Youth Organizations

SkillsUSA—VICA is a national organization serving high school and college students (and their instructors) who are preparing for careers in technical, skilled, and service occupations, including health occupations. SkillsUSA—VICA has 250,000 members annually, organized into nearly 13,000 chapters and fifty-four state and territorial associations.

SkillsUSA—VICA was founded in 1965 as the Vocational Industrial Clubs of America (VICA). It is a nonprofit educational organization, incorporated in the District of Columbia. The association changed its name to SkillsUSA—VICA on July 4,1999. It is governed by a board of directors elected from the corporation's members.

SkillsUSA—VICA, Inc. members of the corporation are not to be confused with the student and instructor members of the organization known as SkillsUSA—VICA. Corporate members are those persons designated by the state boards of vocational education to be responsible for trade and industrial education, technical education, and health occupations education in each state, territory, or possession of the United States where secondary and/or postsecondary state associations have been chartered by the corporation.

Five corporate members, one from each Skills-USA—VICA region, are elected to serve staggered three-year terms as the board of directors. The board, in turn, elects its own officers. In addition to the corporate members elected to the board, there are four exofficio members: the vice president of the Trade and Industrial Division of the Association for Career and Technical Education; the chair of the State Association Directors Association; the chair of the Youth Development Foundation of SkillsUSA—VICA (the fundraising arm of the organization); and the chairelect of the Youth Development Foundation. In addition, the bylaws allow a total of four business and/or organized labor representatives on the board and a representative from the National Association of State Directors of Vocational Technical Education Consortium (NASDVTEc).

The board of directors is responsible for directing and managing the affairs, funds, and property of the corporation. The board sets policies in accordance with its certificate of incorporation, its bylaws, and the laws of the District of Columbia. The board administers the national student organization, which is composed of the chartered state associations; hires an executive director; and oversees the operation of the organization. In all national matters, state associations are subordinate to the board of directors.

An effectively-run SkillsUSA—VICA chapter prepares America's high-performance workers in public career and technical programs. It provides quality education experiences for students in leadership, teamwork, citizenship, and character development, and it builds and reinforces self-confidence, positive work attitudes, and communications skills. It emphasizes total quality at work, including high ethical standards, superior work skills, lifelong education, and pride in the dignity of work. SkillsUSA—VICA also promotes understanding of the free enterprise system and involvement in community service.

More than 13,000 teachers and school administrators serve as professional SkillsUSA—VICA members and instructors. More than 1,000 business, industry, and labor sponsors actively support SkillsUSA—VICA at the national level through financial aid, in-kind contributions, and involvement of their people in SkillsUSA—VICA activities. Many more work directly with state associations and local chapters.

SkillsUSA—VICA programs include local, state, and national competitions in which students demonstrate occupational and leadership skills. At the annual national-level Skills USA Championships, more than 4,000 students compete in seventy-two occupational and leadership skill areas, and each year new areas are added. SkillsUSA—VICA programs also help to establish industry standards for job-skill training in the lab and classroom.

SkillsUSA—VICA's Total Quality Curriculum program emphasizes the competencies and essential basic workplace skills identified by employers and the U.S. Secretary of Labor's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) and in subsequent national voluntary skill standards. The Professional Development Program guides students through eighty-four employability skills lessons. These include goal setting, career planning, and community service.

Publications of the organization include Sharp, a newsletter for the postsecondary and secondary student members; the Professional, a newsletter for teachers and administrator members of the organization; and Partners in Quality, a newsletter specifically for the organization's business and industry partners and supporters.