely and the pledges are coming in. The award is going to be special too. The design is based on the SkillsUSA Championships gold medallion. I’m looking forward to the presentation.
- SkillsUSA WorldTeam is coming together as well. Our goal is to compete in 20 contests, so that means 22 students will fill out the team for 2011. We have 16 selected thus far. News releases should be going out by early October.
- Staff reports alumni membership has now reached 17,000 and four states – New York, Texas, Maine and Ohio – have held meetings to establish state alumni associations.
- Staff reports that the Work Force Ready System Web site had been updated and made more customer-friendly. He says several states have inquired about state purchases of assessments for both pre- and post-testing and that we’re now offering more extensive state reporting.
- And, we just finished the Washington Leadership Training Institute (WLTI), and it was a huge success. We had about 240 people registered including 151 student leaders, 73 instructors and 12 SkillsUSA state association directors. Board President Russ Hoffbauer joined the national officers and me on visits in Washington. I’ll be reporting more extensively about WLTI next time.
Highlights
September 15th, 2010- I’m pleased to report that colleges have been ordering Skill Connect Assessments to use as pre-tests this fall. That’s a promising trend. And, as school begins this year, we have 44 assessments to offer, whereas last year at this time, we had only eight. Our latest assessments include engineering technology and customer service, and they are getting a lot of attention.
- The FY10 strategic goal for alumni membership has been well exceeded and we’re pleased to announce that our alumni membership now stands at over 17,000. Several states are working to set up state alumni associations. Having a full-time alumni coordinator is paying off! Thanks again to Air Products and Lowe’s for their support to make this milestone possible.
- And, here’s a surprising figure: staff reported during our staff meeting on August 24 that if the 2011-12 SkillsUSA Championships Contest Projects were printed, they would run to 1,900 pages. My how we’ve grown.
- FY10 ended on August 31, and we’re finalizing August financials and preparing for the end-of-year audit. Staff just completed inventory and auditors were here last week reviewing product numbers and sales figures.
Work Force Ready System Web Updates
August 15th, 2010SkillsUSA has completed updating the Work Force Ready System website making it more user friendly when searching for assessment links and information. . The user can now launch off the HOME page clicking on a button under “Assessment Links” instead of going through the “Purchase Assessment” screens to order a free preview for an instructor or administrator. Pricing for SkillsUSA members has changed to $10 per assessment. The non-member price remains the same at $20. All previous URLs remain the same even though they may be under a different tab name with the exception of the free instructor preview.
We also reviewed all the customer documentation posted on the Web site and updated it as needed to reflect recent changes and clarity. Listed below are the popular documents that have been updated for the new school year. If you have printed copies of any of the following, please replace them with the current information posted on the Web site:
- FAQ: www.workforcereadysystem.org/faq.shtml
- Assessment Areas: www.workforcereadysystem.org/technical_areas.shtml
- Cut Scores: www.workforcereadysystem.org/cutscores.shtml
- Customer Support: www.workforcereadysystem.org/technical_support.shtml
First SkillsUSA University in Georgia and Assessments Approved
August 1st, 2010On July 18, I attended the Georgia Association of Career and Technical Education (ACTE) Conference. I believe there were 3,000 teachers in attendance and there’s no doubt that CTE has top-level respect in Georgia. They did two “Legislator of the Year” awards, and the legislators showed up.
I did two well-received and well-attended presentations on the Work Force Ready System on the 19th. My sessions included representatives from the Georgia Department of Education. A real highlight during the conference was the announcement that the department of education has not only added the full list of Skill Connect Assessments to the state-approved list, it’s also making the resources available for the students to take them.
State association director Gayle Silvey held her first annual Georgia SkillsUSA University. Approximately 75 teachers and administrators attended and they received some great materials in addition to the training.
