Photos by Lloyd Wolf, Craig Moore and Alexis Pratts.
Students at the 2024 National Leadership & Skills Conference (NLSC) made history as part of the biggest SkillsUSA event ever held. From June 24-28 in Atlanta, the NLSC welcomed thousands of industry partners, students and educators from across the nation for a week of networking, learning and personal growth as SkillsUSA celebrated excellence in career and technical education.
Students arrived in Atlanta dressed to impress, showing off their colorful state-themed attire along with well-honed skills, deep knowledge and an incredible determination to excel in their events. Official registration reached 17,802 — up 1,700 from last year — with an estimated economic impact to the city of Atlanta of $28 million and filling 40,000 hotel nights in total.
From 115 national competitive events to Delegate Sessions for the voting student members electing new national officers, the Academy of Excellence and SkillsUSA University for instructors, a huge trade show and a VIP Day for SkillsUSA industry partners, there was something for everyone. Students were embedded with their state delegations at hotels across downtown Atlanta within an easy walk of the Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC) and State Farm Arena, and quickly learned to navigate the city and network with peers, sharing joyful state cheers in the hallways and conducting lots of conversations with new friends over pin trading. One of the most popular destinations at GWCC was the SkillsUSA Store, where official attire and contest uniforms could be purchased along with the latest SkillsUSA fashions and gifts to take home for the parents and supporters who made the trip possible.
A 41-Acre Showcase of Skills
SkillsUSA TECHSPO expanded its footprint in 2024, with over 200 exhibit booths spread out across three halls at GWCC. The trade show was aligned with the competitions by career clusters, combined they filled 1.79 million square feet of floor space — 31 football fields or 41 acres! Students and teachers watched the competitions and walked the trade show, networking with partners, experiencing interactive exhibits and enjoying giveaways and conversations. There was even a huge food court so spectators could take a break and then roll right back into the action. Skills Jam brought a huge team to film short form content about the skilled trades, and their colorful, interactive booth was a hub of activity all week with special guests HGTV host Ty Pennington and cake artist and influencer Yolanda Gampp and their crews drawing lots of attention.
Bragging Rights for Students, Schools and States
The SkillsUSA Championships showcased the skilled trades, with 6,540 competitors in 115 competitions, each a state champion now vying for national honors. The state that went home with the biggest bragging rights this year was SkillsUSA Oklahoma, whose members claimed 73 national medals, followed by Utah with 70 medals and North Carolina with 68 medals. The oldest medalist was 70-year-old David Aman, who competed with Hunter Spohn in Emergency Medical Technician, representing Texas State Technical College West in Brownwood. He smiled but choked back a few tears when their team received the college/postsecondary gold medal. The youngest competitor was middle school student Braxton Butcher, age 10, who won a bronze in Mobile Robotics Technology with teammate Brendan Basore for James Rumsey Technical Institute in West Virginia. His mother, Jessie Butcher, teaches Applied Engineering/Robotics at the school. Braxton has been participating in competitive robotics since kindergarten and has won state championships and even participated in a world championship. This was his first time at SkillsUSA and he said he had a blast. “The best part about competing in SkillsUSA was meeting new people and making new friends. I got to see a lot of great robot designs and see other competitions in other careers. The pin trading was fun too!”
Keara Burns of Aberdeen High School in Washington earned her own spot in SkillsUSA history when she won the gold medal in Residential and Commercial Appliance Technology, her third win at nationals. She earned a silver medal in 2023 and a bronze in 2022. Before the contest started, Keara said she was excited to be back and felt confident thanks to preparing with her instructor, Chuck Veloni. She also thanked industry representatives like Mark Pollitz, who co-chaired her competition, for running the events and testing her skills to confirm that she is capable.
Raising the Roof at the Opening Session
The Opening Session at State Farm Arena on Tuesday night raised the roof with hype music that got members on their feet for the high-tech production. Atlanta’s renowned poet and author Amena Brown delivered a powerful spoken word piece written for SkillsUSA, the energetic Atlanta Drum Academy performed and high-achieving members and supporters were highlighted as the organization delivered national honors and inspiring member stories. Keynote speaker Cory James shared his trajectory from a SkillsUSA Georgia state and national competitor in high school to an award-winning journalist in Washington, D.C. He told the students to be open to the twists and turns of their emerging careers as they likely won’t be a smooth path to the top. His warmth and humor won over the students as he shared highlights — and a few embarrassing moments — from his career.
SkillsUSA Executive Director Chelle Travis congratulated members at the Opening Session, “Wherever you are sitting in this arena tonight, you have a front row seat to history! You are all at America’s nationally recognized hotspot for career and technical education, and this is going to be the biggest, best, most life-changing, future-shaping NLSC SkillsUSA has ever held. I’m thrilled to announce that SkillsUSA hit another milestone this year in membership with the largest numbers in our nearly 60-year history: more than 413,000 student and teacher members from every corner of the nation!”
On Wednesday night, hardworking SkillsUSA students took a much-needed break and packed Centennial Olympic Park for an epic outdoors Champions Festival with food, lawn games, dancing and eye-popping fireworks illuminating the closing minutes of the favorite event.
From Skills to Service
On Friday, hundreds of SkillsUSA student members and their advisors worked together to ensure that some local children’s days would be brighter thanks to new bikes. Over 500 SkillsUSA students and their advisors applied their skills and served the Atlanta community through the SkillsUSA “Build Skills – Do Good – Complete the Cycle” service project. SkillsUSA provided the Boy and Girls Club of Metro Atlanta with 100 brand-new children’s bikes by the end of the project.
Friday night wrapped up the NLSC with an emotional Awards Session. Names were called, medals were hung, tears flowed and emotions ran high as America’s newest champions at work were crowned gold, silver or bronze medalists. Winners hugged teachers and friends, collected their school medallions and industry awards or scholarships before heading back to the hotels for final state celebrations before packing for home.
The students left Atlanta by car, bus or plane, ready to go home and sleep for a week. Most attendees felt totally drained after their jaw-dropping week, yet also energized about their future careers and plans for next year. This trip won’t be forgotten — but they weren’t the only ones who left impressed.
As West Virginia teacher Jessie Butcher said, “We sure have a lot to be proud of with SkillsUSA and our students.” Industry representative Tim Murphy, who attended the SkillsUSA conference for the first time as an exhibitor for The American Boat and Yacht Council and as a judge for the Marine Technology competition said, “I want to share my enthusiasm for what a high-energy, productive, hope-inspiring event SkillsUSA puts together. It was thrilling to see so many students so fired up about the things they can do, and justifiably proud of what they’ve already accomplished on the way.” Well done, SkillsUSA nation, well done!
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