Technology is transforming industries and their expectations for the world!
In 1983 President Ronald Reagan spoke at the National Leadership Conference and said, "American industry as well as American educational institutions should take note of the VICA experience."
In 1995 The Skills USA Championships became the new official name of the national competition.
In 1998 The Board of Directors voted to change the name of the organization to SkillsUSA–VICA.
The SkillsUSA Championships is the showcase for the best career and technical students in the nation. Contests begin locally and continue through the state and national levels.
This is a multi-million dollar event that occupies a space equivalent to 16 football fields. In 2008, there were more than 5,200 contestants in 91 separate events. Nearly 1,500 judges and contest organizers from labor and management make the national event possible.
The philosophy of the Championships is to reward students for excellence, to involve industry in directly evaluating student performance and to keep training relevant to employers' needs.
The 2009 conference was very successful and Dave finished second out of the 2009 Senior Class and 5th overall, including tech students, for the state of Virginia. His journey started with an in-house competition at Potomac Senior High School. He then competed in District Competitions, which he won, qualifying him for the 45th Annual Skills USA Virginia State Leadership Conference and Skill Championships.
The competition was very competitive and lasted a grueling five hours! The top five winners were recognized on stage and received numerous prizes. Some of these prizes consisted of a welding helmet, chair, jacket, box of rods, tig gloves, stick gloves, multi purpose tool, multi purpose welding pen and electronic calculator, welding cap, mag light and Northrop Grumman briefcase.
