Executive Update May 15, To:

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1 Executive Update May 15, 2018 To: State Association Directors National Corporate Members Board of Directors SkillsUSA Foundation Inc. National Officers Alumni Executive Board SkillsUSA Executive Committee SkillsUSA Technical Committee Conference Management Committee Important Dates June June Aug Leverage, Activate and Engage Training, Louisville, Ky. National Leadership and Skills Conference, Kentucky Exposition Center, Louisville, Ky. State Director Association Annual Professional Development and Training Conference, Pensacola Beach, Fla. In This Issue Executive Director s Report Final Voting Begins for Show Off Your Skills Video Contest Use Your State Logo to Promote a Stronger Image Crisis Contacts Needed for NLSC Awards Ceremony Passes Available in Advance Auction Returns to NLSC Download Conference App and PDF of the NLSC Program Help Offered for National Conference Housing Leading Educator to Present During Engage Training

2 State Pin Collection Information Updated Parking Fees Detailed for Kentucky Exposition Center Memo and Meeting Agendas Posted for State Association Directors SkillsUSA Shoe Drive Saves Lives Through Clean Water Champions Night at Fourth Street Live! Returns on a New Night NLSC Winner Information, Press Releases and Photos Coming Meet the Employer Comes to NLSC Community Service Projects Give Back to Louisville Help Others by Donating Blood During NLSC Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Raffle is Here Again! ACTE Awards Nominations Sought Watch for Spam Regarding NLSC Attendee Lists Scholarships Available for Education in Technical Fields Due Dates Staff Travel EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR S REPORT A Banner Year for Membership I am really pleased to report that final SkillsUSA membership for the school year reached an all-time high of 360,681 paid members. When we include alumni and honorary life members, we have a grand total of 421,139. This is an increase of 25,651 over the prior year total. Thirty-six state associations exceeded their previous year s membership. The final membership report was published April 17 and is located here: Spring State Conferences Wrap Up On April 15-20, I attended the SkillsUSA Colorado State Leadership and Skills Conference (SLSC) in Colorado Springs. It was wonderful to spend time with state association director Julie Wright and the SkillsUSA Colorado team. It was also great to see state association directors Sindie Reed from Nevada and Tracy Whitehead and Boyd Hestand from Tennessee attending the conference. Also there were foundation member Greg Rintala from Snap-on and Katie George from CareerSafe. I met with a national board member of the Home Builders Institute (HBI) and with representatives from 3M, Fransen Pittman General Contractors, Lincoln Tech and Baker Concrete. I was happy to connect with Regina Vest Abshire, a state officer when I was state director in Virginia. My first state president in 1989, she is now living in Colorado Springs and volunteers for SkillsUSA Colorado.

3 On Wednesday evening, national officer Rosa Cartagena spoke at the opening ceremony. On Thursday, I toured all the competitions including a visit to The Mill, a wood-manufacturing training center that serves two school districts. The construction trades events were held there, and I spent time with the two school superintendents to learn more about this incredible construction education model. I saw my first online school state officer being installed, and I also saw my first allfemale TeamWorks foursome compete at a state competition. Congratulations to Julie for a great event. On April 23-24, I attended the SkillsUSA Alabama SLSC in Birmingham. There were 2,200 attendees, making it their largest state conference in history. This year marks the state association s 50th anniversary, and the celebration was spectacular. There were many former leaders attending, including J.C. Lindley, the first state director in Alabama in 1968, who is now 102 years old. I enjoyed spending time with him. He has a lot of energy and is very well-spoken. I also enjoyed seeing the family of former state association director and national board member Randall Peacock there, as well as seven of the 11 state association directors that have served over the past 50 years (including our own staff member, Gene Dudley). I spoke at the opening ceremony, and Alabama national officer Maci Key did a beautiful job with our emblem ceremony. The state officers used a 3D VICA emblem and a SkillsUSA emblem side-by-side during the ceremony to commemorate the history of the association. Maci also recited the history of the association to the packed audience. They had the largest group of competitors ever and an incredible Career Expo that brought in more than 4,000 middle school students to tour the state championships. Gene Dudley and I walked the entire competition floor and also traveled to Thompson Caterpillar, which hosted an incredible Diesel Technology contest for 21 competitors. I also had the opportunity to visit the local technical school that hosted the collision repair events. Congratulations to executive director Chris Kennedy, and to high school and college/postsecondary directors Brian Upton and Keith Andrews, for a great conference. HIGHLIGHTS Christa Floresca is now a member of the NCCER Workforce Development Committee and attended the quarterly meeting held April in Houston. In addition to talking about initiatives to promote career opportunities within the construction trades, discussions were held on President Trump s apprenticeship initiatives, safety standards, the expansion of NCCER s curriculum and industry-

