America's Highly Skilled Work Force
Meets in Louisville, Kentucky

 

SkillsUSA came to Louisville, June 22-26, 2015 for its 51st annual National Leadership and Skills Conference, a showcase of career and technical education students. Quality career and technical education will be the centerpiece of the conference. More than 15,000 students, teachers, education leaders, and representatives from more than 600 national corporations, trade associations, businesses and labor unions will participate in the event. A special highlighted event was the annual SkillsUSA Championships June 24 and 25 with 100 hands-on skill and leadership competitions. The Minnesota Delegation of over 185 students, advisors, voting delegates and national education team members were on hand for the weeklong event.

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The winners of the annual SkillsUSA Championships were announced Friday evening, June 26, 2015 at the Awards Ceremony of the National Leadership and Skills Conference. The Conference was held June 22 - June 26, 2015, at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, Kentucky. Over 6,100 outstanding career and technical education students joined in the excitement of hands-on competition in 100 different trade, technical, and leadership fields. Nick Pinchuk, CEO of Snap-on Inc. and Cameron Ferguson, Caterpillar Inc. were featured speakers during the Opening Ceremony sponsored by Snap-on Inc. and Caterpillar Inc. on Tuesday evening June 23, 2015 and on Friday night, June 26th during the awards ceremony, Mr. Troy Dally, Sr. VP, Lowe's Companies, Inc. was the featured speaker. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. sponsored the Awards Ceremony.

 

The SkillsUSA Championships is the national-level competition for public high school and college/postsecondary students enrolled in career and technical education programs. SkillsUSA organizes this event, and it is considered the single greatest day of industry volunteerism in America annually at an estimated cost of more than $36 million. Each SkillsUSA Championships contestant is a state-level gold medalist.

 

Special congratulations to the entire Minnesota Delegation for such a great showing in medal count, bringing home 19 medallion winners in both college and high divisions in eighty different leadership/skilled contest areas and forty-eight (48) students also received their Skill Point Certificate at NLSC. The Skills Point Certificate is a tool to recognize outstanding talent beyond those who earn the gold, silver or bonze medals at the SkillsUSA Championships. High scorers in the contests received Skill Point Certificates. The Skill Point Certificate was awarded in 86 occupational and leadership areas to students who achieved a high score defined by industry. The SkillsUSA Championships have been a premier event since 1967.

 

Students from the following colleges competed at the National conference: Alexandria Technical & Community College, Anoka Technical College, Century College, Dakota County Technical College, Dunwoody College of Technology, Hennepin Technical College-Brooklyn Park and Eden Prairie Campuses, Lake Superior College, MnWest Community & Technical College- Canby, Ridgewater College-Hutchinson & Willmar Campuses, Saint Cloud Technical & Community College, Saint Paul College, and South Central College- North Mankato.

 

Students from the following high schools/technical centers competed at the national conference: Alexandria Technical & Community College, Austin High School, Central Lakes College- Staples, Century High School, Dakota County Area Learning School, Moorhead High School, Mounds View High School, Northeast Metro 916, Roseville Area High School, Saint Cloud Technical and Community College, Saint Paul College, Secondary Technical Education Program, SouthWest Metro Educational Cooperative, Stillwater Area High School, Tartan High School, Technical High School and Wayzata High School.

 

Special Congratulations to the following students who received the President’s Volunteer Service Award during the conference. Gold – Jessica Anderson; Silver – Megan Schuldt and Nicole Villneauve; and Bronze – Courtney Merth all from Tartan High School. Congratulations to Mr. Todd Huxford, a heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and refrigeration instructor at South Central College in North Mankato, MN, who was recognized on stage as Region IV Advisor of the Year and Ms. Jennifer Polz, SkillsUSA Minnesota’s State Director was recognized as a National Honorary Life Member of SkillsUSA. This is SkillsUSA’s highest recognition award, given for outstanding service that advances the purposes and goals of the national organization. Both of these awards were announced before a crowd of 16,000 during the opening ceremony of the 51st Annual SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference held in Louisville, Kentucky on June 25.

 

Also in attendance during the conference from Minnesota were Ms. Debbie Belfry, Bloomington Public Schools, Director of Career and Technical Education, President Annette Parker, South Central College, President Cecilia Cervantes, Hennepin Technical College and Dennis Gehring, Alumni Volunteer from Cargill Inc.

 

SkillsUSA turned 50 on May 8, 2015 and this 51st annual National Leadership and Skills Conference in Louisville, Ky., caps off a year-long celebration of SkillsUSA’s 50th-Anniversary. Five decades ago, the founders of SkillsUSA and approximately 200 students and teachers attending the first conference in Nashville, Tenn. set in motion events and aspirations that are very real today.

 

Begun in 1967, the SkillsUSA Championships has grown from 54 competitors in three contests to more than 6,100 competitors in 100 hands-on skill and leadership contests this year. SkillsUSA adds contests to the SkillsUSA Championships to meet the demands of new and expanding occupations. SkillsUSA affiliated instructional programs represent 130 different occupational areas. And, from this genesis came the following:

  • A nationwide network of students and instructors in a common bond with a powerful partnership of industry, serving more than 11.9 million members over 50 years.
  • Effective and far-reaching classroom instruction in employability and leadership skills.
  • Civically engaged students involved in community service and possessing the skills to become responsible American citizens.
  • Preparing America’s skilled workforce through continually transformed instruction, influenced by an internationally recognized championships program, and,
  • Representing career and technical education to policymakers, employers and the public.

 

SkillsUSA is the national organization for students in trade, industrial, technical and health occupations education. It sponsors the SkillsUSA Championships annually to recognize the achievements of career and technical education students and to encourage them to strive for excellence and pride in their chosen occupations.

 

Working against the clock and each other, the participants proved their expertise in job skills for occupations such as electronics, technical drafting, precision machining, medical assisting and culinary arts. There were also competitions in leadership skills, such as extemporaneous speaking and conducting meetings by parliamentary procedures.

 

Key Statistics from the National Conference:
Expected contestants: over 6,000
Total contests: 100
Skilled and technical sciences contests: 64
Occupationally-related contests: 11
Leadership development contests: 18
Demonstration contests: 7
Contest judges: 1,100 from business and labor
Contest technical committee members: 654
Conference management team and national education team members: 390
Contest area covered: 1,087,560 square ft. (equivalent to the area of 19 football fields)
Awards to be presented: 1,080 medals will be awarded and more than 480 recognition awards will be given
Industry prizes support students’ employment or further education
SkillsUSA University seminars: 58
Total in-kind industry and education contributions (donated time, equipment and material): $36+ million
Total volunteer hours by technical committee members, courtesy corps, national education team, judges and alumni during
the week: approximately 58,840 hours

 

The Championships requires a massive amount of equipment and materials, including more than 1,000 computers, 50 trucks, 9,500 bricks and 1,500 blocks, 60 stoves, and complete laboratories for machining, welding, auto repair and painting. The cost of electricity usage for this week in 2014 totaled over $120,000 (combined electric bill and in-kind services). More than 7,000 lunches are served to competitors and judges.

 

The philosophy of the SkillsUSA Championships is to reward students for excellence, to involve industry in directly evaluating student performance and to keep training relevant to employer’s needs.

 

For additional information, please contact: Jennifer Polz, Executive Director, SkillsUSA Minnesota
P.O. Box 29286 • Minneapolis, MN 55429 • 763.560.1932 Office • 763.560.1936 Fax
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Website: www.mnskillsusa.org