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SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference, the world’s largest showcase of skilled trades, returns to the Kentucky Exposition Center June 25-29. The event brings with it an estimated economic impact of $18 million to Louisville.
More than 16,000 middle-school, high-school and college students; teachers; education leaders; and representatives from national corporations, trade associations, businesses and labor unions participate in the event.
The conference highlight is the annual SkillsUSA Championships. During the competition, top career and technical students participate in more than 100 hands-on contests, representing a wide range of technical, skilled, service and health occupations, including:
- Architectural drafting
- Welding
- Carpentry
- Firefighting
- Cosmetology
- Plumbing
- Culinary arts
- Aviation maintenance technology
- Crime scene investigation
- Electrical construction wiring
- Masonry
- Digital cinema production
- Practical nursing
- Sheet metal
In addition to competing, 600 Skills USA students will complete community service projects in the greater Louisville community. Projects range from framing houses for Habitat for Humanity to helping clean up local parks.
SkillsUSA Championships is free and open to the public Wednesday, June 27 and Thursday, June 28 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Parking is $8 per car, $20 for a bus.
The mission of SkillsUSA is to ensure a skilled workforce by preparing students for success in their chosen technical, service and health fields. Founded in 1965, the organization has served 12.5 million members, and more than 335,000 advisors and students participate each year.
For more information, visit www.skillsusa.org.
More than a dozen students from the Jefferson County Public School (JCPS) District recently earned top honors at the SkillsUSA state championships in Louisville. Students from nine JCPS high schools competed in the annual competition, which gives students from across Kentucky the opportunity to demonstrate their skills and expertise in a variety of in-demand career areas. SkillsUSA Kentucky is a partnership of students, teachers and industry representatives working together to ensure the state has a skilled workforce.
JCPS students brought home a total of 17 awards in categories that included Heavy Equipment Training, Automotive Refinishing Technology, Computer Programming and Technical Drafting. The students are enrolled in career-theme schools in JCPS, where they invest time developing marketable skills in high-demand fields.
Winners from JCPS include:
- Skylar Sample, Fairdale, Heavy Equipment (First)
- Curtis Simmons, Fairdale, Heavy Equipment (Second)
- William Propes, Fairdale, Heavy Equipment (Third)
- Kaylyn Wade, Pleasure Ridge Park, Photo Art Display (First)
- Abigail Stewart, Pleasure Ridge Park, Advertising Design (First)
- Rawan Saleh, Fern Creek, Advertising Design (Second)
- Sean Riggle, Southern, Automotive Refinishing Technology (First)
- Aaron Araujo, Southern, Collision Repair Technology (First)
- Iosef Casas, Fern Creek, Computer Programming (First)
- Breagan Craig, Fern Creek, Computer Programming (Second)
- Kaylyn Wade, Pleasure Ridge Park, Photography (First)
- Patrick Cleary, Pleasure Ridge Park, Photography (Third)
- Justin Schneider, Jeffersontown, Technical Drafting (Second)
- Daniel Berry, Jeffersontown, Technical Drafting (Third)
- Collin Bradley, Roderick Coleman and Tyler Zickel, Southern, Community Service (First)
- Skylar Sample, Fairdale, Extemporaneous Speaking (First)
- Jameir Kirkpatrick, Iroquois, Prepared Speech (Second)
First-place winners will have the opportunity to compete in the national SkillsUSA championship in June, which is being at the Kentucky Expo Center. More than 16,000 people — including students, teachers and business partners — are expected to participate in the weeklong event.
On Thursday morning, Iroquois High School students will cut the ribbon on a new community amphitheater designed and built by the students.
The amphitheater will provide both Iroquois High School and the surrounding neighborhood with an outdoor space for award presentations, concerts, plays, farmers markets, and spring and fall festivals. Iroquois was able to build the amphitheater after applying for and receiving a $25,000 nationwide grant from Lowe’s last year.
“The community amphitheater project is a perfect example of how JCPS couples classroom education with real-world experiences that prepare our students for postsecondary education and their future careers,” said Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) Superintendent Dr. Donna Hargens. “The students earned this award through their creativity, hard work and desire to build something that strengthens their school community and the surrounding neighborhood.”
Iroquois is one of the district’s career-theme schools, where students may earn dual college credit, articulated college credit and an industry certification while they are earning their high school diplomas.
Students participating in this project are also involved in the SkillsUSA and Architecture, Construction and Engineering (ACE) Mentor programs, and enrolled in the Construction Technology Program at Iroquois. Through the program, students invest time developing marketable skills in high-demand areas such as brick and block masonry, building maintenance, carpentry, architectural drafting, electrical wiring, heating and air conditioning, interior design, plumbing and welding.
