Lowe’s Donates Tools as part of national Tough Tools for Cool Schools Program
Blairsville, GA May 12, 2009– Lowe’s and Kobalt Tools in partnership with SkillsUSA are helping the next generation of skilled trade professionals at Union County High School through their new Tough Tools for Cool Schools program. Lowe’s is donating approximately $600 worth of Kobalt tools to the school as part of the new national program, which will total $300,000 to more than 500 SkillsUSA building trades and renovation programs across the nation for use in their classrooms.
SkillsUSA advisor Michael Hayes was selected to receive the tool kit for the local Construction program at Union County High School. “This is a wonderful example of how industry works to partner with education, for the betterment of the technical program and to help ensure the success of my students,” said Hayes. “SkillsUSA has had a huge part in the transformation of my students because it provides skills and leadership training that they don’t get anywhere else. Lowe’s support just reinforces what we are teaching in the classroom and shows the value of education-industry partnerships.”
The national program kicked off in March at Lovejoy High School in Georgia, when the first tools were personally delivered by three-time reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson. He made the visit to the school just prior to the March 8 Kobalt Tools 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. Johnson’s No. 48 Impala SS will also showcase a Tough Tools for Cool Schools paint scheme when he races on April 5 at the Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.
“Lowe’s is proud to work with Kobalt Tools and SkillsUSA to continue to prepare America’s future skilled work force and help students excel in their chosen career paths,” said Larry D. Stone, Lowe’s president and chairman of Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation. “With Kobalt tools in their toolbox, and the education and knowledge from SkillsUSA and their schools, we believe students will be ready to succeed when they enter the work force.”
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SkillsUSA Executive Director Timothy Lawrence agreed. “The donation of Kobalt Tools to SkillsUSA’s building trades labs nationwide will help prepare the next generation of workers and leaders for the challenging and competitive construction workforce of the 21st century. The youth who will benefit from this generous donation will build and maintain our homes, schools and commercial structures in the future,” Lawrence said. “Through the Tough Tools for Cool Schools program, SkillsUSA, Lowe’s and our technical training schools are building something together that will truly make a lasting impact.”
ABOUT SkillsUSA
SkillsUSA is a national nonprofit organization of students, teachers and industry, working together to ensure America has a skilled work force. SkillsUSA helps high school and college students enrolled in career and technical education programs to excel by teaching employability skills in conjunction with their trade, technical and service occupations skills. The association’s annual membership exceeds 300,000 students and instructors in more than 3,700 schools and colleges in every state, three territories and the District of Columbia. For more information, visit: www.skillsusa.org.
ABOUT LOWE’S
Lowe’s is a proud supporter of Habitat for Humanity International, American Red Cross, United Way of America, and the Home Safety Council, in addition to numerous nonprofit organizations and programs that help communities across the country. In 2008, Lowe’s and the Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation together contributed more than $25 million to support community and education projects in the United States and Canada. Lowe’s also encourages volunteerism through the Lowe’s Heroes program, a company-wide employee volunteer initiative. Lowe’s is a FORTUNE® 50 company with fiscal year 2008 sales of $48.2 billion and has more than 1,650 stores in the United States and Canada. For more information, visit: Lowes.com/community.
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State Leadership and Skills Conference Winners 2009
Dear Friend of SkillsUSA Georgia,
This past weekend SkillsUSA Georgia hosted a truly one of kind event, the State Leadership and Skills Conference. This event would not be possible without the unending support from business and industry leaders, community and educational leaders and local volunteers. While the accolades and many thanks from our members continue to pour in, we wanted to share with you just a few of our accomplishments:
- State Leadership and Skills Conference registered participants1,649
- Breakdown of registration numbers:
- Advisors - 218
- Chaperones - 59
- Contestants - 1,220
- Courtesy Corp - 12
- Observers - 140
- 134 Schools from across the state attended
- Record number of 21 State Officer Candidates campaigned for the opportunity to represent SkillsUSA
- 103 state and national level skilled, occupational and leadership contests were held over a two-day period that supported students in Architecture, Construction, Communication, Transportation, Public Safety, Cosmetology, Culinary Arts and Health Care Science
- Over 1,100 industry representatives involved as contest chairs, contest judges, exhibitors, volunteers and guests.
- Two World Class Career Expos (Construction Career Expo and Transportation Career Expo) with over 250 companies involved for students and teachers to interact with and gain further knowledge of future career opportunities. The combined attendance of both Career Expos exceeded 7,000 attendees.
- National Travel Sponsorship for 49 Contests provided through the combined efforts of the Youth Development Foundation and Contributors. Sponsorship of these contests will support 68 Gold Medalists as they advance to the National Leadership and Skills Conference.
- The Youth Development Foundation raised $69,150.00 in support of our students!
- $52,000 received from our Corporate Friends of SkillsUSA
- Southern Company (Emerald Sponsor)
- Construction Education Foundation of Georgia (CEFGA) (Emerald Sponsor)
- Printing and Imaging Association of Georgia (PIAG) (Sapphire Sponsor)
- Cessna (Platinum Sponsor)
- Gulfstream (Platinum Sponsor)
- Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC (Gold Sponsor)
- Transportation Education Foundation of Georgia (TEFGA) (Gold Sponsor)
- R.J. Griffin & Company (Silver Sponsor)
- Goodheart/Wilcox Co., Inc. (Bronze Sponsor)
- $17,150.00 received from our Individual and Educational Friends of SkillsUSA
- Trade and Industrial Educators Association of Georgia (TIEGA) (Ruby Sponsor)
- Advisors’ Association (Gold Sponsor)
- DCT Coordinators’ Association (Gold Sponsor)
- Piedmont Newnan Hospital Nurses Auxiliary (Gold Sponsor)
- Sonny Cannon (Gold Sponsor)
- Ronny Jones (Gold Sponsor)
- Gayle Silvey (Gold Sponsor)
- Dr. Philip Swords (Gold Sponsor)
- Paul Elder (Bronze Sponsor)
- Tim Cockrell (Bronze Sponsor)
- Raymond Moody (Bronze Sponsor)
- Scott Shelar (Bronze Sponsor)
- James Woodard (Bronze Sponsor)
- 12 VIPS attended from Cessna, Gulfstream, local school Superintendents, Gary Steppe, Director CTAE, Scott Carey, Program Manager CTAE, and Julie Kenny, CTSO Coordinator.
