SkillsUSA members elect and prepare

Leah Beyer, Staff Writer

At Manhattan High School, the SkillsUSA chapter elected new officers on Wednesday. These positions include president, vice president, secretary and treasurer; a parliamentarian will be elected at a later meeting. The four positions that were elected on Wednesday were filled by Zach Payne, Autumn Allard, Kylie Volker and Allison Allard, in descending order of responsibility. For several of these positions, the candidates gave short speeches on why they would each be best for the job.

“I want to be vice president because I already have some experience from being secretary last year and I want to aim higher this year,” Autumn Allard, club vice president, said.

Even some of the new members jumped right into leadership positions and got involved.

“If you give me money, I won’t lose it. I’d probably lose my own soul before losing your money,” Allison Allard, new member and club treasurer, said.

On average meeting days, this chapter will be entirely run by the officers in a parliamentary style with scheduled agendas laying out the activities and discussions for the day. Each meeting will also begin with a collective reciting of the SkillsUSA pledge.

SkillsUSA has several upcoming events that members will be given the opportunity to participate in. The district conference, which took place yesterday at Manhattan Area Technical College, was the first of these opportunities.

This year the district conference is in town, which makes traveling a lot easier,” Christopher Collins, auto tech teacher, said.

The group from MHS is one of 12 schools signed up to go from the district. These students will be at the college until 11:30 a.m. and then head off to a tour that was set up for them at a local business.

Another event this chapter is looking forward to is the Mid-America Leadership Conference in October. This conference will be taking place in Columbus, Nebraska, at a hotel where food and lodging will be provided. However, in order to participate, members will be fundraising to pay their way to the conference by asking local businesses, specifically businesses related to each student’s category, to sponsor them.

Through this club, members are given many opportunities to explore and expand their knowledge of a certain skill. The mission of SkillsUSA is to prepare young minds for the world of work ahead of them and help them develop skills that they will be able to carry into their lives later on. This national organization accomplishes this by allowing and encouraging students to grow in specific fields, whatever that field may be.

While many of the students in the chapter at MHS are focused on auto tech, the competitions and events they go to include a variety of categories all the way from photo contests to online public relations challenges.  In addition to this, SkillsUSA has an annual competition to design a T-shirt and pin for that year. The winning designs will then be transferred into an actual product.

Competitions such as these not only give students more experience in their chosen area, but they also give students the confidence and push they will need to succeed later on in life.