Saturday (May 7) the MMCRU Industrial Technology class had an open house where we could see what students in this class had accomplished. One class worked on clocks and had their name engraved on the front; there were some that made night stands with engravings on the top; table tops were displayed, and there was a podium made (I wonder if that was the one that was at Scholarship night?) There are three buildings under construction. Displays weren’t all about wood but there were welding articles also.
One area was about SkillsUSA. SkillsUSA ‘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 333,527 students and instructors annually. This includes 19,019 instructors who join as professional members. SkillsUSA membership totals over 394,000 including alumni. SkillsUSA 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. Matt Hansen is the Industrial Technology instructor as well as the SkillsUSA advisor. He was very pleased with the results of qualifying for nationals. This shows the education they’re receiving at MMCRU.
Members of this class are not all young men Makenzie Meyer and Elizabeth Pedersen will be the first to say that girls can do this, also! Pedersen is interested in architecture design and is working on her own custom house. She has made a dining room table.
There are students that are involved in making buildings (not large ones!) which involve designing, framing, and flooring. Some even have sheet-rocking. (If you have ever done sheet-rocking in a house, this is one project that has to be perfect or else the wall will show your mistake! It takes a lot of patience.) Construction workers are always needed.
One student showed an interest in being a John Deere technician. Plumbers are always needed and this can be had in this program. Welders seems to be what a lot of businesses are looking for. The money is good and welding is taught here, also. Businesses are looking for people to do woodworking.
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, SkillsUSA serves middle-school, high school and college/post secondary students preparing for careers in trade, technical and skilled service occupations.
Members of the MMCRU Industrial Technology class who participated in SkillsUSA were Hayven Hollingshead, Dawson Pick, Brenin Stodden, Torey Tentinger, Makenzie Meyer, Elizabeth Pedersen, Keaton Weiler, Owen Alesch, Kaden Galles, Carson Loutsch, Mitchell Schnepf, Josh Wetter, Cody Simons, Michael Rupp, and Gunner Grage.
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! Where some will graduate and go right to work, there are others that will go to a 2-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!
I see where SkillsUSA National Competition is on the agenda on the MMC Regular Board meeting Monday night at R-U.