Saturday (May 13) the MMCRU Industrial Technology class had an open house where we could see what students in this class had accomplished. They had a cookout Meal Deal offered for $6.00 as well as silent auction items to bid on.
In the past, a class has worked on clocks. This year they worked on night stands. Some of these had engraved designs as well as the maker’s name engraved on the stand. There were table tops made that were sanded, stained, and varnished to perfection. If a person had wall space, there was one project that would have taken up wall space. It would have probably been served as an entertainment center.
There was one area that was about SkillsUSA. Skills USA’s mission is to empower its members to become world-class workers, leaders and responsible American citizens. They improve the quality of our nation’s future skilled workforce through the development of SkillsUSA Framework skills that include personal, workplace and technical skills grounded in academics.
Their vision is to produce the most highly skilled workforce in the world, providing every member the opportunity for career success. SkillsUSA serves more than 33,527 students and instructors annually. This includes 19,019 instructors who join as professional members. SkillsUSA membership totals over 394,000 including alumni. Skills USA has served nearly 14 million annual members cumulatively since 1965 and is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Labor as a successful model of employer driven workforce development.
MMCRU had several students receive medals in the top three in the state that qualified them to compete at the nation level in Atlanta, Georgia this summer in the Promotional Bulletin Board category. Students who qualified to go to SkillsUSA Nationals in Atlanta, GA are Kaleigh Gravenish, Alyson Ball, and Kennedy Tentinger. Mrs. Youde and Mr. Long will accompany them as chaperones. Matt Hansen is the Industrial Technology instructor as well as the SkillsUSA advisor with Mr. Long helping in this class. Hansen was very pleased with the results of qualifying for nationals. This shows the education they’re receiving at MMCRU!
There were some students that were involved in making small buildings which involved designing, framing, and flooring. Some even have sheet rocking. (Have you ever done sheet rocking in a house? This is one project that has to be perfect or else the wall will show your mistakes.) Construction workers are always needed.
John Deere is involved in this program if there is an interest in being a John Deere technician. Plumbers are in this program. Welders are what most businesses are looking for. Welding is offered at MMCRU.
Many of these students are interested in entering the industrial technology fields after graduating from high school. This is what SkillsUSA is all about. It is a partnership of students, teachers and industry working together to ensure that America has a skilled workforce. They help each student excel. As non-profit national education association, Skills USA serves middle -school, high school and college/post secondary students preparing for careers in trade, technical and skilled service.
There are several industries in our area that have helped financially with this program so the end result is that they will have skilled workers coming to them ready to work! There are some who graduate and go right to work, while there are others that will go to a 2-year college (or even 4 year college) and have this education behind them when they apply for a job. For those students that want this kind of training for a future job, MMCRU offers it!