Welcome to 2024!
I trust that everyone had a wonderful holiday vacation! Welcome to a new year!
Notes from the State Director..... The information packet for the SkillsUSA Louisiana Championships should be released in the next week. Prepare your champions for a great time in April.
SkillsUSA Week is Coming: Are You Ready?
Now that students are back from winter break, it’s time to get energized for SkillsUSA Week, Feb. 5-9. Your chapter should plan activities that build greater awareness of SkillsUSA and increase member engagement as you recognize education and industry supporters. Whether you honor school staff with a thank-you breakfast, invite a partner to speak at a chapter meeting or make a presentation to a community group, members can grow their skills and demonstrate that SkillsUSA is an important factor in their personal and professional development.
To get started, download the SkillsUSA Week Program Guide and have chapter leaders meet to select activities for Recognition Day, Give-Back Day, Partner Day, Advocacy Day and SkillsUSA Day. The guide includes artwork, a PowerPoint template, a sample SkillsUSA Week proclamation, a draft school press release and more.
Be sure to order SkillsUSA Week shirts and branded materials early! The student-designed SkillsUSA Week shirt is $22 and makes a great gift for hard-working advisors, dedicated supporters or chapter officers to wear for your events. The store also offers SkillsUSA logo pens and pencils, napkins, balloons, tablecloths and banners that will make all chapter events feel festive and professional. Go to the SkillsUSA Store to see the SkillsUSA Week selection — you can order 24 hours a day and shipping is fast and free.
State directors and chapter advisors are encouraged to request a virtual national officer visit during SkillsUSA Week. National officers can join your students for 15 minutes to provide greetings or share Framework stories. Complete the SkillsUSA Week Virtual National Officer Request Form before Jan. 26. National officer availability is on a first-come, first-served basis.
Free Career Essentials for Potential National Officers
SkillsUSA state officers or other students planning to apply as national officer candidates are granted complimentary access to the SkillsUSA Career Essentials advanced curriculum or adult learner curriculum. Successful completion of the course culminates in the industry-validated SkillsUSA Career Essentials Credential. Students applying to run for national office who wish to take the course should complete this course registration form by Jan. 10. The course begins Jan. 12 and ends May 17. Students have access to the course 24/7 and all coursework takes place outside of school hours. See the course syllabus and general course implementation schedule. The time commitment is about 21.5 hours in total. For questions, contact our Customer Care Team.
Proposed Bylaw Amendments
Registered SkillsUSA members can submit proposed bylaw amendments for the middle school, high school or college/postsecondary divisions for consideration by the House of Delegates at the 2024 National Leadership & Skills Conference (NLSC). Bylaw amendment motions must be submitted in writing to Sara Cobb by Wednesday, Jan. 24, at 5 p.m. ET. The SkillsUSA National Executive Council and board of directors will review all submissions at the March board meeting. All motions will be distributed to SkillsUSA association directors by April 22. Motions will then be presented and voted on at the official business meeting of the House of Delegates during the 2024 NLSC. Bylaw amendments are governed by Article XII of the high school and college/postsecondary bylaws and Article X of the middle school bylaws. View the bylaws and the form to submit a motion.
SkillsUSA College/Postsecondary Scholarships Applications Open!
SkillsUSA members anticipating tuition expenses for the Fall 2024 academic term (or the term immediately following high school graduation) can apply now for scholarships made available through SkillsUSA and generous industry partners. This year, SkillsUSA will be using the scholarship platform Kaleidoscope for a streamlined application experience. Students should visit the scholarships page on the website now to see scholarship opportunities and award amounts. Scholarship applications require a letter of recommendation from a SkillsUSA advisor or another instructor, a current resume and a brief essay. Scholarship recipients will be notified by email and must submit an acceptance form. Funds for postsecondary scholarship awards are remitted directly to the recipients’ postsecondary institutions to be applied to the student’s account balance. These scholarships are competitive and applying for a scholarship does not guarantee your selection. For questions, contact our Customer Care Team.
Address Change for the SkillsUSA National Office
Effective immediately, the National Headquarters of SkillsUSA has a new official address for all correspondence, membership payments and other mailings. Please update your accounting records effective immediately for any invoice payments, correspondence or other mail coming to SkillsUSA headquarters via USPS, FedEx or UPS.
Please note this address is for national office payments only; your state office mailing address will remain the same unless you are notified otherwise.
SkillsUSA
673 Potomac Station Dr.
PMB #809
Leesburg, VA 20176
To accelerate the processing of membership payments, we recommend utilizing the electronic payment form, which accepts both credit card and e-check transactions. You can access the link for these payments directly from each invoice you receive.
Please reach out to SkillsUSA's Customer Care Team at 844-875-4557 or customercare@skillsusa.org if you need help or have further questions.
Take Up the Challenge! National Conference Pin and T-shirt Design
SkillsUSA is offering the 2024 National Leadership & Skills Conference (NLSC) Pin and T-shirt Design Challenge to all dues-paying student members. The winning designs will become the official T-shirt and pin design for the 2024 NLSC. Entries must be received by March 1 at 12 a.m. ET, and winners will be announced on March 8. Rules and submission links can be found on the SkillsUSA Website.
Nominate Honorary Life, Outstanding CTE Educators and Hall of Champions
If you would like to nominate someone for national recognition by SkillsUSA as an Honorary Life Member, Outstanding Career and Technical Educator or for the Hall of Champions award, please complete the online applications. Be sure to notify those you nominate and provide all of the information that is requested. The deadline is Feb. 14. If you have questions, contact Laura Rauch.
Highlight Skills Jam in the Chapter and Classroom
Lights, camera, action! Skills Jam is one of the best shows on YouTube, featuring the competition journeys of SkillsUSA students and their advisors — and even a trip to Hollywood for some of the students! The Skills Jam team has materials to facilitate your classroom showing or special screening of the show. In this Skills Jam Resources folder, you’ll find a flyer and discussion guide. View the episodes and then discuss them with your students. You’ll enjoy watching SkillsUSA shine in this incredible new docu-series!
Framework Integration Toolkit: Framework Foundations Lesson Plans
The SkillsUSA Framework Integration Toolkit offers everything advisors need to ensure career readiness in their students. Teaching students about the Framework is a breeze with the Framework Foundations Lesson Plans. The lesson plans are divided into four chapters and are a great resource for diving into each Essential Element. Through the lessons, your students will develop new skills and learn how to talk about the career readiness skills they are learning. Professional members can access the Toolkit in SkillsUSA Absorb.
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