Putnam Career & Technical Center has been honored for its SkillsUSA Framework Application in Chapter Programming as one of the nation's top technical programs and a 2022 SkillsUSA National Model of Excellence School.
SkillsUSA announced its top three chapters for the 2022 Models of Excellence (MOE) program during the awards session at the National Leadership and Skills Conference (NLSC) in Atlanta. The three winners were selected from a talented field of 24 finalists from around the nation, each representing the intentional application of the SkillsUSA Framework, which outlines the personal, workplace, and technical skills demanded by industries. Winners for 2022 included Putnam County Schools' very own Putnam Career & Technical Center (PCTC).
Models of Excellence (MOE) represents the top tier of the SkillsUSA Chapter Excellence Program (CEP). This program recognizes achievement as it relates to the successful integration of the SkillsUSA Framework in a chapter’s program of work, including community service and leadership activities. By using the Framework as a guide, chapters create relevant programming based on high-demand employability skills within the personal, workplace, and technical skills areas. These industry-identified employability skills such as decision making, teamwork, integrity, work ethic, communication, responsibility, health and safety, and several others define the chapter’s approach to influence student understanding and measurable outcomes at the local level.
To be selected as a Model of Excellence, each chapter had to achieve SkillsUSA “Gold Chapter” status through an application process. A committee then identified the top eight chapters nationally for each SkillsUSA Framework component, resulting in 24 finalists. Ultimately, all finalists had to give a presentation followed by a Q&A session to a panel of judges representing various facets of business and industry.
Cheyenne Saunders (Firefighting/EMT) and Chyanna Wilkinson (ProStart Restaurant Management) represented PCTC at the national competition. The following summarizes how PCTC integrated its Winning Framework Application.
Congratulations to Cheyenne, Chyanna, and all the students and instructors who continue to make PCTC a Model of Excellence!
Technical Skills Grounded in Academics:
SkillsUSA members from Putnam Career & Technical Center focused on the framework skill of safety and health to create a “Holiday Cooking Hazards” public service announcement (PSA) to educate peers. Members applied best practices within their restaurant management and fire/EMT programs to create an informative PSA centered on preventing fires and potential injuries while outlining industry safety standards when using equipment such as a turkey fryer. Demonstrations were carefully planned and securely performed under the supervision of local fire departments. Students exhibited proper use of cooking equipment, ensured observers were at a safe distance, and selected students to perform demos based on rubric-graded skill sets. The chapter published its PSA on social media before Thanksgiving, earning 56,000 views in one week.
For more information about the Chapter Excellence Program and SkillsUSA, visit https://www.skillsusa.org/prog....