Features

When Edwin Maxcy was featured in “SkillsUSA Champions” magazine in 2018, the only thing more overwhelming than his story of pain and loss was the strength of his resolve to succeed in spite of it. We catch up with the young man whose ongoing success story has inspired not only our readers, but a new SkillsUSA program designed to help other students and chapters in need.

Meet the 2020-21 national officer team and learn how they’re prepared to lead during a global pandemic.

SkillsUSA’s 2020 top advisor Joseph Chapman proves that even new advocates can grow a SkillsUSA chapter to prominence, inspire belief in the program and deliver graduates with the skills employers want — all while changing students’ lives.

It’s not in Omar Khasawneh’s nature to sit by when his skills are needed most. Sparked by an innate desire to serve, Khasawneh took those skills to one of the hardest hit areas of the pandemic, changing lives in the process … including his own.

A chance invitation from a SkillsUSA instructor helped Anthony Mitchell realize there were more opportunities in life than he’d ever dreamed possible. He hasn’t just taken advantage of those opportunities; he shares them with his community.

EvaMarie Downs operated a thriving business in the culinary arts field she loved, but the pandemic threatened to derail her dreams. Undaunted, Downs used what she’d learned as a SkillsUSA student to adapt her business to the current environment, ensuring that the immunosuppressed people she serves in her California county are living — and eating — well.