The Career and technical student organization SkillsUSA coming to Algood Middle School this year.
Algood Middle School Principal Rusty Darley said SkillsUSA gives students hands-on experience with technical education, as well as opportunities to compete and network with other students. Darley said the program is engaging.
“I think students will definitely benefit,” Darley said. “Having our career explorations lab here has definitely grown interest. I’ve been getting a lot of positive feedback from that. So this will go hand and hand with our learning lab.”
Darley said the benefits come from a head start in career exploration and a chance to begin networking through events like the annual state competition. Darley said the expense of trade school and college make early career experience very important.
Darley said he was able to experience the student networking and skill first hand at the SkillsUSA middle school state competition last spring. Darley said he even got to judge some of the competitions to get a better feel for what students will experience.
Darley said SkillsUSA is primarily a high school organization, but it began hosting middle school chapters about three years ago. Darley said there is a lot of carryover between the two levels.
“Talking with the state advisor, I thought this would be a good opportunity,” Darley said. “I think getting that early exposure in middle school SkillsUSA will definitely translate to the high school level, wherever they go.”
Darley said the program helps students with leadership, confidence, and community involvement. In addition to these skills, Darley hopes to see students grasp the real world application from what they learn.
“Students always have the question of, ‘When am I going to use this?,” Darley said. “‘When am I going to need this?’ So while they’re in math class, ELA, they can have a direct connection between their academics and real world job experiences.”
Darley said he hopes students can make positive connections with people across the state through SkillsUSA program.
Darley said Algood is the only district middle school in the county who has applied for a SkillsUSA Chapter, but in talking with other schools, there may be more coming in the future.
