The Year Ahead
As we begin the 2008-2009 school year, SkillsUSA New Jersey is looking forward to another productive and fun-filled year for its members. From our Fall Leadership Conference in October to the State Championships in May, and the numerous events in between, we anxiously await the year ahead. To kick things off, the State Officer Team will convene its first meeting later this month at Somerset County Vo-Tech High School. Advisors from across the state will also meet later this month with members of the state staff to discuss the past state conference and the year ahead.

NJ SkillsUSA Alumni Spotlight

Many former SkillsUSA members, who are now alumni members, have found great success in part because of this great organization. One of these members is Alex Abrahantes. During his sophomore year at Somerset County Vo-Tech in Bridgewater, N.J., he attended his first national conference as his chapter's parliamentarian, and later decided to run for national office. As a national officer, Alex served as national high school parliamentarian.

Alex has always been a determined person. Throughout his entire life people always tried to dissuade him from achieving his goals because they felt they were too difficult. Alex knew that he could do anything if he put his mind to it and worked hard. Working hard paid off for Alex as he achieved many of his dreams. He graduated from Penn State University; he became a professional wrestler; and he achieved his lifelong career goal of working for the WWE (formerly the WWF).

Alex then made a career change and followed his dreams of performing and entertaining. So Alex decided to pound the streets of New York City looking for acting, modeling, and voiceover work. As he began working on several projects, he also began to network and make connections. While he dreamed about getting his big break, he also knew that he wanted to help out others in the process.

After viewing other entertainment industry websites and working for one, Alex noticed that there wasn't a website out there that contained a complete reference guide to the entertainment industry as a whole. Too often he would have to view one website for one thing and another website for the other.

He decided to enlist the help of some of his associates and formed a company called BIGBreakNY. BIGBreakNY is an entertainment industry website that produced events for entertainers in New York City. Though pursuing acting and running a company, Alex's passion for Sports Entertainment did not fade away. In 2007 he joined TNA Wrestling. He currently runs the TNA University program, which allows passionate wrestling fans across the world the opportunity to help market TNA. He also produces and hosts a web program called TNA U TV, which can be seen on TNAWrestling.com.

Alex's ultimate goal is to continue to make his dreams become a reality so that he can help others make theirs come true as well. To contact Alex, e-mail him at Alex@bigbreakny.com.

Washington Leadership Training Institute
SkillsUSA offers advanced training for students and advisors that focuses on the skills needed to be champions at work, in the communities and in their personal lives. It's known as the Washington Leadership Training Institute (WLTI). Student attendees must apply to attend the conference which will focus on developing advanced leadership, citizenship and employability skills. To help students learn how an individual can effect change, sessions will cover the following areas:

• The impact of the individual as a leader
  
• The impact of the individual as a citizen
  
• The impact of the individual as an employee

Other WLTI activities will include the following, congressional visits, touring the Smithsonian Institution and Washington area monuments and the opportunity to earn National Statesman award .

Chapter Fundraising
Fundraising is a key part of the SkillsUSA program of work. Without funds, it is hard to conduct most activities. In addition to helping to finance the local chapter, a fundraising activity can also provide many valuable learning experiences for students. From project management to forecasting profits, setting timelines, working in teams and being accountable for results, fundraising teaches many skills that will be needed on the job and in life.

The national office has provided great fundraising resources for all chapters. Visit the following website for more information: http://www.skillsusa.org/educators/fundraising.shtml

ASE/AYES/SkillsUSA Announce Partnership

The National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE), Automotive Youth Educational Systems (AYES) and Skills USA today announced an agreement to provide co-branded end of program exams for students in secondary and post-secondary automotive technology programs.

The new exams will merge the well-known NATEF End-of-Program tests into a joint offering from the three groups. The boards and leaders of all three organizations agree that this a tremendous example of association partnership to best serve the needs of students, schools and the automotive service industry.

Through the National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation (NATEF), ASE will oversee the question development and delivery of the exams for all three organizations. Candidates and instructors will be able to access the exam through a single co-branded test entry portal. Partner websites will link to this common portal. A Spring 2009 launch is anticipated.