4 related products and the importance of training, assessments and credentials. The group toured several NCCER member trainings facilities, including Fluor and the North American Crane Bureau. Shelly Coates attended the 44th SkillsUSA Massachusetts SLSC, where there were 2,600 attendees and more than 800 volunteers. She was one of the ribbon cutters for the TeamWorks competition, one of the 102 events they ran. She reported that Tim Lawrence telephoned during the management team dinner and announced to the Massachusetts state officers they were the winners of the State Advocacy Award in the SkillsUSA public relations challenge and won a $900 prize. Shouts of joy from the students echoed throughout the hotel. Congratulations to Karen Ward for a successful conference. Courtney Ferrell facilitated advisor training on April 12 at our South Dakota SLSC and again on April 20 at our Washington SLSC, focusing on the SkillsUSA Framework and the SkillsUSA Career Essentials suite. SkillsUSA consultant Lee Ross attended several state conferences. April 10-14, he traveled to Albuquerque for the SkillsUSA New Mexico conference; on April 20, he attended the Virginia conference in Virginia Beach; and April he attended the Wyoming conference in Casper. He reported that all three conferences went very well. Congratulations go to New Mexico state association director Christine Phipps, Virginia state director Deb Tripp and to Wyoming state director Janie Wilcox. Staff member Gene Dudley attended the Alabama Association of Career Technical Administrators spring conference in Orange Beach, Ala., April There were more than 150 attendees, and he had the opportunity for multiple discussions about SkillsUSA and our SkillsUSA Career Essentials suite. That s all for now. Thank you for all you do for the great students and teachers we serve. Final Voting Begins for Show Off Your Skills Video Contest This year, Stanley Black & Decker sponsored our Show Off Your Skills challenge for the SkillsUSA National Week of Service. Chapters had an opportunity to compete for a grand prize of $10,000 and four finalist prizes of $4,000 each. Additionally, the state association of the winning chapter will receive a grant for $2,500 for its efforts in encouraging chapters to participate. Participating chapters produced a 60-second video for social media that highlights the community service they performed during the National Week of Service and the specific trade skills used. These chapter videos were posted May 14 for a nationwide vote via social media to determine the grand-prize winner, which will be announced May 18, with an awards presentation to follow at the winning school. To vote, go to: Individuals can vote once every 24 hours until voting closes.

5 Use Your State Logo to Promote a Stronger Image A reminder to state association directors: If you have any questions as you prepare national conference materials or logo wear for your state delegations, please contact Tom Hall, director of the Office of Communications, at thall@skillsusa.org. Using SkillsUSA s graphic identity consistently is a way to build public recognition. Please use your official state logo. All official state logos can be downloaded from the new SkillsUSA Brand Center at: These state logos follow the graphic standard for adding type to the trademarked SkillsUSA logo. It s important to follow SkillsUSA s graphic standards (listed at: For example, don t add any extra type or art to your official state logo. Run your logo in only one color when it s used against a color background. At this time of year, we get questions about T-shirt designs for your state delegations. A common question is how to present the state logo correctly while having a unique design to show pride in your state. In such cases, keep your state logo apart from the new art; for example, put the logo on the front or sleeve while putting the state art on the back. Or, keep enough space between the logo and new art so that it s clear they are two separate elements. Be as creative as you like with your new art. The name SkillsUSA can be spelled out in any typeface to match your design just keep it one word. (Don t try to match the typeface in the logo or use the type itself without the top flag part of the logo, which violates our graphic standards.) Remember, these shirts probably will be worn in public after the conference is over, and by keeping a consistent graphic identity, they re another opportunity to make SkillsUSA more recognized. Crisis Contacts Needed for NLSC State association directors: Please your cellphone number and those of your crisis team members for this year s National Leadership and Skills Conference. If you cannot be contacted in the event of an emergency at conference, we will be calling the people on your list. We need your cell number and a maximum of three crisis team members. Please remember, keep your cellphone charged and on at all times during your week in Louisville. Please the NLSC crisis team names and phone numbers to Jane Short at jshort@skillsusa.org no later than June 1.

