A sample press release has been added to SkillsUSA’s advocacy site. It’s a template to be used by state association directors, instructors, parents and others to help get the word out to the media when they return from conference about the students who competed or participated in some other way (i.e., as a delegate, courtesy corps member, etc.) during the National Leadership and Skills Conference. The letter can be sent to five media outlets at a time. The site can be reached by going to www.skillsusa.org/about/policy.shtml and click on “advocacy site.” All teachers, feel free to use and spread the word about this valuable tool.
Sample Press Release for NLSC Competitors and Participants
June 15th, 2009Assessment Demo Center at NLSC
June 1st, 2009Have you heard about the Skill Connect Assessments, but you haven’t yet had the chance to try them yet? The SkillsUSA Work Force Ready System team will be hosting a demonstration center in Booth M (in the corner of Lobby 2500 near the Ballroom) of the SkillsUSA TECHSPO in Kansas City, June 23-25.
Advisors/Administrators are welcome to stop by for a hands-on demonstration. Over 30 career and technical education assessments areas will be demonstrated. Educators who complete the demonstration and provide feedback in the short survey will be eligible to win an Apple iTouch! One iTouch will be given away each of the three days of the TECHSPO.
Highlights
May 15th, 2009- Beginning with the summer issue, award-winning SkillsUSA Champions magazine is now an “e-zine” in addition to its print edition. The digital publication looks just like its print twin. The reader can even “flip” the pages. Web links and e-mail links are active, and we can also embed video. To give it a review, go to www.skillsusa.org/champions/.
- Things are moving right along on the WorldSkills Competition (WSC) and on SkillsUSA WorldTeam. On the evening of April 28, I hosted a one-hour Web conference with 15 of our WSC experts who will be the advisors for WorldTeam members and then judges during the event in Calgary. We have several new representatives and trainers. Don Hatton led the call. Information on the team is online at www.skillsusa.org/compete/worldteam.shtml, and we have a brand new Web site to help build awareness – and we hope raise some money – through social networking at www.everydayrealheroes.org. Thanks go to staff for leading the “everyday heroes” initiative.
- Tim Zilke, executive director of ASE (Automotive Service Excellence) and staff members came by the office for a meeting on April 28 to discuss marketing for the new National Automotive Student Skills Standards Assessment (NA3SA) to the transportation cluster. ASE opened the test window in mid-March and has already sold over 5,000 assessments which is ahead of expectations. We’ve been promoting NA3SA along with the Work Force Ready System, and now we’re discussing several more strategies. Here’s the link to NA3SA: www.NA3SA.com.
- On April 29, staff and I met with Ralph Nappi, president, NPES, The Association for Suppliers of Printing, Publishing and Converting Technologies and Eileen Cassidy, director, GAERF (Graphic Arts Education and Research Foundation) to discuss the Work Force Ready System, and our graphic communications assessment, in particular. We’re currently exploring the possibility of having our assessment lead directly into the PrintED certification program.
- Another meeting last week was with Gerard Katz, president, National Foundation for Energy Conservation. We’re looking into a partnership to support student activities and competitions that support energy conservation.
- Thanks to Youth Development Foundation member Kelly Persons of Lowe’s, I was part of a conference call with Pam Koner, founder of a charitable organization called Family-to-Family. The organization connects “families with more with families with less” and we’ve agreed that SkillsUSA will become a resource by posting her organization on our Web site for chapters to consider when planning community service activities. By the way, Pam will be featured on Larry King Live and be recognized as a CNN Hero within the next few weeks, so you just might be hearing more about her and Family-to-Family.
- We have been getting questions on the Flu pandemic and whether or not it will close down the national conference. I understand and appreciate the calls. After all, some schools have closed. Our position is that SkillsUSA will watch for alerts from the CDC and adhere to travel restrictions. Of course, if any individual is sick, we want that individual to stay home. We have an official statement, but I hope it doesn’t have to be used much, especially since the issue is now.
State Conferences
May 1st, 2009SkillsUSA state spring conferences are going strong with high attendance and lots of activity.
