MBIT Student participates in Washington Leadership Training Institute

Middle Bucks Institute of Technology senior, Kathryn Gingoloski, joined a del­e­ga­tion of Career and Technical Education (CTE) stu­dents and instruc­tors from Pennsylvania to meet with leg­isla­tive lead­ers on September 25, 2018. Congressional vis­its are an impor­tant part of SkillsUSA’s Washington Leadership Training Institute (WLTI). The del­e­ga­tion also paid respects at the Tomb of the Unknowns.  Middle Bucks Institute’s PA State offi­cer and Medical and Health Professions senior, Kathryn Gingoloski along with her SkillsUSA Advisor, Elizabeth Fala, met with Mr. Mace Flitter, leg­isla­tive assis­tant to Brian Fitzpatrick to dis­cuss Career and Technical Education suc­cess sto­ries and thank­ing him for sup­port­ing fund­ing for the Perkins V.

 

The five-day Washington Leadership Training Institute is spon­sored each year by SkillsUSA to pro­vide stu­dents an oppor­tu­ni­ty to learn about Washington D.C.; how to effec­tive­ly com­mu­ni­cate with their leg­isla­tive rep­re­sen­ta­tives; and about per­son­al, work­place and tech­ni­cal skills ground­ed in aca­d­e­mics. This year’s del­e­ga­tions dis­cussed the val­ue of pub­lic career and tech­ni­cal edu­ca­tion to their respec­tive states; the qual­i­ty of their edu­ca­tion and train­ing; their occu­pa­tion­al plans; and, the ben­e­fits of their par­tic­i­pa­tion in SkillsUSA. They explained that today’s work­place requires peo­ple with to par­tic­i­pate in high-quality sys­tems. SkillsUSA has been suc­cess­ful in devel­op­ing these skills in stu­dents of all ages and backgrounds.

 

The Washington Leadership Training Institute is a lead­er­ship and cit­i­zen­ship train­ing event. WLTI con­cen­trates on advanced lead­er­ship and com­mu­ni­ca­tions skills, includ­ing shar­ing their per­son­al sto­ries with leg­isla­tive rep­re­sen­ta­tives. This year, 525 stu­dents and instruc­tors from 27 states attend­ed the lead­er­ship conference.

 

SkillsUSA is an inte­gral part of pub­lic career and tech­ni­cal edu­ca­tion (CTE) and CTE is learn­ing that works for America. According to the U.S. Department of Education, the aver­age high school grad­u­a­tion rate for stu­dents con­cen­trat­ing in CTE pro­grams is 90.18% com­pared to an aver­age nation­al fresh­man grad­u­a­tion rate of 80%. CTE is also about jobs — good middle-class jobs — that are essen­tial for the American econ­o­my and glob­al com­pet­i­tive­ness. One-third will require an asso­ciate degree or cer­tifi­cate and near­ly all will require real-world skills that can be mas­tered through CTE.