Upper Valley Career Center

Leesburg, Va. - SkillsUSA has named 24 SkillsUSA schools as Models of Excellence for 2020. The annual program recognizes the exceptional integration of personal, workplace and technical skills into SkillsUSA chapter activities. This is the highest honor bestowed on chapters by SkillsUSA, which is among the largest student organizations for career and technical education.

“Our Models of Excellence represent the very best in chapter achievement and community involvement,” said Chelle Travis, executive director of SkillsUSA. “These students represent America’s future skilled workforce and are future leaders in their local communities. It is a tremendous honor for these chapters and the recognition validates these outstanding SkillsUSA programs.” 

The top 24 SkillsUSA chapters selected as Models of Excellence will be evaluated in June for top honors. A panel of judges will evaluate each of these highest-level schools based on their goals, plan of action, results, evaluation and SkillsUSA Framework integration. Business and industry partners will conduct finalist interviews with students and advisors, and then help select the top three schools to be recognized on June 26 during the National Leadership and Skills Conference Virtual Recognition Session. 

The focus of Models of Excellence is student-led activation. These students learn and practice the skills that every employer seeks, including leadership, initiative, communication, teamwork and problem solving by taking the lead on all SkillsUSA activities. Their SkillsUSA instructors take the education of these students to the next level by guiding them, but never doing the work for them, elevating learning from classroom instruction to successful application of skills.

Congratulations to the following schools on being named Models of Excellence: 

Cape Cod Tech (Mass.)
Catawba Valley Community College (N.C.)
Centauri High School (Colo.)
Center for Advanced Technical Studies (S.C.)
Central High School (Wyo.)
Forsyth Central High School (Ga.)
Gloucester County Institute of Technology (N.J.)
Greater Lowell Tech High (Mass.)
Grovetown High School (Ga.)
Kofa High School (Ariz.)
Lanier Technical College (Ga.)
Lynn Vocational Technical Institute (Mass.)
New Madrid County R-I Technical Skills Center (Mo.)
North Platte High School (Neb.)
Norwalk High School (Calif.)
Plymouth South Technical Studies (Mass.)
Sandy Creek High School (Ga.)
Statesboro High School (Ga.)
Union Grove High School (Ga.)
Upper Valley Career Center (Ohio)
Valley Academy for Career and Technology Education (Ariz.)
Watertown High School (Wis.)
Willow Canyon High School (Ariz.)
Woodland High School (Wash.)

The Models of Excellence program promotes the intentional learning of personal, workplace and technical skills outlined in the SkillsUSA Framework for student development. Specific characteristics defined within each skill area provide tangible benchmarks for student achievement and chapter programming. Achievement is measured by student efforts in implementing essential workplace skills including personal responsibility, integrity, work ethic and organization in chapter activities. The hands-on approach of this program actualizes the SkillsUSA mission of empowering members to become world-class workers, leaders and responsible American citizens. The top three schools receive national recognition and the opportunity to share their stories through SkillsUSA in publications and trainings.

About SkillsUSA
SkillsUSA is a nonprofit partnership of education and industry founded in 1965 to strengthen our nation’s skilled workforce. Driven by employer demand, SkillsUSA helps students develop necessary personal and workplace skills along with technical skills grounded in academics. This SkillsUSA Framework empowers every student to succeed at work and in life, while helping to close the skills gap in which millions of positions go unfilled. Through SkillsUSA’s championships program and curricula, employers have ensured schools are teaching relevant technical skills, and with SkillsUSA’s new credentialing process, they can now assess how ready potential employees are for the job. SkillsUSA has more than 372,000 annual members nationwide in high schools, middle schools and colleges, covering over 130 trade, technical and skilled service occupations, and is recognized by the U.S. Departments of Education and Labor as integral to career and technical education. With the addition of our alumni, membership last year was 434,141. We have served more than 14 million members since 1965. For more information: www.skillsusa.org