Visit a Classroom and Make a Difference

The SkillsUSA Florida State Leadership and Skills Conference was held on April 18-21, 2022, in Jacksonville, FL. Ernie Friend, Executive Director of FLATE, and Dr. Marilyn Barger, Senior Education Advisor from FLATE, attended this year’s exciting SkillsUSA event.  

SkillsUSA Florida is a partnership of students, teachers, and industry working together to ensure America has a skilled workforce. These partnerships ensure students (and future employees) are equipped with the technical, personal, and workplace skills necessary to thrive in the workforce. SkillsUSA Florida is committed to producing a generation of solid workers and exceptional leaders who will take America’s workforce into a new frontier of innovation. They nationally serve more than 333,527 students and instructors annually, including 19,019 instructors who join as professional members. Including alumni, SkillsUSA membership totals over 394,000 and they have served nearly 14 million annual members cumulatively since 1965.  SkillsUSA 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. Hundreds of state competitions are held each year in categories ranging from Architecture, Construction, Engineering, Health Sciences, and Information Technology to Manufacturing.

Many of the students at this year's conference in Jacksonville were nervous about their upcoming competitions but still showed a high level of poise and confidence. Marilyn and Ernie had an opportunity to talk with many students.   One of the questions asked of all students was why they were interested in careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM). Almost all the students said in part they were attracted to careers in STEAM because of a classroom visit from someone in the industry.  That was a powerful message from these young people and a lesson for industry representatives to get involved with educators, visit classrooms, and host company tours. 

FLATE hosts the Made in Florida website with many resources to help engage students, teachers, and industry. FLATE can help you connect with educators and industry - reach out to us at events@flate.org.