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Season 6, Episode 63

SkillsUSA Illinois: Empowering Students for Career Success

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Guest Name:


Eric Hill | Armonodo Perez

Guest Website:


SkillsUSA Illinois 

Guest Social Media:


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Supportive Documents:


 

Eric Hill, Executive Director of SkillsUSA Illinois, and Armondo Perez, a high school computer science student, joined the America's Work Force Union Podcast to discuss the organization's impact on workforce development, pre-apprenticeship programs and student advocacy efforts.

SkillsUSA Illinois connects industry partners, educators and students to support a pipeline of career-ready individuals. Hill explained that the organization serves over 16,000 students annually, offering technical competitions, pre-apprenticeship programs and opportunities to engage with local employers. These initiatives help students like Perez develop crucial skills and explore potential career paths in fields such as cybersecurity, construction and healthcare.

The organization's pre-apprenticeship programs, supported by union partners and state funding, have seen significant growth. Hill highlighted the Illinois Works Pre-Apprenticeship Program, which will graduate over 380 students next year. This initiative provides hands-on technical training, connects students with Local Unions and Training Centers and offers stipends to participants. The program's success has led to proposed legislation to further expand its reach across Illinois schools.

SkillsUSA Illinois is actively involved in student advocacy, recently bringing 150 students to the state capitol in Springfield to lobby for career and technical education. Perez shared his experience meeting with legislators, including his representative, Theresa Mah, to discuss the importance of SkillsUSA and workforce development initiatives. This engagement not only empowers students but also helps shape policies that support career readiness and technical education.

To learn more about SkillsUSA Illinois and its impact on workforce development, listen to the full episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast.


America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.

America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.

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