6 Awards Ceremony Passes Available in Advance This year, Awards Ceremony passes for June 29 can be purchased in advance at a discounted price of $10 per ticket, plus a service fee of $1.42. A credit card is required for online purchase. Purchasers can download the ticket to their smartphone or print a ticket to bring with them. Online Awards Ceremony passes will be sold starting June 1: On site in Louisville June 26-29, there will be Awards Ceremony ticket sales for $15 per ticket. Note: Tickets are limited due to seating limitations. Once seating is full in Freedom Hall, ticket sales will cease. Please remind individual ticket holders such as parents that parking fees will be charged at the entrance of the Kentucky Exposition Center. For more information on parking, go to: Auction Returns to NLSC At each year s National Leadership and Skills Conference (NLSC), an auction committee conducts a fundraiser to help support the National Courtesy Corps. If you have unique items to donate, bring them with you to the conference and drop them off at the Courtesy Corps headquarters in the North Hall of the Kentucky Exposition Center (KEC) or the SkillsUSA Championships office trailer in the East Wing behind MakerSpace. If you prefer, you may mail the items ahead of time to: David Worden, SkillsUSA, SkillsUSA Way, Leesburg, VA If you have questions, please call or dworden@skillsusa.org. The auction is open to everyone so please attend and bid on anything that suits your fancy, Friday, June 29, 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m., in Room B105 of the KEC South Wing. Download the Conference App and PDF of the NLSC Program In keeping with these digital times, there will no longer be a separate printed conference program for the national conference in Louisville. All attendees should download the official conference mobile app. The app includes the entire conference program including contestant schedules, trade show information and exhibitor list, general session information, special events, entertainment, participant tracks, attendee bus shuttle schedules, messaging/alert features and search features. The app can be

7 downloaded by searching 2018 SkillsUSA NLSC, and the QR code will be in the printed Awards and Recognition book and on signs at Kentucky Exposition Center. A condensed version of the NLSC program will be included in the printed Awards and Recognition book, available on site. In addition, there will be a PDF of this program available for download from our SkillsUSA website by June 1. Help Offered for National Conference Housing State association directors: As a reminder, the housing office and SkillsUSA staff will do our best to try to accommodate states that may need additional sleeping rooms for the national conference. Please understand there is no guarantee that extra rooms are available, but we will do our absolute best to find the necessary housing needed. Should your state need additional rooms, we have the following possible options: If there are other states at the same hotel that are not using all of their assigned rooms by the cutoff date (May 18), unused rooms can be made available. If a hotel is willing to increase the original contracted block, there may be additional rooms available (this must be done by the housing office). Assigning extra guests to an overflow hotel An overflow hotel is a hotel that has a contract with SkillsUSA and has extra rooms available under the original contracted block that are not being used by states assigned within the hotel. In these cases, SkillsUSA would assign an overflow hotel to a state that is on the same bus route. Being on the same bus route enables the guests to use the conference transportation to commute back and forth to the official state hotel and not rely on rental cars. If you need extra sleeping rooms, use the form in the 2018 NLSC Guide and submit your request before the housing deadline: Please do not assign additional rooms not already assigned to your state. Let us know now exactly what you need, and we ll check inventory after the deadline. We will work closely with the state association directors who make these requests to accommodate as many needs as we can. It s very rare that we have not been able to fulfill all requests please been patient with us as we get closer. If you have questions, do not hesitate to contact Shelly Coates at scoates@skillsusa.org. Leading Educator to Present During Engage Training

