• Lowe's and SkillsUSA Set to Build Solid Futures
• Sizing Up the Competition
• TeamUSA to Take On the World
• The Old College Try
• Joining Forces to Bring You Cash

SkillsUSA and Lowe s representatives launch a partnership to benefit chapters like yours.

Some news is good enough to spread, but other news is great enough to announce. That’s why the new partnership between SkillsUSA and Lowe’s was recently announced at the Home Builders Institute in Washington, D.C.

Region I Vice President Ashley Dixon accepted a $500,000 check from Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation on behalf of SkillsUSA. Some of the money will be divided into 20 $10,000 grants to help selected local chapters improve their SkillsUSA programs. To learn more about these and forthcoming grants — and how to get them — visit: www.skillsusa.org/educators/lowes.shtml (time sensitive material).

“It is occasions like this that remind me of what [my job] is all about,” U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education Troy Justesen said at the event. “It is about you and every other student who represents the future of our great country.”

Being a successful SkillsUSA competitor means keeping up with the latest technical standards. “Tell us something we don’t know,” you say? OK. We’re about to raise the bar.

SkillsUSA’s invaluable technical committee chairs (the industry experts who design the contests) recently met at our national headquarters to help take the standards to a higher level. Among the goals: a template that aligns specific academic skills with technical skills, and a standardized scoring formula. This work, funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, is a step toward industry credentials for entry-level employees. The new standards will go into effect in 2008. Stay tuned!

SkillsUSA’s best and brightest will once again represent our nation as TeamUSA at the biennial WorldSkills Competition.

From Nov. 14-21 in Shizuoka, Japan, the 2007 event will feature more than 800 young people from nearly 50 member countries and regions. During the four days of competition, participants will test themselves against tough international standards in 40 skills and technologies. (And you thought the national competition was intimidating!)

SkillsUSA expects to send competitors in Autobody Repair, Ladies’ Hairdressing, Welding, Mechatronics and other contest areas. The full team will be assembled by the end of June, so stay tuned to www.skillsusa.org and www.worldskills.com for more information as it develops.

It’s an all-too-common occurrence: a high school senior moves on to college hoping to continue his or her SkillsUSA experience, only to find that the school doesn’t have a chapter.

To help these students, SkillsUSA has created the College Start Up Kit, designed to walk students through the creation of a SkillsUSA chapter at their new college or postsecondary institution.

The kit contains a detailed guide, a membership DVD, roster information and more. It’s also a great resource to give to existing staff at a college that might be interested in learning more about SkillsUSA.

To find out more or request a free kit, email anyinfo@skillsusa.org.