SkillsUSA

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SkillsUSA logo, 2004 - present
SkillsUSA logo, 2004 - present

SkillsUSA is a United States career and technical student organization serving more than 284,000 high school and college students and professional members enrolled in training programs in technical, skilled, and service occupations, including health occupations.

SkillsUSA is a partnership of students, teachers and industry representatives, working together to ensure America has a skilled work force. It helps each student excel.

SkillsUSA was founded in 1965 as the Vocational Industrial Clubs of America (VICA). VICA changed its name to SkillsUSA-VICA in 1999. VICA was dropped from the name in 2004.

SkillsUSA has more than a quarter million student members annually, organized into more than 14,700 chapters and 54 state and territorial associations (including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands).

The stated goal of SkillsUSA is to prepare America's high performance workers. 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 activities.

Approximately 14,612 teachers and school administrators serve as professional SkillsUSA members and instructors. More than 1,000 corporations, trade associations and labor unions actively support SkillsUSA on a 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.

SkillsUSA programs include local, state and national competitions in which students demonstrate occupational and leadership skills. During the annual national-level SkillsUSA Championships, more than 4,600 students compete in 80 occupational and leadership skill areas. SkillsUSA programs also help to establish industry standards for job skill training in the classroom.

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.

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