Setting up a section, electing officers and establishing committees lead to the heart of SkillsUSA—the program of work (POW). Simply stated, the POW is what your chapter is going to do. It’s the activities and projects—the plan of action—that your section will carry out during the school year.

The students develop their own plan. Your role is to help them select activities that relate to their career and technical education training and to guide them as they develop their employability skills which include, but are not limited to, communications, organization, planning and follow-through. The activities in your chapter POW will provide some of the best opportunities your students will have to learn by doing and will also help pull your students together, both in their training and in their chapter projects. A successful POW creates a positive learning atmosphere in the classroom and shop. Your students will learn how to accept responsibility, work as a team, manage a budget, and handle success and sometimes even failure. National POW The National POW sets the pace for SkillsUSA nationwide. All of the SkillsUSA programs are in some way related to the following seven major goals. The expectation is that each chapter will carry out this POW.		Definitions
		Chapter—A school that has obtained a Charter from the Arizona SkillsUSA office.   Section—A program within a school. Each Chapter can have multiple sections (i.e. Automotive Section, Culinary Arts Section, etc.)  Membership—All high school and college Advisors will submit membership for each student and each adult who wish to join SkillsUSA. By joining SkillsUSA each person will be a member of Arizona SkillsUSA.

	Professional development: To prepare each SkillsUSA member for entry into the work force and provide a foundation for success in a career. Becoming a professional does not stop with acquiring a skill, but involves an increased awareness of the meaning of good citizenship and the importance of labor and management in the world of work.
	Community service: To promote and improve good will and understanding among all segments of the community through services donated by SkillsUSA chapters, and to instill in its members a lifetime commitment to community service.
	Employment: To increase student awareness of quality job practices and attitudes, and to increase the opportunities for employer contact and eventual employment.
	Ways and means: To plan and participate in fund-raising activities to allow all members to carry out the chapter’s projects.
	SkillsUSA Championships: To offer students the opportunity to demonstrate their skills and be recognized for them through competitive activities in occupational areas and leadership.
	Public relations: To make the general public aware of the good work that students in career and technical education are doing to better themselves and their community, state, nation and world.
	Social activities: To increase cooperation in the school and community through activities that allow SkillsUSA members to get to know each other in something other than a business or classroom setting.

		More Info
Develop a POW and Section Calendar In addition to the traditional standing committees, the SkillsUSA section may have other committees which may have input into the POW.		Arizona’s Workplace Skills are available here: http://www.ade.az.gov/standards/ workplace/default.asp

Some of them include:

•   Leadership Committee —This committee is responsible for planning activities designed to improve the leadership skills and self-development of each SkillsUSA member. This committee would be working closely with the Professional Development Program. (See Chapter 10: Implement the Professional Development Program.) 

•   Banquet Committee—This committee is responsible for planning the annual chapter banquet. (See Chapter 21: Plan a Banquet.) 

•   Membership Committee—This committee is responsible for planning activities designed to recruit and orientate new members. 

•   Scholarship Committee—This committee is responsible for identifying sources and soliciting sponsorships for scholarships to be awarded to students meeting the eligibility criteria. 

•   Awards Committee—This committee is responsible for planning, securing and setting up special awards, activities and ceremonies for the local SkillsUSA chapter. 

•   Employment Committee—This committee is responsible for identifying sources of potential employment, field trip sites, industry speakers on job-related skills and training sessions for SkillsUSA members. (See Chapter 16: Conduct a Professional Development Activity.)

Where to Begin

Before calendar planning starts, your students must first elect officers so that the president may appoint committees.

As a group, determine the goals and interests of individuals and of the chapter itself.

If you have not already done so, read the chapters on election of officers and on establishing committees. Note that the suggested standing committees correspond to the seven areas of activity that make up a balanced program of work. A balanced program is one that consists of an equal number of activities with contributions by each committee.

The desired results of activities in each of the categories are:

	Professional Development—Becoming a professional doesn’t stop with acquiring a skill. It also involves an increased awareness of the meaning of good citizenship and the importance of labor and management in the world of work.
	Community Service—Awareness by your community lets them know you’re there and you care. It will promote understanding and goodwill.
	Ways and Means—Planning and participating in fund-raising activities allows you the financial means to carry out your other projects.
	Arizona SkillsUSA Championships—Preparing for the regional skills conference and competing in your occupational area or in a leadership area provides an opportunity for you to demonstrate your skills.
	Employment—To increase student awareness of quality job practices and attitudes, and to increase the opportunities for employer contact and eventual employment.
	Public Relations—Informing your community of your achievements brings you the credit you deserve.
	Social—Getting to know each other through something other than a business or classroom setting leads to increased cooperation in school and community.

