This past week, NASDCTEc had the privilege of attending SkillsUSA’s 51st annual National Leadership and Skills Conference (NLSC). The conference is the group’s largest annual convening of its national and state membership and is one of the premier opportunities for Career Technical Education (CTE) students to showcase the impressive technical and employability skills they’ve acquired through participation in the Career Technical Student Organization (CTSO) and their respective CTE programs.
More than 16,000 people, including students, their families, teachers, advisors, and business partners from across the country took part in the weeklong event which began last weekend with intensive leadership training for national SkillsUSA student officers and advisors. On Tuesday, the Opening Ceremony took place where Snap-On CEO, Nick Pinchuk, who delivered a powerful keynote address on the importance of CTE and the significant contributions SkillsUSA has made to the CTE enterprise over the past fifty years.
However, the most impressive component of NLSC took place on Wednesday and Thursday where more than 6,000 exceptional CTE students competed in the national SkillsUSA Championships. These students, all qualifying from related statewide contests, competed in over 100 different technical, trade, and leadership fields ranging from the culinary arts, robotics competitions all the way to public speaking and performance in mock interviews with real employers. These timed and judged competitions provide a hands-on way for these CTE students to demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and competencies that they’ve acquired throughout their CTE careers which were put on full display for families, friends, and even prospective employers.
In addition to this national contest, members of the SkillsUSA World Team participated in the the event— a select few of the best students from across the nation who will be competing on behalf of the United States later this year in Brazil at the annual WorldSkills competition. NASDCTEc applauds the incredible work that SkillsUSA, and especially its students, have done and continue to do.
Steve Voytek, Government Relations Manager