March 2013
February was Career and Technical Education (CTE) Month and the second full week in February was SkillsUSA Week. Please drop us a line and let us know what your chapter did to celebrate the month and/or week. Please send the news to Tom Hall, SkillsUSA Champions magazine, 14001 SkillsUSA Way, Leesburg, VA 20176 or email pictures and stories to thall@skillsusa.org.
SkillsUSA has begun the "Skills Build America" Campaign. For more information, please go to this link. I hope you will take time to review the material and consider participating in this important initiative leading up to our 50th anniversary.
Alumni Membership Incentive
February is Career and Technical Education Month and The Alumni Coordinating Committee is offering an incentive for SkillsUSA advisors who sign up alumni from their chapters. For every five members an advisor registers with the SkillsUSA Alumni & Friends Association, he or she will be entered into a drawing for a $100 Lowe's gift card.
To be officially entered into the drawing, the advisor must have students register online here. (Paper forms will not be accepted.) The advisor must then send an email to Byekwaso Gilbert at bgilbert@skillsusa.org. The email must contain all of the following: (1) the advisor's name, school, address, phone and email (make sure what you provide will be accessible to you after June 1) and, (2) a list for verification of the students including first and last names who registered as alumni.
Remember that graduating seniors qualify to register during their senior year. Former SkillsUSA students are also eligible, provided they are not members already. These students must register through their former advisor to be counted as part of that advisor's entry. Students may only register once. Deadline for entry into the drawing is June 1.
Harley-Davidson Dyna Super Glide Raffle Tickets
Thanks to a generous donation by our friends at Harley-Davidson Motor Co. SkillsUSA is raffling off a Dyna Super Glide Motorcycle. Tickets are $5 each or five tickets for $20. To purchase tickets online, click here. The drawing will be held at the 2013 National Conference Awards Ceremony, Friday, June 28, in Kansas City. Ticket purchasers need not be present to win. Proceeds benefit the SkillsUSA Alumni & Friends Association. Note: If the winner resides in Guam, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands or Hawaii - the recipient must pick up the motorcycle at the nearest dealer located in the continental United States.
New Partnership with Gates Corporation - Education 
SkillsUSA is pleased to announce a new partnership with Gates Corporation - Education. Their "Tools for Schools" program is a great opportunity for SkillsUSA's automotive teachers.
The purpose of the "Tools for Schools" program is to provide educators with supplemental educational materials from a global company. Gates assists many of the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) with their research and development. Through this program new products and systems are designed and problems solved. Technology is changing so quickly that it can take years for the latest information to reach you and your students. The "Tools for Schools" program is one way Gates can ensure the latest technology and information are available to you 24/7 simply by accessing their website. Gates hopes you make their site a daily part of your learning curriculum and that you will visit often.
The "Tools for Schools" program is made up of three components: (1) "Tools for Schools" website where all elements of the program can be found; (2) "Tools for Schools" Performance Center eLearning for your students contains a wealth of informative content and tests each student's ability to retain and understand via an exclusive training quiz found at the end of each segment; and, (3) "Tools for Schools" "Free" tool program. A program designed to reward the school for using the eLearning tool and using Gates products. Schools can earn Gates diagnostic and installation tools by accumulating points based on program participation.
Scholarship Opportunities Reminder
There are several scholarships opportunities available for students on the SkillsUSA website. Please pass the word.
- National Technical Honor Society Scholarship (four @ $1,000 each) - Deadline, April 1, 2013 - go to this link.
- Sharon Melton Myers Memorial Scholarship ($500) - Deadline, April 30, 2013 - go to this link.
- Alumni Merit Scholarship (two @ $500 each) - Deadline, May 1, 2013 - go to this link.
New Partnership with Interstate Batteries
ReminderSkillsUSA is excited to announce a new partnership with Interstate Batteries and a fundraising program for local chapters. This is a great opportunity for your chapters to raise funds in partnership with a company whose mission and product align very closely with SkillsUSA.
