National officers visit the nation’s capital on a mission while executive director Chelle Travis connects with student leaders.
SkillsUSA national officers visited Washington, D.C., for
SkillsUSA Week on Feb. 9 to advocate for career and technical education (CTE) and
SkillsUSA. The
elected student leaders — Laney Blacketer (Mo.), Hunter Claflin (Mass.), Katahdin Javner (Maine), Joseph Price (Ga.), Grace Smith (Wash.), Lili Valencia (Ariz.) and Abby Vandiver (Okla.) — visited the U.S. Department of Education to meet with Assistant Secretary Amy Loyd and select OCTAE staff to discuss how
SkillsUSA programming aligns with federal priorities. They also shared the new
“SkillsUSA Advantage” report that highlights positive student outcomes from participation in the organization.
Next, the group met with each of their respective state senators at the U.S. Capitol, including the office of Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.). In addition, the entire group met with new House CTE Caucus co-chair Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.). During the visits, the officers continued sharing the benefits of
SkillsUSA participation.
On Feb. 10, the national officers celebrated a successful
SkillsUSA Week by hosting a virtual breakfast for the
SkillsUSA staff followed by a lunch outing at Top Golf for staff in the Washington, D.C., area. Wrapping up the week, the officers participated in leadership training with their team leaders.
Meanwhile,
SkillsUSA Executive Director Chelle Travis celebrated
SkillsUSA Week by visiting Tractor Supply Company (TSC) headquarters in Tennessee to receive a check for the
TSC/Carhartt “Support the Trades” campaign. Later in the week, Travis traveled to Haverhill, Mass., where she met with student leaders from Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School to discuss their
SkillsUSA Framework stories. During her visit, Travis also toured the school and watched a demonstration from their marketing and culinary students. Later, she visited
SkillsUSA Massachusetts’
“Student Adventures in Leadership” (SAiL) conference in Foxborough, where she spoke to the
SkillsUSA graduates and program completers in attendance. “
SkillsUSA Week is one of the most important weeks of the year,” Chelle Travis explained. “Building more awareness of
SkillsUSA is crucial as we prepare to deliver a quality, diverse talent pipeline of over 100,000 students a year who are career ready, day one.”
SkillsUSA members in chapters nationwide celebrated
SkillsUSA Week by hosting their own local activities:
- On Monday, Feb. 6, Recognition Day, members honored the advisors, administrators, business partners, community leaders and other supporters who make an impact on their local chapters.
- On Tuesday, Feb. 7, Give-Back Day, students rallied around their schools and communities through service activities.
- On Wednesday, Feb. 8, Partner Day, chapters connected with local business and industry leaders to highlight the importance of career-readiness skills.
- On Thursday, Feb. 9, Advocacy Day, members amplified career and technical education in their communities by holding open houses and making presentations to community leaders.
- On Friday, Feb. 10, SkillsUSA Day, chapters celebrated by wearing their favorite SkillsUSA shirts and hosting a fun member activity to conclude the week.
To see photos from
SkillsUSA Week,
visit our Flickr album.
Look for more coverage on
SkillsUSA Week soon. In the meantime, members can still share
SkillsUSA Week stories on social media using the hashtag #SkillsUSAWeek
. You can also
submit stories and photos to the
SkillsUSA staff any time. We’d love to feature you or your chapter to the rest of
SkillsUSA Nation!
