Local SkillsUSA Student Wins Scholarship from TV's Mike Rowe
June 17, 2013 - Alexis Wells, 16, of Anchorage, a student at East High School and an Alaska gold medalist in Culinary Arts was the recipient of a mikerowe WORKS Foundation scholarship to attend the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference in Kansas City, Mo., June 24-28. Mike Rowe, host of the Discovery Channel's popular series Dirty Jobs, created the foundation in 2008 to, in his words, "give something back and challenge the prevailing definition of a 'good job.' For decades, we have put a premium on a four-year degree, and told an entire generation that trade schools and skilled labor are alternatives to higher education.
Hyperbole aside, the skills gap is real. Our infrastructure is crumbling. And our country is scrambling to put itself back together."
The scholarship provides support for SkillsUSA state contest winners whose chapter, school or community has insufficient resources to participate at the 2013 National SkillsUSA Championships. Fifty $1,000 scholarships were awarded to help offset the costs of travel and to participate in the National SkillsUSA Championships. The winners will also have the opportunity to attend a luncheon with a member of the mikeroweWORKS Foundation staff during the conference.
This is the third year, the mikeroweWORKS Foundation, in partnership with SkillsUSA, offered the scholarship opportunity for SkillsUSA members who competed and placed first in their state association competition. The scholarship is awarded based on a studentwritten narrative describing the need for the scholarship and lack of school or community resources. A student may be nominated with a letter of recommendation written by his or her SkillsUSA advisor or the state association director.
SkillsUSA helps students discover and grow their career passions. As a nationwide partnership of students, instructors and industry working together, SkillsUSA works to ensure America has a skilled workforce. It helps every student excel. The nationwide career and technical education (CTE) student organization serves more than 320,000 high school, college and postsecondary students-and their instructors-in technical, skilled, and service occupation instructional programs. CTE is learning that works for America. SkilIsUSA has the active support of more than 1,100 corporations, trade associations, business and labor unions at the national level. More than 11 million people have been annual members of Skills USA since its founding as The Vocational Industrial Clubs of America in 1965. SkillsUSA programs teach leadership, citizenship and character development to complement technical skill training. The organization emphasizes respect for the dignity of work, ethics, workmanship, scholarship and safety. For more information about SkillsUSA, visit www.skillsusa.org.
The goal ofthe mikeroweWORKS Foundation is to make contributions to other 501(c)(3) organizations that give to and support the trades. For more information, visit:
www.mikeroweworks.com/mikes-office/ giving-back/mikeroweworks-foundation.
SkillsUSA press release