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SkillsUSA leadership institute
Comments 0 | Recommend 0Two ECISD students attend national event
Two SkillsUSA students from district chapters of the work-skills organization attended the Washington Leadership Training Institute Sept. 20 to Sept. 24.
Dani Franco, Odessa High senior and sergeant at arms for the local Skills USA district, and Russell Inzer, Technical Education Center junior and district treasurer, took part in the "capstone" event in SkillsUSA with a focus on helping students understand more about the democratic process, leadership skills and how to act professionally.
Attendees went to leadership training in Corpus Christi from June 8-15 prior to getting the opportunity to attend the national leadership institute.
"We had to do everything from learning to sit at a table properly to tying a tie to making five-minute speeches," TEC sponsor and Institute leader Nat Armendarez said. The two Odessa students wrote an essay at the Corpus Christi event before going to Washington, D.C.
When in Washington, they had to complete an essay about a career education funding law named after Carl D. Perkins, a legislator from Kentucky with an education focus - Perkins loans are named in his honor. In addition, students were trained on how to petition state representatives and visited national monuments, writing an essay on their favorite monument.
The 300 attendees at the event from all across the nation even got to see the just-opened Sept. 11 memorial at the Pentagon.
"We were one of the first groups to get to see it," Armendarez said.
Students did more than see the sights, however. They spread the message of SkillsUSA.
"Career and technical education is squarely focused on the work force America needs. That's the message these students delivered on Capitol Hill," national SkillsUSA executive director Tim Lawrence said.
During the trip, the two students got to meet U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and U.S. Rep. Randy Neugebauer over coffee.
ECISD paid for the students to attend the convention.
ATTENDEES
>> SkillsUSA sponsor Nat Armendarez.
>> Odessa High senior Dani Franco.
>> Technical Education Center junior Russell Inzer.
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