Secretary Report As your SkillsUSA MA State Secretary, it is my honor to submit the following report on behalf of the State Executive Council. Since being elected in April of 2023, the State Executive council has diligently worked to dedicate itself to serving the members and represent SkillsUSA in the highest honor. This journey began by attending the National Leadership and Skills Conference, in Atlanta Georgia June 19-24, 2023. Throughout our time spent at the National Leadership and Skills Conference we represented Team Massachusetts and successfully elected our National Officer candidate, Kayla Mathieu. We were honored to support Kayla through her candidacy and ecstatic to have successfully elected her to the National Officer Team. Following the National Leadership and Skills Conference, our newly elected officer team attended state officer training at the Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel in Marlborough, Massachusetts from July 16th to the 20th, 2023. As a team, we accepted and executed the responsibilities of a Massachusetts State Officer and elected one another to each role. At training, we had the opportunity to meet the Board of Directors on Wednesday, July 19th and presented our Program of Work for the year to come. On Tuesday July 18, 2023, we were surprised with the opportunity to travel into Boston together and learn about the history of this great nation. Here, we truly learned how evident it is to work as a team to successfully serve our members. We started off our trip with a visit to the John Hancock Tower to meet Jacob Donnelly, a member of our Board of Directors and former state and national officer for SkillsUSA Massachusetts. We learned about the impact that SkillsUSA has had on his life and his development in the workforce. In addition, we started discussing the development of our inaugural conference, the Smart Start Summit. Following that, we then took a trolley tour around the city of Boston, learning about this vibrant history and culture that our state beholds. Throughout our trip, we instilled the principle of finding out something new, and something that surprised us. Through this, we were continuously looking for ways to learn and develop our understanding of how we can implement the values of our nation’s great leaders to execute ourselves. In addition, explored the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum and finished the day with dinner in Boston’s North End. Our first event as state officers was attending the Washington Leadership Training Institute, hosted by our National High School Treasurer Kayla Mathieu from September 22nd through the 27th, 2023. We ventured throughout the beautiful, historic city of Washington D.C., reminiscing on our nation’s most prominent figures. We advocated for career and technical education on a national level, meeting with the Department of Labor, Senator Elizabeth Warren’s policy staff, Representative Jim McGovern, and Congressman Lynch’s policy staff. Our team acted as representatives of Massachusetts, stressing the importance of CTE students in the nation’s workforce. At the end of this trip, we had all successfully completed pre-work interview, and assessments to achieve our National Statesman Awards. On Thursday, October 5th, 2023, we hosted the Chapter Advisor’s Boot Camp & Kick-off Luncheon. This event was very significant to us as our advisors are the core component to making SkillsUSA the exceptional organization it is. We were extremely grateful to lead the conference that started the spark for the life changing events the organization was to hold in the following year on the local and state level. Also in October, we attended the Region 1 State Leaders Conference, in Portland, Maine. During this conference, we got to meet with the state officers across multiple states within region 1 to help spark ideas to develop our Program of Work. Each state presented their Program of Work and we all received valuable feedback from one another. Our region 1 National Officers Kayla Mathieu and Tyler Miles presented workshops on how to utilize effective facilitation techniques. We were then able to put our SkillsUSA knowledge to the test, all successfully achieved the Region 1 Statesman Award. The Fall State Leadership Conference was held November 19-20, 2023 at the Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel. This conference allowed us to engage with our members and hear so many inspiring stories on how SkillsUSA has touched their lives. We started off our conference with our Welcome Workshops, introducing the members to what to expect throughout the conference on how to prepare for the Leader Award Exam. Following, we got to hear from multiple keynote speakers and even a student panel of some of SkillsUSA Massachusetts returning national gold medal winners. Moving into the spirit of giving, we attended the SkillsUSA Community Holiday party hosted at Lynn Vocational Technical Institute Saturday, December 9, 2023. Throughout our term as officers, we were able to raise over $3,000 to purchase Christmas gifts consisting of toys and clothes for children. From crafts, to music, and Christmas cookie decorating, we were able to host a Christmas celebration that will be memorable for us all. As a state, we wanted to make an impact, and create something new. On January 18, 2024, we hosted our inaugural Smart Start Summit at the Massachusetts Army National Guard Readiness Center. This conference was designed specifically for freshmen to explore all of the opportunities they can pursue in SkillsUSA throughout their high school journey. From seeing the creativity of the booths from the upperclassmen to the pure spark of interest in the freshman students, this conference was so exciting for us to see the upcoming generation of leaders. Our Senior Adventures in Leadership Conference (SAiL) was held at Gillette Stadium on February 8, 2024. At this conference we got to interact with so many members and hear about how they are going to utilize the values they have learned from SkillsUSA and apply them to their future goals. From resume building, preparing for the real world, financial management, and meeting with business and industry partners, we developed the skills and knowledge needed to tackle any challenge we may face in the future. Seeing our seniors move on was a sentimental but motivational moment of our journey as State Officers. As a team, we have met many times throughout the year. From meeting at the State Headquarters to receiving information from our student Board of Directors representative, Matthew Kelly, we have put hours and hours into progressing this organization. Additionally, we are so proud of our national officer, Kayla Mathieu. Her journey, hard work, and dedication has continued to motivate us to advocate for CTE and embody the values SkillsUSA has to offer. And lastly, to our members. You are the true reason for why we are here. Thank you for bestowing your trust in us, supporting us, and providing unwavering optimism and contagious energy that reminds us what our purpose is. Without you, our roles would not be possible. Thank you for this opportunity to grow and learn, and we hope we represented you in a way that made you proud. Being a state officer is an unforgettable experience, and we hope that we have made a difference.
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