SkillsUSA Annual Report 2012 - (Page 8)

PARTNER IMPACT Sowing the Seeds of SUPPORT For Lowe’s, “Never Stop Improving” is more than a slogan; it’s a rallying cry. I n 2010, at the Awards Ceremony of SkillsUSA’s national conference, the Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation made history by presenting the largest corporate donation SkillsUSA has ever received: $10 million. The gift inspired a rousing ovation that night, but, more importantly, it’s continued to inspire students nationwide to hone their technical skills, develop leadership skills and recognize their own gifts through service to their communities. In FY ’12, as part of the total donation, Lowe’s made its third of ﬁve annual payments of $1.5 million to SkillsUSA. But from the beginning, Lowe’s wanted to do more than give dollars; they wanted to provide opportunities to students on the local, state and national levels. Further, they wanted to help shape those opportunities. In 2012, that passion for student potential and the desire to help see it realized spawned programs like the “New Chapter Support Fund,” providing more than 512 new SkillsUSA advisors with key educational resources to help them build leadership skills in their students. Combined, those teachers reach an estimated 47,000 students every day. The SkillsUSA and Lowe’s co-branded “Tools in a Duffel Bag” program distributed duffel bags containing lesson plans, activity supplies, state ofﬁcer training materials and more to state fall Lowe’s supports SkillsUSA’s Teamworks competition on the state and national levels, provides prizes for 73 SkillsUSA Championships competitions, supports the SkillsUSA WorldTeam in international competition, offers membership incentives to teachers and more. But the most popular element of the partnership among SkillsUSA members has been the Lowe’s grants. In 2012, Lowe’s awarded grants of up to $25,000 each to 33 local SkillsUSA chapters in 21 states. The grants were designed to help fund campus improvement or community rebuilding leadership conferences. More than 500 efforts while connecting schools with high school and college/postsecondary local Lowe’s stores for support. The many state ofﬁcers also delivered bags to local unique projects yielded consistently classrooms during personal visits across impressive results. their respective states. Since its inception In New York, grants helped students two years ago, the program has brought from two schools use the skills they’ve leadership training to nearly 43,000 been learning in classrooms to repair SkillsUSA members across the country. a variety of structures and landmarks “This tool is so wonderful,” says severely damaged by devastating ﬂoods. Joshua Klemp, director of SkillsUSA Students from one of those schools, Rhode Island. “It’s become the foundation the Capital Region BOCES (Board of of our leadership training program.” Cooperative Educational Services) Career “We see our investment in SkillsUSA as an investment in the leaders of tomorrow.” —Troy Dally, Senior Vice President, Lowe’s 8 • SkillsUSA Annual Report 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of SkillsUSA Annual Report 2012

SkillsUSA Annual Report 2012
Contents
Who We Are
What We Do
Student Impact
Teacher Impact
Partner Impact
2012 Highlights
Support
Leadership
Financials
Get Involved

SkillsUSA Annual Report 2012