When Manuel and Maria Robles crossed the border from Mexico into Texas, one-year-old son Aaron in tow, they were driven by the same passion that’s fueled countless similar journeys before and since: to secure a better future for their children. “Juarez was a very violent place,” Aaron Robles — now 32— says of his birth…
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In the midst of COVID lockdowns, Sheila Vasquez got inspired as she watched her daughter reading books in the family library. “She loves books,” Vasquez says, “I saw her always exploring different books. And instead of watching a show or playing with a toy, she would run and grab a book.” That was when she…
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Did you know that 20 hours of concentrated effort can change your life? It did for welder Jordan Packer of Provo, Utah. Packer medaled at the 2022 WorldSkills Special Edition welding competition in Cleveland after a staggering 20-hour competition. That outstanding performance wasn’t the result of luck; it came from skills that took years to…
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Growing up in Sylmar, Calif., Loretta Cabuyadao was the youngest of four to very supportive, hard-working parents. Her dad was involved in the motion picture industry and her mom was an executive assistant at a law firm. Cabuyadao remembers thinking she would go into film editing or become an attorney someday. Things changed when Cabuyadao…
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When Etzer Lindor first stepped into the hallways of Cape Cod Regional Technical High School as a touring eighth-grader, he realized something was different. In fact, the Harwich, Mass., school seemed to offer exactly what Lindor had been looking for: the opportunity to explore various trade skills and shape his future as he saw fit.…
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Ashley Klingberg never really planned to even compete in SkillsUSA, much less win gold at states and silver at the 2021 SkillsUSA Championships. More surprising to her than winning those medals was the fact that she’d competed in Criminal Justice. After all, Klingberg “wasn’t very fond of cops,” a negative attitude she brought with her…
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In construction, a strong foundation is crucial to the future durability, stability and resilience of any building. Peyton Holland thinks about that daily when he stands on the front porch of his home, which is held up by the 16 brick columns he and his dad built together. From an early age, Holland knew he…
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It’s not given, it’s earned.” It’s a motto that’s fired the furnace of Lizetthe Moreno’s goal-driven dreams since childhood, and she’s about to realize a big one. A former SkillsUSA national officer, the 21-year-old Houston native now stands ready to become an officer in the United States Marines, a testament to a life already characterized…
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Jay Clifton describes himself as a “little bitty country boy” who grew up in Gilmer, Texas. “I grew up cooking,” he says. “My mom always wanted to instill in me a love of cooking and a love of baking.” But Clifton didn’t decide to study culinary arts until years later. “I had always wanted to…
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The SkillsUSA Framework — the foundation for everything SkillsUSA does — is comprised of three equally important components: Personal Skills, Workplace Skills and Technical Skills Grounded in Academics. Five career and technical education (CTE) students recently underscored the “Academics” portion of that trifecta by becoming the latest in a long line of SkillsUSA members to…
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