8 A nationally recognized speaker on educational initiatives and instructional programming, Dr. Sandra Clement, will spend a day with SkillsUSA s Engage training participants in June. Clement has served as a teacher, counselor, district and campus administrator at all grade levels for over 23 years. As principal of South Park Middle School and Moody High School in Corpus Christi, Texas, she has effectively led both of these high-poverty and high-at-risk schools out of low-performing academically unacceptable state designations. Clement s message is one of equity. She believes all students must have access to career and technical education and that it is not an elective but rather a coherent pathway to ensuring career readiness for every student. In 2016, Clement was the only educator named to the Chief Council of State School Officer s (CCSSO) National Advisory Committee, part of CCSSO s Career Readiness Initiative. This five-year New Skills for Youth initiative oversees a dedicated $35 million dollars from JPMorgan Chase aimed at strengthening career-focused education. In 2015, her school was chosen as the top high school in the nation for STEM instructional programming and received the National Excellence in Action Award from the White House. Engage will be held June at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, Ky. To learn more about it and how you can register, visit: State Pin Collection Information Updated SkillsUSA s Alumni and Friends Executive Board requests 169 state lapel pins from each state association or territory. The pins will be used to create two full pin sets for each state association. Additionally, nine sets will be given to the first- second- and third-place middle school, high school and college/postsecondary medal winners of the national Pin Design competition. Six sets will be placed in the National Courtesy Corps/SkillsUSA Alumni Auction. Please drop off your pins at the Alumni Headquarters in Freedom Hall Room A2 by 10 a.m. on Monday, June 25. State pin sets must be signed for and picked up at the state association breakfast on Friday, June 29. As per the policy set by Alumni and Friends Executive Board in 2014, any chartered state association that does not turn in 169 pins will not receive its pin sets. Parking Fees Detailed for the Kentucky Exposition Center

9 There are parking fees associated with the Kentucky Exposition Center (KEC). For general attendees, the structure is as follows: Gate admission price structure Cars: $8 Daily admission no in and out privileges $4 Daily upgrade admission (in addition to the $8) with in and out privileges $40 Weekly Pass with in and out privileges Available inside at the kiosk located in the South Wing A Lobby ticket office Buses/trucks: $20 Daily Access to restricted Lot E or K $60 Weekly access to restricted Lot E or K Please reference the SkillsUSA KEC parking lot map for designated parking lots at: Each state SkillsUSA association will receive two complimentary parking passes to use for the week of the conference. These passes must be placed in the front window on the dash and visible to gate attendants and KEC security. Towing will be enforced. States using charter buses or motor coaches should notify Ashley Ridgeway at aridgeway@skillsusa.org or Charter buses load, unload and park in Lot E, which is coded blue on the map. Once we receive notice from a state association about the number of buses being used as charters, we ll send you blue parking passes to provide to each charter driver. These passes are only good for parking at KEC. Memo and Meeting Agendas Posted for State Association Directors State association directors: The SkillsUSA State Directors Association officers are looking forward to being with you in Louisville, Ky., during the 54th Annual National Leadership and Skills Conference (NLSC) June A NLSC memo and a tentative agenda for the state association director meetings has been posted on the state directors password-protected website. If you have additions to the agendas, contact Darren Gibson at darren.gibson@careertech.ok.gov as soon as possible. The SkillsUSA State Directors Association job descriptions are also posted there.

