North Santa Rosa

PSC Experience Skills USA and Worlds of Possibilities Career Expo

5000 Students to Experience Skills USA and Worlds of Possibilities Career Expo

 PENSACOLA, Fla. – March 22, 2012 – The best and the brightest of Florida SkillsUSA competitors will face off to showcase their technical trade talents and leadership abilities at the 2012 Florida SkillsUSA State Competition, which will be held in conjunction with the 2012 Worlds of Possibilities Career Expo, April 29 through May 2, 2012 in Pensacola, Florida at the Pensacola Civic Center.

SkillsUSA has more than 300,000 members nationwide and serves as a partnership between students, teachers, and industry working together to ensure that the United States has a skilled workforce.  It is committed to providing quality educational experiences for students in leadership, teamwork, citizenship and character building. SkillsUSA is a national nonprofit organization, dedicated to training high school and college students for their future in trade, technical and skilled service occupations, including health occupations, with over 12,000 members in Florida.  Over 1800 Skills USA high school and college students from throughout the State of Florida will travel to Pensacola to compete in over 110 competitions during the Florida SkillsUSA State Competition to determine the best-of–the-best in the State of Florida.

Held in conjunction with the 2012 Florida Skills USA State Competition is the Worlds of Possibilities Career Expo, a premiere event of its kind, which will showcase businesses and vendors in technical and vocational career fields by engaging over 3000 seventh and eighth grade students from Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties, and 1800  Skills USA  high school and college students from throughout the State of Florida, with exciting hands-on and interactive experiences in fourteen “worlds” and “industry sectors” ranging from the “World of Energy” to the “World of Finance”. “Students will have the opportunity to fly a jet in the World of Aviation with the National Flight Academy simulators, deliver a baby and administer CPR/ First Aid in the World of Health/Life Sciences through simulators provided by Pensacola State College, work as a line worker in the World of Energy with Gulf Power, as well as operate a back hoe and crane in the World of Construction, just to mention a few of the activities scheduled in the Worlds of Possibilities Career Expo,” stated Jennifer Ponson, event chair and director of student and program outreach at Pensacola State College.  The public is invited to tour the various “Worlds” in the Worlds of Possibilities on Tuesday, May 1, from 2 p.m. until 3:30 p.m., at the Pensacola Civic Center.

One of the new events added this year is an Electrathon Race Competition, sanctioned by Electrathon America, and sponsored by the Gulf Power Engineering Society, which will be held Saturday, April 28 at Five Flags Speedway.  High School competitors from across the State of Florida will race electric vehicles through an endurance course to determine how far they can travel on electric batteries. Races are scheduled for 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.  The public is invited to attend.

The four-day event, which is estimated to have a 2.5 million dollar economic impact on our local community, is being hosted by Pensacola State College and coordinated through the efforts of business representatives from Gulf Power, Pensacola Bay Area Chamber of Commerce/VISIT Pensacola, Associated General Contractors, Southern Solutions Inc., Workforce Education, Escambia County Tourism Development Council, and the Santa Rosa County and Escambia County School Districts.

“This event is critical to influencing the workforce of tomorrow, today, by educating students on the vast availability of careers in Florida,” stated Ponson.  If you are interested in judging one of the competitions in the Skills USA State Competition, or volunteering to assist with other activities during the four-day event, go on the Worlds of Possibilities website http://www.worldsofpossibilities.com/ and sign-up.  You may follow us at http://www.facebook.com/worldsofpossibilities and on Twitter @WOPossibilities.

For more information about the event, contact Jennifer Ponson at 850-484-2245, or by email at jponson@pensacolastate.edu.

Posted by on Apr 5 2012. Filed under Local. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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