Old Colony Heads to Fall Leadership Conference

This past Sunday, November 20, nine of Old Colony’s SkillsUSA members headed to Marlborough, Massachusetts to attend the annual SkillsUSA Massachusetts Fall State Leadership Conference.

By 11:00 am, the group was off, accompanied by their two advisers, Norman L’Heureux and Lindsey Couto. The event was held at the Best Western Hotel, which hosted not only the conference but also the 52 schools attending.

State Officers opened the floor, introducing the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation and Be Like Brit as charities to which SkillsUSA would be contributing. Tim Lawrence and Karen Ward, the national executive director and Massachusetts executive director, spoke on the importance of leadership and its role in the workplace. This was preceded by a fashion show displaying proper work attire for the various trades.

The students were then allowed back to their hotel rooms, where they put away their luggage for the week and donned their professional dress. Once back at the conference room, students worked together to design quilt squares showcasing diversity and understanding among people. This would be the last time the students would work together as a school. For the rest of the week, they would split up and join separate teams to compete for gold, silver, and bronze metals.

By the afternoon, students were working diligently within one of seven teams, with each team consisting of different groups competing in separate competitions. Each competition focused on challenging a student’s leadership, communications skills, group dynamics, and employability skills. Students worked on their respective projects all day, checking in with their team and returning to their hotel room late at 11:00 pm.

Community service kids spent their day away at the Metrowest YMCA. There, they cleared walking trails, repaired and painted picnic tables, and performed other maintenance work in an attempt to get the facility ready for spring.

The students dressed in layers and were supplied warm hats, safety glasses, work gloves, and hand warmers in an effort to stay safe while braving the cold. Though it was a bitter 16 degrees with wind chill, no complaints were heard from the community service groups.

In between working on readying their projects for competition, students enjoyed meals provided by the hotel and attended workshops focused on developing workplace skills. One workshop focused on teaching the students to acknowledge their strengths and taught them the different types of management techniques and how these different personalities were each valuable to a working team. The other taught students about work preparedness, focusing on proper hygiene and personal maintenance habits.

Students also worked to earn their SkillsUSA Massachusetts Leader Award, the highest leadership award offered in Massachusetts. In order to earn such a prestigious award, students had to complete a workbook and memorize criteria of SkillsUSA programs such as the pledge, habits of highly effective teens, and the meaning of the SkillsUSA emblem. Although it is not an easy feat to memorize an entire book’s worth of information in three days, every student managed it by the end of the week.

The students weren’t the only ones working. While they worked within their teams, their advisors were working in teams of their own. The advisors completed workshops and competitions that earned them Massachusetts Professional Development points.

Monday night marked a night of celebration. All work had been completed and for the first time since arrival, students were allowed to cut loose and show off their skills in the talent show. Amazing magicians, dancers, and musicians all played for the entertainments of their fellow students. Kids were welcomed to attend a dance social or an open mic night. Some of the more tired teens just headed up to bed. By midnight curfew, everyone, including the advisors, was ready to hit the hay.

By the time the judging occurred on Tuesday, students were both exhausted and excited – exhausted from the intense and demanding programs and schedule, but excited for the chance to win a gold metal. Teams waited to be called forward to display to the judges what they had accomplished. At the final closing ceremony, winners were announced and called to receive their medals. Whether win or lose, the Old Colony students left with a better appreciation for leadership, volunteerism, and workplace skills.

By Elizabeth Jerome

 

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