"This combined effort will provide our AYES high school students with quality testing that is industry led and nationally recognized," said Susan Moe, Executive Director of AYES. Tim Lawrence, SkillsUSA Executive Director, agreed, adding: "Taking advantage of this unique co-branding opportunity helps us provide our students industry developed assessments without reinventing the process. The automobile, truck and collision repair areas of SkillsUSA will also be covered with the new co-branded assessments."

"ASE is proud to provide our assessment development expertise and partner with leaders in our industry such as AYES and SkillsUSA. The students will benefit from having just one set of end of program exams that are endorsed by our three organizations," said Tim Zilke, ASE President & CEO.

2008 - 2009 SkillsUSA Theme
The SkillsUSA competition theme for the 2008-09 year is

SkillsUSA: Champions at Work
Leadership in Transition

This is the theme for the Chapter Display, Prepared Speech and Promotional Bulletin Board contests. The topic to be addressed by contestants in these events is how the theme SkillsUSA: Champions at Work, Leadership in Transition relates to our national program of work and how the SkillsUSA program fosters personal and professional development and prepares students for the next phase of their lives. Within this topic, contestants might illustrate or discuss any of the following:

• SkillsUSA helps students to develop their knowledge and technical skills and also an attitude of sincere enthusiasm and passion in their educational path, in their career and in their relationships 7
  
• SkillsUSA members are better prepared for lifelong learning and for transition into the workforce or into higher education
  
• Being in SkillsUSA is a learning experience and a growing experience.
  
• SkillsUSA members are engaged in their communities and aware of transitions in local, state and national leadership, especially during this presidential election year.
  
• Our ongoing slogan is SkillsUSA: Champions at Work. We want our members to feel like champions and stand up for quality work, both in school and on the job
  
• SkillsUSA motivates students to be the best they can be in their technical skill development and personal/ professional development.
  
• SkillsUSA provides an opportunity for students to put into practice teamwork skills, creativity and project management.
  
• SkillsUSA increases productivity by cultivating a highly skilled and knowledgeable workforce to meet 21st century needs.
  
• SkillsUSA is the national organization for public high school and college/postsecondary technical students enrolled in trade, technical, and skilled service profession instructional programs including allied health occupations.
  
• SkillsUSA represents more than 300,000 students in 130 different occupational areas.

National Mock Election
New Jersey SkillsUSA is proud to announce that is will be a participant in the National Mock Election during the Fall Leadership Conference. The National Student/Parent Mock Election is working with Google and School Perceptions to educate and engage American students in the 2008 Presidential election.

The national voter education program for K-12 students gives young Americans the chance to make their voices heard in the electoral process. The Mock Election will take place on October 30, five days before the rest of America votes in the November election. Real time results will be displayed on a Google Map.    

State Director Peter Carey said, "The Mock Election is a great opportunity for SkillsUSA students to become educated and get involved in this year's presidential election." The Fall Leadership conference will be centered on various issues and the upcoming election.

SkillsUSA Alumni Outreach
Do you remember what it was like being a member of SkillsUSA or VICA? For most of our former members, there are some special memories. Alumni members tell us they valued the sense of belonging and support they felt, the special relationships with teachers, school administrators and technical advisors, the excitement of the competitions, the team spirit and camaraderie with other SkillsUSA members. They saw and did things they'd never seen and done before. They felt they were part of an organization made just for them.

We are hoping your membership was a special time for you, too. We hope you believe your SkillsUSA involvement made a significant change in your life. We also hope there is a part of you that still wants some level of involvement with an organization that played an important role in your life.  If so, we'd like to invite you to join nine million other former members in a SkillsUSA alumni membership. Right now, you have so much you could bring to our organization, we're extending a free membership to the SkillsUSA Alumni & Friends Association that will continue free of charge as long as you renew your membership annually.

Visit the following link to be a part of the SkillsUSA Alumni! http://skillsusa.org/supporters/alumnijoin.shtml.