You might be asking yourself what is SkillsUSA and why are there a lot of people talking about it? Well, SkillsUSA is a partnership between Students, Teachers, and Industry workers, which are working together to ensure that America has a skilled workface. SkillsUSA is a nonprofit national education association. It helps students prepare for careers in Trade, Technical and Skilled service occupations. Skills helps empower its members to become world-class Workers, Leaders, and Responsible American citizens.  

The lead adviser for our school is Mrs. McCall (Cosmetology), then second in charge is Mrs. Crawford (Communications). Some of the other teachers that are a part of this fun club are Mr. Jefferds (Automotive), Mr. Henderlite (Robotics) and Mr. Rud (Communications). 

The officers for this year are, Jasmine Foster (Cosmetology) who is our amazing President, then right behind her is Jasmine Long (Culinary) as our Vice President. Next up is Carsyn Howes (Cosmetology) as our secretary. We have (Emi) Ciara Sastre (Communications) as the Treasurer. We have Tyler Bryant (Communications) as the Parliamentarian. Then finally we have Allison Viola (Communications) as the Journalist/social media Manger. You should definitely follow us on Instagram at @fhp_skillsusa, to stay up to date on what is going on. 

 Some of our officers have done SkillsUSA last year and those that have competed were Jasmine Foster who had competed at States and had gone to nationals in Esthetics, Carsyn Howes was a model for Jasmine and had gone to states and Nationals with her, Jasmine Long went to Regionals and states, she had competed in culinary arts, and Allison Viola who has went to Regionals and States and has competed in Photography. 

Our school offers many different competitions that you can compete in, but you can either compete in your academes or you can compete in leadership. Some examples for Communication are Photography, Television Video Production, and Web design. Examples for Culinary are Culinary Arts, and Culinary Quiz Bowl. Examples for Cosmetology are Barbering, Cosmetology quiz bowl, and Nail Care. Remember these are just some of the competitions, most of the academies can compete in their academy. Sadly, Agriscience is one of the only academes that does not have any competitions that they can compete in; But if you are in Agriscience you can still compete in leadership. Some examples of the leadership competitions are Job Interview, Pin Design, Prepared Speech, Promotional Bulletin Board, T-shirt Design, Community Service, and a whole lot more. 

 If you do not want to compete you can always help and volunteer as Courtesy Corps. Courtesy Corps is an elite group of high-school and post-high-school students, as well as advisors and chaperones who are selected to represent their state delegation. These individuals have afforded the opportunity to work with and build a network of industry and educational resources, while gaining skills and leadership qualities, developing friendships, and having fun.  

SkillsUSA may look fun and it is a lot of fun but there is also a lot of work that is put into it. For example, with Photography you do not just get to take photos, according to the SkillsUSA website on the competition its stats, “The photography contest is divided into two parts: a written exam testing overall photographic knowledge and a skill performance. The written exam is a type of knowledge exam that assesses the overall photographic knowledge through a series of multiple-choice questions. The skills contest includes a series of hands-on performance activities assessing overall photographic mechanics and techniques.”  

Another example is for the ‘Barbering​​’ contest is on the SkillsUSA website on the competition “The contest is divided into three separate skill performance tests and one oral communications competition. The Skill Performance is an oral communication test that assesses contestant verbal presentation skills. The four separate skill performance tests assess skills in haircutting, hair coloring, hair styling and beard design at multiple performance stations. Creativity is assessed in the beard and haircut/styling design, while haircutting is tested in the re-creation of two men’s haircut from a photograph.” 

 I don’t want to scare you with all these scary competitions but just like working out, you will be happy with the result. A lot of the members that had competed last year had said that they had made new friends, yes you would be competing against them, but that just makes it more fun.  

If you still want to join you can, the membership fee is due on Monday, October 31. The fee is only $25, If you are interested you can contact Mrs. McCall at [email protected], the official email at [email protected] or you can reach out to the Instagram account @fhp_skillsusa.