2008 NLSC CONTEST UPDATES
(View all updates on the National Conference site)

CHECK BACK OFTEN FOR NEW CONTEST UPDATES

May 12, 2008

• Ford AAA Competition
  This year the Ford AAA automotive competition will again conflict with our national competition schedule. If you have students who will compete in the AAA and the national auto service or mobile electronics competition, please notify the national office by e-mail to akranenberg@skillsusa.org. The national technical committee will schedule a makeup orientation meeting at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 25. Please meet a committee representative in the lobby area of the Kansas City Marriott Downtown

• Cosmetology
  The national technical committee will again send out long-hair mannequins to all competitors for the color segment prior to the contest. Once the national office receives the state registrations, the mailing information will be sent to Burmax. For information and instructions, click here

For the long-hair design station, no ornaments or hairpieces are allowed. Contestants may apply makeup to the mannequin; however, no special effects makeup or paint is allowed. No eyelashes are allowed. The makeup must be applied during the total time allocated for the long0-hair design segment of the competition.

Pivot Point has posted contest information and photos of the hairstyles on their Web page. To view, go online to
http://www.pivot-point.com/oc_competitions.asp

• Graphic Communications
  Contestants will use Heidelberg 46 PrintMasters, two color processes.
  

• Precision Machining
  Precision Machining will use a Haas control trainer for the CNC portion of the contest. View the information at www.haascnc.com/MAIN_HaasControl_ctrlsim.asp#haascontrol

April 18, 2008

• Advertising Design
  Contestants must bring a USB flash drive, (thumb drive) with a capacity of at least 256MB for saving their work to transport to the printer for output.

Software packages that are acceptable are QuarkXpress, PageMaker, InDesign, PhotoShop, Illustrator and Freehand. CorelDraw is an acceptable substitute, but should only be used if the aforementioned programs are not available.

The technical committee cannot guarantee technical support for CorelDraw, nor guarantee its compatibility with the contest. Students  are to supply their own copies of the software to be used. Special  attention should be paid to QuarkXpress, as some versions require a “dongle” that must accompany the software. Students and advisors  should be sure that their machines would operate while not connected  to their school network. Quark also has a version that requires a network license administrator. You will not have Internet access  available in the competition area.  Please be prepared for potential problems.

• Electronics Technology
  Contestants must bring their own portable VM/VOM multimeter and 20 or more MHZ dual trace oscilloscope.  The national technical committee was unable to obtain them for use this year.

• Internetworking
  Please visit http://www.sunnaction.com/index1.htm for detailed contest information.

• Residential Wiring
  Contestants are not required to bring any tools—they will be provided by the national technical committee.  All work must conform to the specifications outlined in the National Electrical Code.  Contestants must bring a copy for their own use.

April 8, 2008 Updates

• All Contestants
  Use of cell phones during the contestant orientation, familiarization, competition and debriefing is prohibited.  That means no conversing, no photographing and no text messaging. They are also not allowed to be used as calculators. If your contest requires a calculator, and it is not provided, you must bring your own.

All competitors must bring a one-page, typewritten résumé and submit it to the national technical committee at the contestant orientation meeting. Failure to do so will result in a penalty of 5% of the maximum points possible.

All competitors (except Action Skills, Building Maintenance and Quiz Bowl) must take a written professional development test. 

All competitors in technical skill areas (except Building Maintenance) must take a skill-related, written test. The number of points allowed will not exceed 15% of the maximum points possible.

All contests will include an oral professional assessment. The number of points allowed will not exceed 10% of the maximum points possible.

All competitors must wear their official contest clothing to the orientation meeting.

• Automotive Service Technology
  Click here for the station tasks  For the Environmental Health & Safety Workstation, access to CCAR's "S/P2"e-learning program is provided free of charge to competitors in SkillsUSA. BEFORE the competition, instructors are asked to contact Natalie Schoonover by e-mail at info@sp2.org to receive their students' log-on information for the S/P2 Web site.  Students must complete the S/P2 courses IN ADVANCE of the competition. (Please plan on 4-8 hours to complete the training.) During the competition, students will be required to demonstrate their understanding of basic shop safety and environmental considerations.

• Chapter Display
  Students authorized to assist in setting up the display should include someone with technical knowledge on how to repair malfunctioning or damaged displays.

• Culinary Arts
  Click here for High School practice menus and contest preparation help.
  Click here for College/Postsecondary practice menus and contest preparation help.

• Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration
  Electronic test equipment and meters will be provided in the contest area. However, contestants are welcome to bring their own personal multi-meter test instrument if they will be more comfortable using it during the competition.

• Industrial Motor Control
  The contest will be based on the 2008 National Electrical Code. Students will be expected to bring copies of the 2008 National Electrical Code with them to all competition sessions.

Students will be permitted to utilize basic scientific calculators during the contest. Calculators with imbedded or programmed electrical formulas will not be permitted.

• Opening and Closing Ceremonies
  The president, team captain or other representative of the team attending the contestant orientation meeting must bring a copy of each team members’ résumé.

• Welding
  Equipment:
  Miller MM350P
  Lincoln Precision TIG 275
  Smith Equipment Company SC 229 Cutting Torch

Contestants will take the skill-related written test on Tuesday and make a one-minute, oral presentation to a group of judges.  The presentation must include: Introduction of yourself, name of your school and what you plan to do after you graduate from your current school.  Note cards are not allowed.

February 6, 2008 Updates

• Demonstrations Contests
  State Pin design has added to the contest roster as a demonstration contest. Download contest guidelines.

December 21, 2007 Updates

• Contest Rating Sheets
  The scorecards included for all contests in the SkillsUSA Championships Technical Standards 2008 are "condensed" versions and, in many contests, do not provide much detail as to how the problems/projects will be judged or the point value for each skill area. We have developed more detailed rating sheets to help better prepare students for the competitions. These rating sheets are intended to give contestants and advisors a basic understanding of the evaluation criteria and serve as a guide as they prepare for national competition. The exact number and identification of tasks and points assigned is subject to change as determined by the national technical committees. View/download scorecards.

November 30, 2007 Updates

• Auto Refinishing
  The scoring criteria listed in the technical standards is incorrect.  "Identify parts replacement" for 175 points will be replaced with "Color Tinting" for 175 points. Identifying parts is included in the "Damage Analysis and Estimating" segment of the competition.

• Computer Rental
  In all contests requiring competitors to provide their own computer, students may bring one or contact Computer Express in Kansas City to rent one and have it delivered to the contest area. For instructions, computer specifications and online rental, please go to their Web site at this link. 

• Web Design
  The project will be for each team to complete a series of challenges, with a focus on web site usability and accessibility with at least one challenge related to scripting. Each challenge must be documented, clearly demonstrating the skills as outlined in the SkillsUSA Championships Technical Standards 2008. The requirement to submit a résumé electronically by June 1 has been eliminated. Team members must bring a one-page, typewritten résumé to the contestant orientation meeting. The requirement to submit a work sample has been eliminated. No hard or soft copy reference material such as HTML, CSS or JavaScript documentation will be permitted for use during the contest. Some written reference materials will be available on site.