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.
Tags: CEO Champion of the Year, Highlights, North American STEM Education Symposium, Project Lead the Way, Work Force Ready System, YouthBuild
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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.
Tags: Alumni Coordinating Committee, Board of Directors, Government Relations, Highlights, Membership, Skill Connect Assessments, Work Force Ready System, YouthBuild
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