Balance, the most important goal in the planning process, comes about through the distribution of projects over this broad spectrum.

Developing Your Section’s Character  Leave planning the POW and the chapter calendar to the students. Your students will identify and “own” the activities if they develop and plan them. No two schools or communities are alike. The students’ program is a reflection of their interests, ideas and beliefs. Before your students adopt a POW, you may want to ask them to consider the environment, the situations and the special events unique to your area.		For Example
		It’s popular for cabinetmaking classes to produce cutting boards that can be used as gifts for business/industry support, sold as a fund-raiser or even donated to a local community organization.

• Do your students live in a big city, in a suburban town or in a rural area?
• Is there heavy industry in your neighborhood, or are there small family-owned businesses?
• Is your area school serving students from a variety of backgrounds in several districts, or is it a comprehensive high school?
• Is your community relatively new, or have generations of the same families lived there for years?

Your students’ answers to such questions will be the difference between their section and others. These individual differences will shape their activities. 

If you are a section advisor, remind your students that it is not only acceptable but also highly recommended to plan and carry out activities that use at least some of the skills they are learning in your class. They will appreciate their SkillsUSA experience more fully if they can relate their occupational knowledge to the world around them.  

Selecting Worthwhile Activities

• Activities contribute to teaching objectives

• Activities contribute to SkillsUSA goals

• Activities reflect the thinking of the entire group and involve and benefit all members

• Activities are planned and carried out by the students

• Committee work contributes to the overall activity program

• Leadership development is a major part of all activities

• Activities reflect long-range as well as immediate plans

The number of activities each committee selects will depend on several criteria. Two important considerations are the age (experience) of the chapter advisor and the size (membership) of the chapter. 

If you are a new SkillsUSA chapter advisor, you might be overwhelmed by the possibilities the committees suggest, and overly enthusiastic students might be tempted to bite off more than they can chew. In the first year, you will probably be more comfortable with a minimum-activity calendar, that is, a program with only one activity from each committee. (The exception here is in professional development, where a minimum of two activities should be planned.) On the other hand, if a chapter has been around for several years and has kept good records of successful programs, members should consider a greater number of activities that are more challenging and require more imagination and effort.

		For Example
Large-scale events are typically more challenging for a smaller section. If your section has thirty students, you should be able to handle any appropriate event. However, a section with ten students may struggle with activities that require multiple committees and/or people power on the day of the event. Remind your students that a simple successful project will be more rewarding than a failed complex undertaking; however, be careful not to squelch student enthusiasm. Do your homework and find out how to obtain any necessary approvals from school administrators or your local board of education.		Combining two sections for larger events may help spread the work and the success of significant events. It will also help your students see how many SkillsUSA members are at your school. The Cosmetology students may be giving free haircuts while the health students are providing free blood pressure checks.

It will be discouraging if, at the last minute, the event has to be cancelled because you didn’t follow the proper school procedures.

Evaluating the POW 

Evaluation of the program begins in the committee planning meetings and continues through the activities. If your students learn to anticipate stumbling blocks before they get to them, major problems and crises will be avoided.

In planning stages of all activities, your students should ask themselves such questions as: Will administration approve of our activity? How much will the activity cost? Do we have sufficient funds in the chapter treasury to cover expenses? What materials will we need? Do we have access to them? Will we need the assistance of people from outside the chapter? Have we publicized the activity adequately? Does every student have a part to play in the planning or the actual execution of the project? What happens if it rains? Will each element of the POW pass the S.M.A.R.T. test?		The S.M.A.R.T. Test
		The SMART test Goals that are planned using this simple acronym will be much easier to obtain: Specific Measurable Action Oriented Realistic Time Bound

Regardless of the outcome of any event, your students own the success of failure in planning and execution of the activity. Responsibility of any section belongs to the entire membership, not just to one committee or to one or two individuals.

 After the event has taken place, more evaluation is in order. The questions become:

• Did we stay within our budget?

• Was the community responsive?

• Did the project conflict with other events? Based on our original expectations, was the activity a success? If not, why not?

Students should keep a written record of their ideas, opinions and afterthoughts so that future chapters will have recommendations to draw on. The easiest way to dispense with this record-keeping task is for your students to design and reproduce a master evaluation form which could be used by each of the committees for all the activities in the POW. 

