Tag Archive for: IWF

Scott Nelson president woodwork career alliance
Richard Christianson

President’s Message: Wrapping Up Another Year Full of Milestones!

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2024 was a year of significant growth for the WCA. Key highlights include:

  • Increased Program Enrollment: We enrolled 1,800 candidates in our Passport program and issued over 1,500 Credentials, reflecting the increasing adoption of WCA Skills Standards by member schools.
  • Expanded Industry Partnerships: We connected with 30 school districts with woodworking programs at the ACTE CareerTech VISION conference, with the goal of increasing WCA EDUcation membership in 2025.
  • Successful Industry Outreach: A dozen wood products companies joined the WCA after attending an in-house training workshop presented by WCA Board Member Bruce Spitz and myself at the International Woodworking Fair.
  • New Online Training Program: Our new online training module, “Woodworking Fundamentals,” is ready for beta testing.

Celebrating Member Achievements:

  • John Stearns, Career Technical Education Director and woodworking instructor at Amity High School, received the 2024 Harbor Freight Tools for Schools (HFTS) Prize for Teaching Excellence.
  • Mark Smith, a dedicated woodworking instructor and Chairman of the WCA Education Committee, was honored with the prestigious 2024 Wooden Globe Educator of the Year Award by the Wood Industry Association (WIA). This marks the eighth Wooden Globe award received by a WCA member since 2008.

Congratulations to John and Mark for their well-deserved recognition!

Wishing you all a joyous holiday season!

Scott Nelson
President
Woodwork Career Alliance of North America
snelsonwca@gmail.com

Richard Christianson

President’s Message: IWF Was Busy Good for the WCA

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The International Woodworking Fair in Atlanta proved not only to be a very well-attended show, but a very productive one for the Woodwork Career Alliance.

Through the IWF Silent Auction and an optional $5 support registration check-off, WCA raised about $8,500 to support the mission of developing a trained workforce. I would like to extend our sincerest appreciation to IWF management for designating WCA to receive the proceeds from these two fundraising activities.

The show also produced a constant flow of woodworkers to our booth, including many who requested information about our MANufacturing™ credentials, skill standards and other programs. Hopefully this interest will spawn new MANufacturing members eager to get their own in-house training and Passport programs up and running.

This is also a very busy time for all of our EDUcation™ members. Schools are currently in the renewal process and requesting their annual benefit package. By the next edition of Pathways, I will be able to report on the success of our renewal process.

Upcoming Accredited Skill Evaluator Training Sessions
On November 2, WCA conduct Accredited Skill Evaluator Training at Madison College in Madison, WI. Because this session is sold out, we are looking into scheduling another ASE training event at Madison College in February.

On November 9, WCA will conduct another Accredited Skill Evaluator Training at the Manufacturing Industry Learning Lab (MiLL) in conjunction with the MiLL Academy curriculum training in Colorado Springs, CO. The $250 fee for the optional third day of training allows teachers to receive the WCA ASE training without additional travel time and cost. The additional fee also covers their school’s WCA EDUcation membership the 2018-19 school year. Five high school teachers are currently registered for the training.

Thank You Sponsors!
I am pleased to report that the WCA’s new INDustry™ Sponsorship program has so far enlisted the support of 21 Gold Sponsors and eight Silver Sponsors. The logos of all of our Gold Sponsors are included in each edition of Pathways. Our new sponsors include:

Gold – Roseburg Forest Products, Sherwin-Williams and Weinig Holz-Her USA
Silver – Eagle Mouldings, IMA-Schelling and Kerfkore.

Thank you one and all!

Scott Nelson
President
Woodwork Career Alliance of North America
snelsonwca@gmail.com

Richard Christianson

WCA Brings Wood Instructors Together at IWF

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Robert Lindsay, left, Jeff Seavolt, Daniel Kern. Patrick White, Justin Christianson and Kent Gilchrist pose at the WCA’s booth during IWF 2018 in Atlanta.

Woodworking teachers of current and prospective WCA EDUcation institutions took time out from the hustle and bustle of the International Woodworking Fair in Atlanta to meet and greet at the WCA’s booth.

They included, Robert Lindsay, recently retired from Trenton High School of Trenton, MI; Jeff Seavolt, Maple Valley Jr. & Sr. High School of Vermontville, MI; Daniel Kern, Montgomery County High School of Mt. Gilead, NC; Patrick White, The MiLL of Colorado Springs, CO; Justin Christianson, School of Woodworking and Discipleship of Indianapolis, IN; and Kent Gilchrist, Chairman of the WCA Education Committee.