Alyssa Invited to Compete for spot at World Skills

Alyssa Ailion, the Georgia SkillsUSA winner and National SkillsUSA second place winner in graphic communications was tapped earlier this week to compete for a chance to represent the US at the WorldSkills competition in Calgary, Canada next year. PIAG is currently working with Alyssa, her former advisor Dan Campagna and representatives from Heidelberg to find a print shop that is willing to hire Alyssa and give her experience on the SpeedMaster 52, the press used at the World competition. We'll keep you posted on Alyssa's progress. If you know anyone in the NE Atlanta area that would like to assist with training, please let me know.

AIGA to Develop and Judge Graphic Design

Since it's been a while, I wanted to let everyone know that PIAG has started planning for the 2009 SkillsUSA competition. AIGA, the professional designers association will again assist us in putting together and judging the Advertising Design competition. We are working with AIGA to determine the elements of the competition and training resources to assist teachers and students in preparing. Look for more information on the 2009 competition soon. As always, if you have suggestions, comments or ideas, please let us know.

Printulation - A Virtual Print Shop in Second Life

Image via Wikipedia Brian Regan with Semper International is spearheading an interesting endeavor for the printing industry. He is creating a virtual print shop called Printalution in Second Life, a virtual world. For those of you that haven't heard of Second Life, it's like a video or computer game where you create your own enviornment, similar to Sims or the popular Tycoon (lemonade/zoo) games.

Printulation is in the process of being built out right now, but once it's done, guests can take a tour of the shop, stopping at each department to find out what careers are available in that department, what those people do, what education and experience they need and how much they can expect to make. Touring is nice, but wouldn't it be better if you could actually work on the equipment? Well eventually you can! Once this is feature is built, visitors can run the Heidelberg QuickMaster QM46 or the Indigo digital press. Technical training sessions on the equipment students will use in the real world SkillsUSA competition can be held in virtual classrooms. Heck we can even host a virtual SkillsUSA competition prior to the real event as training and include a virtual trade show just for the printing industry.

The equipment will not be working equipment at this first stage. That will require more investment. The first stage will mainly be an area to explain about each piece and how they operate, as well as linking to web supported information and videos.

This is an exciting project that has a lot of potential, especially for SkillsUSA. If you would like to be involved in this project or just follow along, Brian has created a social networking site (ning) at http://printalution.ning.com/ to support the Second Life project.

Right now Brian needs help finishing off the tour rooms. Each room is a part of the print process and there is a lot of the equipment built and located on the island. Brian just needs the detailed touches that make it special. The Design room needs help, pre-media and mailing. Basically each room needs some attention and while Brian can build and do anything in Second Life he lacks the expertise to add the details. So if you can help, email Brain at bregan@semperllc.com.

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National SkillsUSA Blog

Image via Wikipedia Jesus Rodriguez is one of the drivers of the SkillsUSA National graphic communications competition. He's started the blog below to assist teachers in perparing for the national event.

About Jesus: Been teaching 30+ years, very interested in the future of the young people I come in contact with, former Kiwanian, involved in graphic arts associations.

This BLOG is for you!!!
http://skillsusaforgraphiccommunications.blogspot.com/Check it out, I have four postings in the last two weeks. Let me know what you think and let me know what you would like to have included in this blog over the coming months.Email me at jrod2012@sbcglobal.netHave a great summer and a very successful school year 2008-2009.Jesus
Jesus J. Rodriguez

Photos from Nationals!

Nationals! from the advisor perspective....

As I look back at the week at Kansas City for the SkillsUSA National Competition I can without a doubt say it was one of the most powerful experiences I have had as an educator and one that was most impactful to me personally and also for my students.

Alyssa Ailion was competing in the Graphic Communications competition and Olivia Goodall was competing in Screen Printing Technology both representing Georgia. The girls have worked very hard in preparing for the competition and will be a memory that I am sure they will never forget.

