District 3 SkillsUSA Competition

SkillsUSA Fact Sheet

Membership: More than 284,000 student and instructors join SkillsUSA annually, organized into more than 14,700 sections and 54 state and territorial associations. SkillsUSA has served more than 8.8 million members.

Mission: SkillsUSA is an applied method of instruction for preparing America's high performance workers in public career and technical programs. It provides quality education experiences for students in leadership, teamwork, citizenship and character development. It builds and reinforces self-confidence, work attitudes and communications skills. It emphasizes total quality at work: high ethical standards, superior work skills, life-long education, and pride in the dignity of work. SkillsUSA also promotes understanding of the free-enterprise system and involvement in community service.

Partners: Currently, 14,612 teachers and school administrators serve as professional SkillsUSA members and instructors. More than 1,000 business, industry and labor sponsors actively support SkillsUSA at the national level through financial aid, in-kind contributions, and involvement of their people in SkillsUSA activities. Many more work directly with state associations and local chapters.

Programs: SkillsUSA programs include local, state and national competitions in which students demonstrate occupational and leadership skills. At the annual national-level SkillsUSA Championships, over 4,600 students compete in 84 occupational and leadership skill areas.

SkillsUSA programs also help to establish industry standards for job skill training in the lab and classroom, and promote community service. SkillsUSA is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and is cited as a "successful model of employer-driven youth development training program" by the U.S. Department of Labor.

The Professional Development Program (PDP) teaches 84 workplace skill competencies in a series of hands-on self-paced lessons.

The Total Quality Curriculum (TQC) trains students through activity-based instruction in the quality improvement process used by industry. Student2Student Mentoring gives high school students a chance to mentor younger students in the area of career development.

CareerSafe is a credentialed 10-hour online training program developed in cooperation with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to provide students with basic knowledge of safety and a credential desired in the job market.

Workplace Readiness Certification demonstrates student attainment of employability skills. It requires successful completion of a written exam prepared with NOCTI (National Occupational Competency Testing Institute) and NASDCTEc, the consortium of state directors of Career and Technical Education.

For more information: SkillsUSA Website

2007 Winners