• Making the unthinkable thinkable
• Helping the less fortunate
• Instructor’s idea sparks posting of presentations
• Mentoring means commitment

Fake wounds amaze Wyo. student

Some pretend to be hysterical, others lie lifelessly on the floor while others feign anguish over their gaping wounds. No, these actors aren’t rehearsing a Marilyn Manson video. They’re students helping a local sheriff’s department experience what it’s like to have a real shooter on their campus.

When the Central High School students in Cheyenne, Wyo., work with the Laramie County sheriff’s department to simulate a crisis, it looks like the real thing. They run, scream, beg for help and create completely unscripted chaos.

This allows law enforcement officials to experience some of the aspects of a school shooter situation. Likewise, the students can see what to do — and what not to do — in the unlikely event of a crisis.

SkillsUSA members at Burton Technology Center in Salem, Va., raised $4,000 to buy holiday gifts for the children of families involved in the Roanoke Total Action Against Poverty program. Carpentry instructor Bud McWhorter dressed as Santa Claus while students handed out gifts to the children.

Resourceful. That’s how you’d describe Susan McClintock, the work-based learning coordinator and technical writing teacher at Meridian (Idaho) Charter High School.

When McClintock needed a PowerPoint presentation for an important meeting with local officials, she asked SkillsUSA Executive Director Tim Lawrence why there wasn’t one online for teachers. Thanks to her, several presentations are now available for teachers here.

SkillsUSA graphic arts students at Kendrick High School in Columbus, Ga., believe it takes more to be mentors than a one-time experience. During monthly visits to nearly 100 fourth-graders at nearby Georgetown Elementary School, Kendrick students conducted a Halloween safety program and, later, a holiday carnival.

They also carried out a literacy project as well as promoted awareness of career and technical education. According to chapter advisor Cheryl Rees, one special project was a “Quilt of Thanks.” Spurred by the Sept. 11 attacks, both the high school and the elementary students designed patches for a quilt made to look like the American flag.