SkillsUSA Knowledge and Civic Awareness Test 2025

SkillsUSA’s mission

SkillsUSA's mission is to empower students to become skilled professionals, career-ready leaders and responsible community members.

SkillsUSA’s vision

SkillsUSA’s vision is to produce the most highly skilled workforce in the world, providing every member the opportunity for career success.

SkillsUSA’s values

SkillsUSA’s values include:

• Integrity

• Respect

• Responsibility

• Community

• Service

SkillsUSA’s 2025 theme

Champion Your Future

SkillsUSA’s pledge

Upon my honor, I pledge:

• To prepare myself by diligent study and ardent practice to become a worker whose services will be recognized as honorable by my employer and fellow workers.

• To base my expectations of reward upon the solid foundation of service.

• To honor and respect my vocation in such a way as to bring repute to myself.

• And further, to spare no effort in upholding the ideals of SkillsUSA.

SkillsUSA emblem

• The shield represents patriotism

• The gear represents the industrial society

• The torch represents knowledge

• The orbital circles represent technology

• The hands represent the individual

SkillsUSA colors

• Red and white represent the individual states and chapters

• Blue represents the common union between the states and chapters

• Gold represents the individual

SkillsUSA Program of Work

• The PoW is a roadmap for chapters to lay down their goals for the year. A typical PoW includes the following 6 committees:

  • Community Engagement

  • Financial Management

  • Leadership development

  • Advocacy and Marketing

  • Partner and Alumni Engagement

  • Workplace Experiences

SkillsUSA framework

• The framework is the foundation that our organization uses for everything we do, it is the blueprint for career-readiness, and a common language for students to speak about what the gained from SkillsUSA.

• There are a total of 17 essential elements divided among 3 components. They are as listed:

  • Personal Skills

    • Integrity

    • Work Ethic

    • Professionalism

    • Responsibility

    • Adaptability/Flexibility

    • Self-Motivation

  • Workplace Skills

    • Communication

    • Decision Making

    • Teamwork

    • Multicultural Sensitivity and Awareness

    • Planning, Organizing, and Management

    • Leadership

  • Technical Skills Grounded in Academics

    • Computer and Technology Literacy

    • Job-Specific Skills

    • Safety and Health

    • Service Orientation

    • Professional Development

How SkillsUSA is organized

National Board of Directors

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National Exec. Director

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Joint Exec. Council

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State Chapters

First Amendment Rights

Freedom of:

• Religion

• Speech

• Press

• Assembly

• Petition

Branches of the federal government

• Judicial Branch

  • Interprets the law

• Executive Branch

  • Enforces the law

• Legislative Branch

  • Creates the law

Number of senators and representatives

• The Senate has 100 members, bringing in 2 per state

• The House of Reps has 435 members, determined by the population of each state.

How senators and representatives are chosen

Senators:

• Plurality rule, highest number of votes wins

• Elected at-large by all voters in their state

• Must be at least 30 years old, a U.S. citizen for at least 9 years, and reside in the state that they are representing

• Serve for 6 years

Representatives:

• Plurality rule, highest number of votes wins

• Elected by voters in specific congressional districts

• Each state has at least 1 congressional district, and a representative is needed for each one

• Must be at least 25 years old, a U.S. citizen for at least 7 years, and reside in the state that they are representing

• Serve for 2 years

Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act (Perkins V)

On July 31, 2018, the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act was signed into law. This bill authorizes the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (Perkins IV) and is more commonly referred to as Perkins V.

Perkins V affords states and local communities the opportunity to implement a vision for CTE that supports the range of educational needs of students — exploration through career preparation — and balances those learners needs with the current and emerging needs of the economy.