- Amazing new state-of-the-art venues at the Georgia International Convention Center and the Atlanta Airport Marriott
- Industry quality competitions hosted in real world scenarios supported through SkillsUSA’s business partners:
- Broadcast Solutions at Georgia Public Broadcast – Video Broadcasting Contests (supported by NMEFGA and organized by Jack English)
- Heidelberg USA – Graphic Communications Contests (supported by PIAG and organized by Sue Rodman and David Canady)
- Delta Heritage Museum – Transportation and Public Safety Contests (supported by TEFGA and organized by Liz Porter and Mary Pilgram)
- Georgia International Convention Center - Architecture and Construction Contests (supported by CEFGA and organized by Scott Shelar and Kevin Ward)
- Akzo Nobel – Transportation Contests (supported by Akzo Nobel and organized by Bobby Combs)
- Metro Atlanta Automotive Dealers Association – Transportation Contests (supported by MAADA and organized by Howard Batchelor)
- Redmond and Son – Construction Contests (supported by Redmond and Son and organized by Scotty Redmond)
- Devry University – Electronics and Computer Contests (supported by Devry and organized by Gwen Garner)
- Central Education Center/West Central Technical College – Graphics, Computer, Health Care Science, Culinary, and Cosmetology Contests (supported by facility and staff and organized by Andy Peryam and Mark Whitlock)
- Total in-kind contributions provided by business and industry to host the two day competitions and two Career Expos exceeded $750,000.
- 104 scholarships totaling $446,000 presented to SkillsUSA members.
- Every Contest Medalist received a prize package sponsored by business and industry and all Leadership Contest Medalist received an Executive Portfolio sponsored by Southern Company. Total contestant prizes exceeded $25,000.
- Engaging and high-energy Awards Ceremony sponsored by Southern Company.
- A packed house of 1,900 students, teachers, parents, and volunteers, educational and business leaders attended the Awards Ceremony. Industry partners were on stage with our students to do the honors of presenting gold, silver and bronze medallions to them as well as delivering the Youth Development Foundation Travel Scholarships.
- All new Professional Development Program testing procedure allowing for students and advisors the opportunity to attend the Construction Expo on Thursday and the ability to hold the Opening General Session on Thursday evening.
- New Bus Shuttle Schedule allowing participants’ easier access to attend both the Transportation and Construction Expos on Friday.
- Nine new State Officers elected by their peers to represent SkillsUSA Georgia for school year 2009-2010. These new State Officers represent 4 Regions from across Georgia and 6 different program areas.
- 3 National Officer Candidates have stepped forward to represent Georgia on the National level this summer in Kansas City. We look forward to supporting them in their quest for a position as a National Officer.
- SkillsUSA Georgia’s State Leadership and Skills Conference is the focus of the newly launched Georgia Public Broadcasting’s Educational Weblog.
- An incredible behind-the-scene group of volunteers stationed at headquarters that included alumni, retired educators, advisors and friends of SkillsUSA! Thank you for keeping all the wheels in motion: Andrew Bollmer, Paul Elder, Brandon Griffin, William Hardee, Ashley Hopkins, Morgan Hunt, Tami Maddox, Ashley Mayes, Raymond Moody, Trey Meares, Amanda Peabody, Debbie Peabody, Eileen Peabody, Carole Ray and Erin Studstill.
Tech Step: A Graphic Communications Career Camp
 
Twenty-eight graders are getting a head start on high school. Students from East Columbus Magnet Academy are getting a taste of high school while attending Tech Step: A Graphic Communications Career Camp. The Kendrick High School SkillsUSA chapter sponsors this camp. For four weeks, SkillsUSA members are teaching their graphic communications skills to the group of eighth graders. The students have created a drawing in Adobe Illustrator. They have designed a notepad in Adobe InDesign, printed it on a digital duplicator, used a paper cutter and padded the notepads. Their final project was to print their own t-shirt with the Tech Step logo. Industry speakers from PIAG members, Columbus Productions and Litho-Krome have given the students advice on careers in graphic communications. Tony Hagler talked to the students about running the press. He stressed the importance of printing. Also, he brought different printed samples from Columbus Productions. The students really enjoyed the visit from Tony Mixon, a former Kendrick High School graduate of the graphic communications program. Tony Mixon is now the Quality Manager at Litho- Krome which prints Hallmark cards. Mr. Mixon talked to the kids about his experience in graphic communications. He told how it changed his life and how it has opened the door to many different opportunities. Mr. Mixon brought in samples from Litho- Krome that showed the different things they print. He displayed greeting cards, art reproductions, die cutting, printing plates, and much more. The students really enjoyed asking Mr. Mixon questions about the printing industry and its benefits. The Tech Step Camp will come to an end on April 1st. The SkillsUSA members will have a celebration for the graduates of the Tech Prep camp. The graduates will receive a certificate, copies of their notepads, and their very own Tech Step t-shirt.
 
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