Friday Flash, December 18, 2020

 

NEWS FROM THE NJ SkillsUSA OFFICE

 

NJ SkillsUSA Championships Update

We are getting ready to send out an electronic version of the Contestant Registration Information Booklet so you can plan for registering your students for competition.
After careful consideration with input from contest coordinators, judges, advisors and host school administrators, along with guidance from the national SkillsUSA office, we will be offering a hybrid schedule of competitions in March and April.  Look out for details coming soon.

 

Communicating with NJ SkillsUSA

If you need to contact us, please rely on email.  We check email regularly and will continue to do so over the holiday break:

     Peter Carey- pcarey@scvts.net

     Sheila Rick- srick@scvts.net

 

Remember: All Your Competitors must be SkillsUSA Members

Step 1 for entering your students in any state competition, requires them to be listed with nationals as members of your SkillsUSA Chapter for the 2020-2021 School Year.  Details for submitting your membership can be found here:  https://www.skillsusa.org/membership-resources/join/

The NJ Deadline for membership is January 15.  

Call the membership hotline with your questions:  844-875-4557

 

NATIONAL OFFICE NEWS ITEMS

 

Public Service Student Loan Forgiveness Tools for Advisors

Some SkillsUSA advisors may be eligible for federal assistance in forgiving their federal student loan debt. The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program forgives the remaining balance on your Direct Loans after you have made 120 qualifying monthly payments under a qualifying repayment plan while working full-time for a qualifying employer. Recently, enhancements were made to two tools related to Federal Student Aid (FSA). The PSLF Help Tool and Loan Simulator can help borrowers more easily determine their eligibility for the PSLF Program. Completion of the help tool will take roughly 30 minutes and advisors will need their most recent W2 and their employer’s Federal Employer Identification Number (EIN). New enhancements also include a single PSLF Form combining the employment certification form and the forgiveness application to make the process easier!

 

Marsha Daves Memorial Scholarship Opportunity is Now Open

The Marsha Daves Memorial Scholarship is open to current SkillsUSA state officers who are high school seniors or non-senior college/postsecondary students. For more information and to apply, go to: www.skillsusa.org/membershipresources/scholarships-financial-aid/. The deadline for applications is Feb. 1.

 

Safety Video Contest from CareerSafe

Once again, CareerSafe will sponsor the National Youth Safety Video Contest.  Students across the country are challenged to create a two-minute video demonstrating safety in the workplace. All submissions must be sent to CareerSafe by March 1. The winning students will receive a SkillsUSA prize pack as well as a scholarship worth up to $2,500, and the winning school will receive a prize worth up to $5,000. For details, visit the CareerSafe website at: www.careersafeonline.com/scholarships/video-contest. 

 

Amazon Smile Purchases Benefit SkillsUSA

Now you can support SkillsUSA when you do your holiday shopping through Amazon. Make your order through AmazonSmile and search for “SkillsUSA Inc.” as your charity of choice. The direct link is: smile.amazon.com/ch/52-0812433. SkillsUSA receives a percentage of each sale and there is no additional cost to you.

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