Such a form might include:

• The name of the committee (and whether standing or ad hoc), the number of persons on the committee, and the name of the activity

• A brief description of the activity and what the chapter hoped to accomplish by conducting it

• A rating of the success of the activity (for instance, on a scale of “excellent” to “poor” or “dynamic” to “flop”)

• An honest assessment of what, if anything, went wrong (for instance, not enough time, money, materials, people, publicity, coordination)

• Names of businesses and individuals who offered support (time and money) to the project

• You might also suggest that your committee members staple copies of the activity’s budget and the committee meeting minutes to the evaluation, if they feel it’s useful.

The final evaluation of each activity should then be placed in the chapter scrapbook for safekeeping.

Suggested Activities

Professional Development

• Participating in the Professional Development Program

• Attending regular chapter meetings

• Inviting guest speakers (especially from industry)

• Working with industry advisory committee members

• Going on field trips to industry or to job sites relating to training

• Developing chapter handbook

• Properly equipping meeting room

• Following up with former members

• Attending chapter workshops

• Using official ceremonies

• Visiting labor union halls

• Studying parliamentary procedure

• Holding open forums

• Visiting other chapters

• Holding debates

• Creating an occupational library

• Attending state leadership conference

• Attending National Leadership and Skills Conference

• Holding a career exploration forum/day

• Creating educational exhibits

• Visiting the state legislature

• Attending a leadership training seminar

Community Service

• Participating in Volunteers in Career Awareness

• Running a clean-up, paint, fix-up project

• Assisting a needy family project

• Running a “good citizenship” project

• Holding a “get out the vote” drive

• Sponsoring a community fund drive

• Holding a telethon

• Ushering at various events

• Assisting other school groups with activities

• Improving the school or campus facilities

Public Relations

• Participating in the Building Skills for America Signature

• Campaign

• Writing news articles for local papers

• Creating a chapter newsletter

• Hosting an employer banquet

• Honoring faculty

• Presenting honorary life memberships

• ·Conducting a chapter membership drive

• Hosting a school-wide assembly program

• Appearing on radio and TV programs

Employment

• Holding training sessions on employment skills

• Inviting industry speakers to discuss job-related skills

• Visiting job sites

• Assisting with the placement and follow-up of graduates

 SkillsUSA Championships

• Reviewing applicable SkillsUSA Championships TechnicalStandards

• Participating in a Regional Skills Championships.

• Attending or participating in an awards ceremony

Social Activities

• Hosting a parents’ banquet

• Holding a picnic

• Holding a dance

• Holding a hay ride

• Organizing athletic activities

• Hosting a skating party

• Conducting a scavenger hunt

• Sponsoring a talent night

• Organizing a faculty party

• Hosting a cookout

• Entertaining future members

 Ways and Means

• Sponsoring concession stands

• Selling greeting cards

• Conducting rummage sales

• Operating a booth at carnival

• Selling school supplies

• Sponsoring a dance

• Raffling cakes, turkeys, etc.

• Operating a secondhand book store

• Collecting chapter dues

• Running a homecoming mum sale

Sample Section Calendar 

September

• Organize a Membership Campaign
• Collect SkillsUSA Dues
• Elect Section Officers
• Discuss opportunities in running for a regional office
• Section meeting(s)
• Introduce the Professional Development Program

 

October

• Attend the Regional SkillsUSA Leadership Fall Conference
• Install Officers
• Section meeting(s)
• Form Committees
• Establish a Budget
• Develop a POW and Calendar of Activities
• Form an Industry Advisory Committee
• Training for Officers
• Conduct a Fund-Raiser

November

• Submit Final Membership Roster to the National SkillsUSA Office
• Participate in SkillsUSA Opening and Closing Ceremonies
• Section meeting(s)
• Conduct a Professional Development Activity

 December

• Section meeting
• Conduct a Community Service Project
• Conduct a Social Activity
• Prepare Members for Competitive Events

 

January

• Conduct a Local SkillsUSA Championships
• Chapter Meeting
• Conduct a Professional Development Activity

 February

• Submit Follow-up Membership Roster to National Office
• Chapter Meeting
• Register for Regional skills and leadership competition.

• Participate in District/Regional Competition
• Coordinate Public Relations Activities

 

March

• Participate in District Leadership Competition and District Officer Elections
• Register for State Competition and State Officer Nominations (NOTE: Check Mail for Registration Forms and Advisor’s Guide for Nomination Petitions)

April

• Submit American SkillsUSA Degree Applications to State SkillsUSA Office (Forms can be found in the SkillsUSA Professional Development Program Instructor’s Manual)
• Chapter Meeting
• Attend State SkillsUSA Leadership and Skills Conference

May

• Chapter Meeting
• Plan a SkillsUSA Banquet
• Evaluate the SkillsUSA Program