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Technology Provides a Better Future

Engineering students from Sylmar (Calif.) Biotech Health Academy wanted to help the homeless by creating a resource that would change lives. Jonathan Pena and Brian Hernandez decided they would create a systems app that could help to better track homeless individuals and provide resources to them. The team decided to start by taking part in service activities to build a relationship with the community. These activities helped gain the right data and information needed to create the Safe-Way app. The students hope that once this program is produced, it will notify local homeless people about available resources such as food... Read More

Every Penny Counts

Each year, Olathe (Kan.) North High School students raise money for the Pennies for Shoes Campaign. This effort supports the Mayor’s Christmas Tree Fund to purchase footwear for Olathe students in need as well as ensure that each local family has food, clothing and water during the holidays. SkillsUSA members held various fundraisers, including an auction with donated items, a pie sale and a car smashing contest. Their latest campaign was a success, collecting over $1,000 more than the previous year’s. Read More

SkillsUSA Instructors Recognized by Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Teaching Excellence Program

LEESBURG, Va.—Harbor Freight Tools for Schools has awarded $650,000 in teaching excellence awards to 12 SkillsUSA instructors from across the country in the 2019 Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence. The prize, launched in 2017, is open to skilled trades teachers who are faculty members at U.S. public high schools. Eligible applicants are those who teach skilled trades classes that emphasize the expert use of tools and materials to build or repair products and structures, and which lead to high-demand and high-wage careers including in carpentry, construction, electrical, HVAC, manufacturing, plumbing, transportation and agriculture mechanics and... Read More

Who’s Ready for a New T-Shirt?

The SkillsUSA Store has a new T-shirt with this year’s theme, “SkillsUSA: Champions at Work, I’m Ready.” Don’t miss an opportunity to purchase a 2019-2020 themed T-shirt! To place an order or if you have any questions, contact Kim DeVenuto at 703-674-5454 or kdevenuto@egroupengage.com. Read More

SkillsUSA Students Build Bunk Beds for Fire Victims at the Rose Bowl

Over 300 SkillsUSA students from across Los Angeles gathered at Rose Bowl Stadium on Oct. 8 for the Generation T Bunk Build. The group worked with industry partners to build 100 bunk beds for nonprofit Sleep in Heavenly Peace, an organization dedicated to building, assembling and delivering beds to children in need. Some beds were headed to local families in Pasadena while others were designated for victims of last year’s Camp Fire. Generation T is Lowe’s Hardware’s effort to raise awareness for the skilled trades gap in America. The 300 SkillsUSA California members worked with volunteers from Lowe’s,... Read More

New Fundraiser is ‘Double Good’

Double Good Popcorn is a newly approved fundraising program for SkillsUSA chapters. This online platform sells gourmet popcorn and seeks to make fundraising simple and effective. The fundraising company began working with SkillsUSA Illinois in the middle of last year, and four other state SkillsUSA associations have since partnered to pilot fundraisers as well. Since then, it has helped chapters raise thousands of dollars. Unlike some fundraisers that require a lot of hard work, time or dedication of advisors and student members, Double Good seeks to make fundraising easy. Chapter advisors can set up a fundraiser online and provide a... Read More

SkillsUSA Holds Dedication for Champions Circle

Pavilion Built by Volunteers from Education and Industry Leesburg, Va. — A new outdoor pavilion called the “Champions Circle” was dedicated Sept. 21 at SkillsUSA’s 90-acre headquarters campus. It was built through a collaboration of volunteer efforts: more than 80 SkillsUSA advisors and students from four schools who donated their labor, and industry partners who contributed over $100,000 in materials, equipment and labor. The concept for the “Champions Circle” came from SkillsUSA Oklahoma director Darren Gibson. Oklahoma state officer Matthew Thomas, a student from Meridian Technology Center in Stillwater, drew the original... Read More

I BUILT THIS! Video Contest

NCCER and Build Your Future’s I BUILT THIS! video contest gives aspiring craft professionals or their instructors an opportunity to showcase outstanding construction projects. Submissions are accepted from all types of construction and maintenance crafts. The five categories include: Individual Secondary and Postsecondary, Group Secondary and Postsecondary (maximum of five group members) and People’s Choice. The deadline for entries is Oct. 31. Learn more. Read More

SkillsUSA Members Rally at the U.S. Capitol, Make 130 Legislative Visits in One Day

At a Sept. 24 rally in Washington, D.C., more than 550 SkillsUSA students, teachers and state leaders from 29 states showed their support for SkillsUSA and career and technical education (CTE). The third annual “SkillsUSA Perkins POWERR CTE Rally” on the west front lawn of the U.S. Capitol celebrated the launch of the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act. Joining SkillsUSA members for the rally were Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-Pa.). Both elected officials praised SkillsUSA students for their advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill. After the... Read More