I attended a great Arizona State Leadership and Skills Conference where I was able to present to about 200 local CTE directors and administrators, teachers, partners and administrators and speak to all students and teachers at the awards ceremony. I also had lunch with the Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom Horne. When Tom spoke at the luncheon, he praised SkillsUSA for our Work Force Ready System and also praised the national organization for our work with business and industry partners. Our SkillsUSA state management team in Arizona is one of the nation’s best.
Next, I was off to the New Mexico State Leadership and Skills Conference held at the Central New Mexico Community College. State association director Saundra Castillo did a great job. I’ll report my Wisconsin and Ohio experiences next time. A quick check of my calendar tells me that’ll be it for state conferences this spring. Of course, I’m not the only one visiting the states. Another staffer recently returned from the South Dakota state conference, Staff also attended Indiana’s state conference and Tennessee’s state conference.
Highlights
April 15th, 2009- We held a National Coordinating Council of Career and Technical Student Organizations (NCC-CTSO) meeting in Washington on March 23 with transition staff at the U.S. Department of Education. It’s great to have the input. It was also good to hear that most of the other CTSOs are experiencing growth. As SkillsUSA has done, however, they are looking for ways to tighten their budgets. Also on the shared information front: those CTSOs that accept national conference pre-registration reported that their registrations are up slightly.
- The first eight Skill Connect Assessments were available for on March 16. After 2-3 business days on the market and a spring break in between, SkillsUSA sold more than 850 assessments and the orders continue to arrive. The most popular assessments thus far (not necessarily in order) are Employability, Welding, Cosmetology, Computer Maintenance Technology and Advertising Design.
- Staff held a National Leadership and Skills Conference (NLSC) countdown meeting last Monday. It looks as though everything is on track. SkillsUSA University has even more sessions than last year. It’s logging in at 83 seminars and workshops. Staff is working with the Kansas City Convention and Visitors Association (KCCVA) to arrange assignments in light of staff reductions at KCCVA.
- In state conference news, I attended the Maryland state conference in Baltimore County with Chuck Wallace March 21. It was Maryland’s largest conference ever. I was pleased to be the award ceremony speaker and to shake hands with all of the winners. On March 26 and 27, I spoke at the opening ceremony and the ribbon-cutting ceremony during the Texas College/Postsecondary conference in San Antonio. Stacy Scott ran a great conference at St. Phillips Community College in the Alamo Community College District. The conference was well attended, and there was good sponsor support including the Army, Air Products and Snap-on.
- In the news, staff reports that in comparing the first three months of news coverage from January 1, 2008 through March of 2009, our top three categories are state and local competitions, local coverage and trade sponsor related coverage. Local coverage (using our VOCUS system) is up 62 percent; state and local competition coverage is up 77 percent, and trade and sponsor related coverage is up 93 percent. A lot of coverage picked up in the last category is from the racing-related promotion.
- In news on advocacy, between March 27 and March 30, we asked our active advisors to contact their Members of Congress to ask them to sign a “Dear Colleague” letter supporting CTE funding. We know 95 people wrote to Congress, and that doesn’t count the number who called.
- Finally, I just want you all to know that I ran (and survived) a 10K race with my daughters in Richmond on March 28. There were 33,000 people in the race, and I was in the middle somewhere, so, I just had to keep moving.
Skill Connect Assessments Make Their Debut
April 1st, 2009March 16 was the launch date of the Work Force Ready System and the first eight Skill Connect Assessments. They are now available for sale. And, what’s the reaction been from the field? Positive. We have people signing up to be proctors. We’ve already sold assessments to schools, and we have many more schools and states calling and sending inquiries and expressing interest. To see the purchase site, go to www.workforcereadysystem.org/.
We’re not keeping our light under a bushel either. In support of Work Force Ready System marketing, our communications office has sent out news releases to the education press, education reporters and to the trade press for all of the areas covered by this initial release. Our PR agency is sending follow-ups to the major publications.
In all, 1,300 e-mailed releases have been sent, and we know we’ve already received coverage, including Industry Week. To see it, go to this link. The main release and the cosmetology news release were also posted on PRWeb, and that means we’ve been covered on Google News, Yahoo News, MSN and the Associated Press among 42 other search engines. We know our news has been read in Canada, China, India, Germany, Spain, France and Italy, among many other nations. There have been over 500 complete readings of the general release alone. To see the release online, please click on this link.
