• Week of Champions Set to Wow
• Safety First ... Second ... Third
• Members Help Energize the Future
• SkillsUSA: Always at Your Service

NLSC is coming June 25-29, 2007 to Kansas City, Mo. Go here for full details, agendas and more.

Each year, attendees of SkillsUSA’s National Leadership and Skills Conference ask, “How can this conference get any better?” only to answer themselves the following year with, “Oh, that’s how.”

The new and annually improved model of NLSC kicks off June 25 in Kansas City, Mo. The competitive portion of the week, the SkillsUSA Championships, will once again feature the most contests (87) and contestants (nearly 5,000) ever.

And where else but Wednesday’s Champions Festival can SkillsUSA members from across the country get together for one mega party? (Here’s a hint: the answer starts with “No” and ends with “where.”)

There’s TECHSPO — the nation’s largest technical education trade show — the Timberland community service project, SkillsUSA University and countless opportunities to network and grow. We’ll worry about topping it next year.

As part of its alliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), SkillsUSA is encouraging its chapters to commemorate the North American Occupational Safety and Health (NAOSH) Week, May 6-12, 2007. The event is designed to focus nationwide attention on the importance of preventing injury and illness in the workplace.

How can your chapter take part in NAOSH Week? Host a safety fair or a fashion show displaying personal protective equipment (let’s see “America’s Next Top Model” top that), offer tours of your lab and demonstrate safety practices, or bring in a guest speaker to discuss safety. For more ideas, visit: www.asse.org/Newsroom/naosh07.

SkillsUSA members were invited to bring their unique brand of energy to a discussion about energy at a National FFA Rally in Washington.

The rally was part of the kickoff to National Agriculture Day, which honors agriculture for its contributions to our economy and the quest for renewable energy sources.

SkillsUSA’s presence centered on the “renewable energy” part of the discussion, as our members will no doubt be involved in building and operating some of the machinery and equipment that will soon be turning new energy ideas into common everyday practice.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns (pictured above) addressed the group, and former national officer Julia Abramova (pictured above) spoke on SkillsUSA’s behalf. Nearly 30 SkillsUSA representatives attended from Maryland’s Calvert and Forrest career centers as well as Virginia’s Spotsylvania center, Edison Academy and Fairfax County school system.

SkillsUSA’s National Week of Service for 2007 is May 5-12. Is your chapter ready to serve? For more information, visit: www.skillsusa.org/events/service.shtml.