10 SkillsUSA Shoe Drive Saves Lives Through Clean Water Did you know that more than 685 million people lack access to clean drinking water? SkillsUSA is once again partnering with internationally recognized nonprofit WaterStep to help save lives through safe water. WaterStep collects and sells gentlyused shoes to fund water projects around the world. SkillsUSA encourages each student and advisor coming to Louisville to bring just one pair of shoes to conference to donate to this worthy cause. Let s step up our global influence at the National Leadership and Skills Conference June in Louisville and help eliminate unsafe drinking water. Please pass this request along to your delegation. For more information about how donating your shoes saves lives, go to: Watch this video to learn more about the WaterStep shoe program: UxGjE~,utVw2c5hsy-toSRZ-5n964-ATUIy2fgD&bctid= Champions Night at Fourth Street Live! Returns on a New Night SkillsUSA Champions Night is returning to the national conference. Enjoy a night of fun in downtown Louisville on Wednesday, June 27, at Fourth Street Live! The event runs 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. and features Kansas City s Mikey Needleman Band. Shuttle buses to Fourth Street will depart hotels at 6:30 p.m. and run until 10 p.m. Attendees at the downtown hotels should walk to the event, as there are no downtown shuttles. A SkillsUSA logo shirt, appropriate attire and official conference badge are required for admittance. A donation of $1 is requested at the entrance. All donations go toward building the Champions Circle Amphitheater at the National Leadership Center in Leesburg, Va. NLSC Winner Information, Press Releases and Photos Coming The 2018 SkillsUSA NLSC Media Kit will be posted on June 1. To download it, go to: Onstage and backstage photos of national medalists, with captions, will be posted on or before July 16. These photos may be downloaded, printed, published or shared. If used in a publication, please use the credit Photo courtesy of SkillsUSA with the photo:

11 For a list of winners by contest or state, along with contest scores, go to: For individual contestant scores, go to: News releases for national medalists and Skill Point Certificate recipients, including lists of medalists grouped by school or state, will be sent to daily and weekly newspapers. We also encourage all SkillsUSA competitors to contact their local newspapers or TV stations to tell them about the trip to Louisville. Visit the SkillsUSA advocacy site for an editable press release and contact up to five local media outlets at one time. At the following link, click on Sample Press Release for National Champions : Trade releases specific to each contest will be available at: Please feel free to use the wording from these sample releases when publicizing your students participation as a 2018 competitor, delegate or National Courtesy Corps member. Meet the Employer Comes to NLSC At the National Leadership and Skills Conference, SkillsUSA will be conducting a Meet the Employer career event for SkillsUSA students on Friday, June 29, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Any student member, regardless of graduation date and curriculum, is encouraged to attend and bring copies of his or her résumé. Up to 50 employers will host booths in the West Hall of the Kentucky Exposition Center. At the same time and location, career development seminars will be offered for attendees. A flier about Meet the Employer can be downloaded and shared with your students who are coming to Louisville in June: Community Service Projects Give Back to Louisville SkillsUSA is excited to partner with Lowe s, CBRE: United States Commercial Real Estate Services and the U.S. Coast Guard for multiple community service projects on Friday, June 29, as our conference wraps up. SkillsUSA students will have an opportunity to apply their skills in providing much-needed services to the greater Louisville community. The day will start with a kickoff event at 7:30 a.m. in South Wing C Lobby of the Kentucky Exposition Center. As students register for national conference, there is a box to check to sign up for community service. Students will be assigned to a location. Do not register voting