The National Automotive Student Skills Standards Assessments from Automotive Service Excellence (ASE), Automotive Youth Education Systems (AYES), National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation (NATEF) and SkillsUSA for Automotive Service Technology and Collision Repair and Refinish were also announced on March 16. They have a test window from April 15 – June 12. For information, go to www.na3sa.com/.
Terrific Technical Advisory Committee
March 15th, 2009We met with the Champions for Change Technical Advisory Committee in Washington at the National Homebuilders Institute on March 3. Nineteen people participated. Nine of the experts represented organizations with particular interests in assessments from both the education and employment sides including the Council of Chief State School Officers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers. Insights and recommendations continue to be extremely helpful as we work on the Work Force Ready System’s service to vulnerable communities. It’s also clear that our experts are learning from each other and taking that information back for their own initiatives.
Progress Report at the U.S. Department of Labor
March 15th, 2009On February 23, a number of staff members traveled to meet with staff at the Employment and Training Administration. The Department of Labor wanted a briefing on both the vulnerable community pilots in the Champions for Change project and the Skill Connect Assessments. They showed a lot of interest in both, and they’re particularly interested in the Employability Skill Assessment for use in DOL training programs. We’ve been invited to contact the Workforce Investment Boards and the One-Stop Centers.
In a subsequent meeting, Kisha Ajose of the Miami Job Corps and I met with Esther Johnson, national director of the Job Corps. After Kisha’s presentation, Esther invited us to make a presentation on the SkillsUSA program in the Job Corps setting during the national Job Corps meeting this fall. We’re looking forward to it.
And, speaking of Job Corps, Brenda Quinn of intelitek reports that she’s working on the opening of a new Job Corps center in New Hampshire, and it’s her plan to have SkillsUSA built into the instructional program right from the start.
Highlights
March 1st, 2009There is a great deal going on here, but almost all of it is moving so think of this as the motion-capture edition of SkillsUSA events as they race by toward completion.
We had a good Webcast on February 10 in celebration of SkillsUSA Week, and it is archived at http://web.ganconference.com/?meeting=3913885. It contains lots of good information on the state of SkillsUSA including some of our advocacy with the Obama administration and instruction on using the SkillsUSA advocacy site to write to Congress among other things. We sent out an e-mail to our active advisor list wishing them a happy SkillsUSA week and giving them a link to the 30-minute Webcast.
We’ve had three good conference calls with Lowe’s recently. One focused on Lowe’s hiring SkillsUSA graduates including use of the N.E.W. job board on the SkillsUSA Web site. Another call revolved around support of the National Leadership and Skills Conference and the third was on the new sustainability competition.
On February 19, I had a promising meeting with the president/CEO of K2Share, the company that manages CareerSafe, the online OSHA 10-hour card training and testing system. Larry Teverbaugh’s company makes a donation to SkillsUSA for every student who signs up for CareerSafe, and Larry is looking for ways to increase his financial support for SkillsUSA.
On Monday, February 23, I joined some other staff members for a visit at the Employment and Training Administration at the U.S. Department of Labor. We reported on progress of the Work Force Ready System and on the vulnerable community pilot sites under Champions for Change. We were joined by Kisha Ajose from the Miami Job Corps Center and by Dave Daly and Rick Gonzalez from ASTRACOR in Alexandria. I also met with Esther Johnson, national director of Job Corps, and she got a clear picture on how SkillsUSA can meet the needs of Job Corps sites.
On March 5, we’ll have a meeting of the new ambassadors for SkillsUSA—top-level executives who will help build our corporate networking so we can reach higher levels of funding. The work of the ambassadors will be a big topic for the Youth Development Foundation when we’re at Toyota in California later in March.
Gates Foundation Discussion Continues
February 15th, 2009On February 5, we held our third conference with representatives of The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This was an online demonstration of the Work Force Ready System including the assessments and reporting system. The Gates Foundation is looking for standards-based education that leads students (or out-of-school youth) to further their education and credentials. I’d say the Work Force Ready System is right in line with the foundation’s thinking and evidently so does the foundation. The Gates’ staff has asked for more information, and we’re looking forward to another meeting. When asked how the foundation views CTE we were told: “CTE is the contextualization of education. It’s essential for education reform.”