Through this partnership, local chapters can now sell Interstate Batteries products and they will receive 50 percent of the sales. Below is the link for your chapter to sign up today. This is a great program to participate in as you seek to raise funds for district and state events and for leadership development activities and materials. For more information, go to this link.
SkillsUSA offers 47 technical and employability assessments in 11 cluster areas including four co-branded assessments with ASE/AYES and five co-branded assessments with PrintED/GAERF.
NEW! Student Reset Password Report
Ever had a student forget his or her username or password and was then unable to log-on to take the assessment? The authorized administrators on the order can look-up the student usernames and reset passwords. Once logged-on to the test site, click the link "Reset Password Report." See the sample report on page #5 at this link.
Please encourage students to enroll only once into the test system. Each enrollment will decrease the number of tests your school has available to use. A duplicate enrollment of one student uses up another student's test and will delay testing.
NEW! PrintED Student Certification
New for this spring, a student who achieves a passing score on any of the SkillsUSA/PrintED co-branded assessments will be awarded a PrintED/SkillsUSA Student Certification in that subject area, valid for two years. Student Certifications are available for the following assessments: Advertising Design, Digital File Preparation & Digital File Output, Graphic Communications, Offset Press Operations & Binding & Finishing and Screen Printing.
Hardware/Software Requirements:
Ensure your students have a successful test session by verifying your hardware meets the requirements before the students attempt to take the assessment at this link.
For general information on our assessments, visit our Work Force Ready System website at: www.workforcereadysystem.org, contact us at 703-737-0633, ext. 1 or email us at skillconnect@skillsusa.org.
New Student Opportunity for Heavy Equipment Programs from Aggreko
SkillsUSA is pleased to announce Aggreko as a new official partner, and they have an exciting opportunity for our SkillsUSA members. Aggreko, the global leader in providing temporary power generation, temperature control, and oil-free compressed air systems, has partnered with the Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology (OSUIT) to offer an exclusive opportunity to a select group of SkillsUSA's mechanically-gifted students.
This opportunity, called the Aggreko SelecTech Accelerated Career Program, is a two-year rotational program that allows program members to earn valuable experience working on state-of-the-art industrialized equipment while earning an Associate in Applied Science degree in Diesel and Heavy Equipment Mechanics from OSUIT. The two-year, trimester-based program consists of equal parts coursework at OSUIT in Okmulgee, Oklahoma and paid internships at Aggreko facilities and events throughout the U.S., including near their hometowns. If you have students who would be interested or if you would like more information, please contact Devin Murphy at devin.murphy@aggreko.com or call him at 281-985-8241 (office) or 832-627-4352 (cell).
Special Workshop During NLSC in Kansas City
The SkillsUSA Alumni & Friends Association is proud to offer American Heart Association CPR Certification during the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference on Tuesday, June 25, 2013. Time and location to be determined. Pre-registration fees are $20 at this link. Contact Heidi Walsh with questions at: hwalsh@skillsusa.org.
National Conference Registration and Medical Forms
In the past, some National Leadership and Skills Conference (NLSC) registration forms have been filled in with school addresses instead of home addresses for the attendees, even though the form clearly indicates that home addresses are required. It is imperative that we receive the home addresses of NLSC registrants, as well as their personal email addresses and their home phone numbers.
To ensure students receive their prizes, SkillsUSA encouraging SkillsUSA Championships sponsors to send prizes to students after conference and to send these awards to their homes. If we don't have student home address information, students may not receive their prizes or scholarships. Schools will not provide home address information, and SkillsUSA will not be sending prizes or scholarships to the schools. In addition, SkillsUSA receives numerous requests from the media after conference to contact students and advisors for media interviews, so we especially need phone numbers and email addresses to give to the media.
We strongly advise that you provide the information on the NLSC 1 medical forms for each for each person in the state's delegation. Your state association director will give the forms to Dave Worden, the director of the SkillsUSA Championships and he will keep the information at conference under lock and key and will shred it upon returning to Leesburg. We realize this information is sensitive, but each year we have injuries or illnesses at the NLSC, and it is critical we have this information in case of an emergency.