12 delegates or students who have contest debriefings on Friday morning. The list of Friday contest debriefings is posted on the conference management site. The community service projects will require 600 volunteers. Once they are registered for the community service projects, please make sure all volunteers do attend. We have committed volunteers to each of the sites, and it is important that we have adequate people at each site to complete the work. The Louisville community appreciates the volunteers who are able to lend their talents. If you have any questions, contact coordinator Carol Lowery at Help Others by Donating Blood During NLSC SkillsUSA will host a blood drive Thursday, June 28, from 9-a.m.-3 p.m. The drive is sponsored by the Kentucky Blood Center, and the bloodmobile will be parked in the outdoor section of SkillsUSA TECHSPO. To schedule an appointment in advance, call All blood donors receive a free T-shirt. Donors 18 and older will be entered into a summer drawing to win a new car. Note: Donors must weigh at least 110 pounds and must be at least 16 years of age with a signed parental permission (form is located on the state directors site) or 17 years of age without parental permission. A state-licensed photo ID is required at the time of donation. Your blood donation may be the only match for a patient s unique need. Please donate so that when your specific type is needed, it will be ready to save a life. When you donate with Kentucky Blood Center, your blood serves patients in local hospitals. Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Raffle is Here Again! SkillsUSA will raffle a 2018 Street Bob motorcycle at the national conference Awards Ceremony on Friday, June 29, in Louisville, Ky. This annual event, made possible thanks to a donation by Harley-Davidson Motor Co. Inc., will benefit the SkillsUSA Alumni and Friends Association. The motorcycle features a two-tone paint scheme called Wicked Red/Twisted Cherry. Tickets are $5 each or five tickets for $20 (a shipping and handling fee of $1 will be added to online orders). The winner does not need to be present for the drawing but is responsible for picking up the motorcycle at a local Harley-Davidson dealer in his or her community. Please note: the motorcycle cannot be shipped to the U.S. Virgin Islands. Go to: to get your tickets.

13 For questions regarding the raffle fundraiser, Taryn Zeigler at ACTE Awards Nominations Sought Trade and industrial educators and administrators are invited to submit nominations for the Association for Career and Technical Education National Trade and Industrial Education Division Awards. Qualified people may be nominated by individuals or groups. Please inform the person you are nominating. You may also nominate yourself. Deadline for all nominations is Oct. 1. Nominations are being accepted in the following categories: Lifetime Service New Teacher Award Teacher Award Information about all three of the awards are located here: The awards will be presented at the ACTE Vision conference in San Antonio, Nov. 28-Dec. 1. Watch for Spam Regarding NLSC Attendee Lists SkillsUSA does not sell its attendee list and wants to warn others that the national headquarters and other associated with SkillsUSA have received s from companies who are attempting to data scrape the SkillsUSA website. The message: Would you be interested in SkillsUSA National Leadership & Skills Conference and TECHSPO Attendees list 2018? please let me know your thoughts so that I can get back with counts pricing details. Key decision makers: High School and College Students Teachers School Administrators Business partners Education and many others and many more across USA/UK/Australia List include: Contact Name, Company Name, website, Social media link, URL, physical address, address, Telephone Number, Revenue size, SIC code etc. Industry? Geography? Job title?

14 Looking forward to hearing from you. Regards Susan Lyon Online professional Please be assured that these companies do not have access to the attendee list for NLSC. To read more about data scraping and how companies attempt to harvest data, go to: Scholarships Available for Education in Technical Fields Over 1,000 scholarships of up to $2,500 each are available for career and technical education students pursuing college/postsecondary education in their field. This career and technical scholarship program is funded through the Horatio Alger Endowment Fund and the generosity of association chairman emeritus and endowment fund president Walter Scott Jr. Scholarships are awarded to students who have faced and overcome great obstacles in their lives and who wish to pursue a career or technical education at an accredited, nonprofit postsecondary institution in the United States. There are 1,020 scholarships up to $2,500 each available. Funds may be used for tuition, fees, books and supplies. For eligibility criteria and more details, go to: Due Dates May 15 May 18 May 18 May 18 May 18 May 18 May 23 June 1 June 1 June 1 June 15 July 16 July 20 mikeroweworks Travel Scholarship applications due Hotel planner due to Louisville Housing Bureau National Leadership and Skills Conference registration due Activate, Leverage and Engage registration due State association NLSC registration appointment request due State hotel delegation reservations due State association director NLSC T-shirt orders due Collision Repair Education Foundation school makeover grant deadline GAERF Student Design Competition entries due NLSC crisis contacts due Certified State Director applications due State Standards of Excellence forms due Washington Leadership Training Institute Student Leadership

15 Scholarship applications due Staff Travel May May May 31-June 1 Atlanta/Site Visit/Tim Lawrence, Ashley Ridgeway, Sandy Moore and Shelly Coates Orange Beach, Ala./Alabama Instructional Officers Association Conference/Gene Dudley