SkillsUSA is the largest and most demanding project I have ever been associated with.  This program, which initially targeted three schools, now offers contests to an entire district.  

The truth is that I had been wondering about SkillsUSA for some time.  I would see the name and its association with CTE.  When I went to the site,  I could never obtain the type of information I was hoping to find, such as contest information or teacher resources.

When I finally figured out how to access the contests, I thought to myself that we (AFCEA) could actually host these contests ourselves.  So, I met with the president of the local chapter and pitch the idea of establishing a new SkillsUSA presence here in the region that would replace the chapter's Raspberry Pi Challenge.  

To my great surprise, he absolutely loved it and was fully onboard.  So, I spoke with SkillsUSA who then put me in contact with SkillsUSA NY who then created a new NY region (Area VII - Europe).

It has been an incredible ride ever since the beginning of the program.  We have improved, expanded and enhanced the programs over the past six years.  Unfortunately, as we increase in notoriety and involvement, we also increase the demand placed upon our staff.  

The amount of work put forth for this program is immense.  And to be quite honest, most of this work is placed upon my shoulders.  So, for the 2023-2024 school year, I am proposing that we change the program from SkillsUSA to the AFCEA STEM Olympics and only focus on STEM contests.

It is my recommendation that we maintain our STEM outreach by offering the following contests:  STEM Challenge, Engineering, Coding, and Cybersecurity as the core contests.  Additionally, we will include a Drone Challenge and STEM Bowl as part of the awards ceremony.