It was truly overwhelming how much industry support was represented at the convention center and all over the downtown streets as several were blocked off for the event. Lowes, Dewalt, Milwaukee, Bosch, Stanley, just to name a few of the more prominent ones and hundreds of others I have no idea the cost, but this was a multi-million event to orchestrate. Over 90 competitions, most held in one gigantic center that seemed to spread for several city blocks all under one roof. It is a site that would make anyone's jaw drop.

We not only came to compete, but were able to network with others from around the country and share ideas as students met with each other from around the country as well. We were able to tour a little as I got to go on a tour of the Kansas Speedway and also participate in the Champions Run, a 5K race that helped me do a little exercise while being out of town. We got to go to an amusement park, a teen festival and just had a great time.

The Graphic Communications competition as well as the Screen Printing competition were both run extremely smoothly, very professional, top notch equipment, supplies, tools, etc. It was without a doubt a site to see. For Graphics computers were setup up, 6 Heidelberg Quickmasters, cutter, 2 folders were set up for the contestants to use. Screen Printing as well had pretty much a full "lab" 2 presses, exposure units, washout booth, scoop coaters, etc. etc.

I am so proud of Alyssa and the work ethic that she has is truly commendable. The hours she put in after school during the month of June (as she mentions in her blog) paid off as she took 2nd in the nation. She and the 1st place winner were 7 points apart (out of 1000), the 3rd place winner was around 75 points away. It was a very challenging competition. Not a bad way to end your high school career.

I was also proud of Olivia who took 10th in the nation in Screen Printing. It was a very intense competition as well. I hope to make the trip out here next year as well.

Every Technology educator needs to experience an opportunity to participate in SkillsUSA Nationals at some point in their career. It will be something you will never forget. To the Technology educators out there, ...If not Nationals, at least get your students involved locally in SkillsUSA, for leadership development, regional competitions, and their professional development. I see it as a tremendous disservice to our students to NOT encourage them and be a part of SkillsUSA.

Give the students an opportunity and allow whoever chooses to rise to the top and help them do it! That's why we do what we do!

I look forward to seeing many new advisors jump on board as we get into a new school year with new opportunities for both students and educators for both personal and professional development.

Dan Campagna


Dan Campagna, NBCT
Graphic Arts Teacher
Walton High School
1590 Bill Murdock Rd.
Marietta, GA 30062
770-578-3225 ext. 290
daniel.campagna@cobbk12.org

Nationals!!!!!

The SkillsUSA national competition was quite an experience. Upon arriving at the Hilton, I found that all the Georgia members stayed in one hotel. I shared a room with 3 other girls, who were all a ton of fun!! Everyone in Kansas City was excited to see the SkillsUSA kids. The convention center was in walking distance from the hotel and the city was beautiful. One of the most interesting things I got to do in Kansas City was meet people from all over the country. The convention center is HUGE, it is amazing how many companies come out and support the competitions. Anyone who ever has a chance to go out there should, it truly is incredible. When you walk into the competition room, as far as you can see there are students, the best of the best, working hard. I competed against about 35 people, and they were all talented. One girl I talked to even had a grandfather who owned a printing company. They were a great group of kids, and all very nice. The competition itself was difficult; I had to use everything I had learned not only in the past month but in my whole career in graphic arts. Some things were completely new and I had to figure them out using prior knowledge.One of the biggest things you can see at the national competition is the massive amount of industry support. At the opening ceremony Lowe’s even donated $1,000,000!!! Overall the national competition was very similar to the state competition, so I was very well prepared. Something else that came as a surprise to me was the SkillsUSA ceremony. They closely resemble a rock concert, with music, lights, and tons of energy. All in all my hard work paid off and I placed 2^nd in the nation! After checking the scores, I found out that the difference between 1^st and 2^nd place was only 7 points out of 1000, talk about a close competition. It really goes to show that every point counts. In conclusion, I had a great time, learned a lot from this experience, and would like to thank everyone once again for all of their help and support.