Students participating in an interactive activity during a tour at Greater Lowell Technical High School.
Young students stream into Greater Lowell Technical High School in Tyngsborough, Mass., during the annual eighth grade open house. With 23 technical programs in the high school curriculum, plus postsecondary offerings, there is a lot of ground to cover.
What was once a teacher-focused tour to engage prospective students has been handed off to Greater Lowell Tech’s upperclassmen. Each of the school’s “shops” creates an interactive activity to convey not just what it looks like — but what it feels like — to participate in that particular program. The activities are 100 percent student planned and, not surprisingly for a school recognized for its commitment to involving every eligible student in the SkillsUSA experience, there is a competitive element.
“Our Community Outreach Challenge has completely revolutionized the tours,” says Sharon Cornellier, Greater Lowell Tech’s director of student activities and SkillsUSA chapter lead advisor.
Prizes are awarded for the best activities. To keep things fresh, there is a specific SkillsUSA Framework skill focus each year, for example safety or leadership. The most recent challenge emphasized adaptability and flexibility. The students had to think through different possible scenarios and were met with surprises at every turn.
“We threw curve balls at them such as changing the time of the activity two days before the event. Then on the day of the event, we told them the printer was broken so they had to create their own signs for their station.”
The last change was called five minutes before the challenge began: the students had to incorporate the school mascot. Cornellier laughs when she admits her nickname is the Director of Fun, and says the teachers enjoy the event as much as the kids.
“Our programs have evolved and it is far more intentional. Our school’s SkillsUSA chapter has grown by leaps and bounds since being named a Chapter of Excellence program.” This year’s enrollment includes 2,342 student members and 50 professional members, including every teacher at Greater Lowell Tech.
SkillsUSA’s Chapter Excellence Program recognizes achievement as it relates to the integration of the SkillsUSA Framework in chapter activities. Greater Lowell Tech has earned recognition each year for the last 10 years.
“When the kids see the learning that is happening and the development of goals, it just makes everything so much easier. We have multiple modes of delivering SkillsUSA to students.”
The school hosts an annual membership pizza party and career essentials fun fair, in addition to in-house competitions, schoolwide technical assessments and a program specific to ninth graders, where they compete as part of a required digital literacy class. On average, Greater Lowell Tech will send 225 students to compete at the SkillsUSA district-level competition.
“My motto is SkillsUSA is not something we do; it is something we are,” Cornellier says. “Our chapter is huge and has pretty much outgrown me and my staff. It is hard to want to grow and not have the hours in the day to facilitate all of the wonderful ideas.”
Communication is key for reaching such a vast membership. Greater Lowell Tech is divided into four career clusters, and each cluster has a student ambassador. In addition, each shop has several student SkillsUSA leaders in charge of disseminating information and assisting the teacher, plus Cornellier distributes a regular newsletter.
“I can’t say that every single student takes advantage of their SkillsUSA membership, but they all are informed of how they can take advantage of membership. Our mission every year is how to serve our members more fully.”
A Hometown Hero
You’d be hard pressed to find anyone as passionate about helping students succeed as Sharon Cornellier. It is not a job; it is her calling.
And just as every good story has a hero, that hero has an origin story. For Cornellier, her story begins on the property adjacent to where Greater Lowell would be built.
“From my bedroom window, I watched a big field of swamp land become a high school,” she says. “In the mornings, I would see the students walking past my home with their hardhats and T-squares. It was a no-brainer for me: I would go to Greater Lowell.”
As a student, Cornellier joined the school’s VICA chapter (later renamed SkillsUSA), competing in the childcare category. She won first place her junior and senior years and was elected to serve as a state officer. She also went on to compete in the national championship in Job Skill Demonstration, illustrating how algebra and geometry could be integrated into the elementary school curriculum.
Financial realities meant Cornellier had to take a circuitous route through higher education, first attending community college before completing an undergraduate degree at Wheelock University in Boston. She went on to earn a master’s in education at the University of Massachusetts. Immediately following graduation, she applied to work at Greater Lowell Tech.
“I believe in this school and the way they make people feel here. My goal was always to come back here and to be part of technical education, even though I was an English teacher,” she says. “Lowell is not a rich area, and a lot of students experience obstacles. I always specialized in reluctant learners and students who may not believe in themselves.”
Today, with 42 years’ experience as a SkillsUSA competitor, coach and advisor, Cornellier is understandably proud of her award-winning chapter. At the 2025 Massachusetts SkillsUSA State Championships in Marlborough, Mass., Greater Lowell Tech was recognized as a National Model of Excellence program for the ninth time, was named a Gold Chapter of Excellence for the tenth year and received the Total Participation Award.
“This school really believes in the mission of SkillsUSA. Our administration has been so supportive, and it is a top-down emphasis on the value of SkillsUSA.”
