NORFOLK, Neb. – The director of the criminal justice program at Northeast Community College has been selected to serve on a national committee of a nonprofit national education association that serves middle-school, high-school and college/postsecondary students preparing for careers in trade, technical and skilled service occupations.
Matt McCarthy, who is also an instructor in the program, has been chosen to serve on the National Education Team (NET) of SkillsUSA. SkillsUSA hosts state and national championships which include competitive events showcasing the best career and technical education students. Contests begin locally and continue through the state and national levels. The philosophy of the championships is to reward students for excellence, to involve industry in directly evaluating student performance and to keep training relevant to employers' needs.
Members of the NET assist national technical committees in conducting and managing the SkillsUSA Championships and communicate to advisors the industry expectations for the quality of instruction and professional development in occupational areas represented in the SkillsUSA Championships. They may also be called upon throughout the year for their insights and expertise.
Northeast Community College has sent students to state and national SkillsUSA competitions where they have earned top honors, including national championships and other podium finishes. At the 2022 National Leadership and Skills Conference in Atlanta, the Northeast team of Jake Bartosh, Arlington, Ryen Haines, Ansley, and Isaias Juarez, Neligh, earned runner-up (silver) honors in Crime Scene Investigation competition.
“SkillsUSA, under Dr. (Wade) Herley’s leadership at Northeast, has been a phenomenal opportunity for our students to not only compete with students from across the state and nation, but it has given them an amazing opportunity to develop their skills, and to grow and become true leaders,” McCarthy said. “The national runner-up placement last year is testament to the quality of students that we have here at Northeast. I am honored to have been selected to represent Northeast on the national level for SkillsUSA.”
SkillsUSA serves more than 331,000 students and instructors annually, including 19,000 instructors who join as professional members. Including alumni, SkillsUSA membership totals over 393,000. It has served nearly 14 million annual members cumulatively since 1965 and is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Labor as a successful model of employer-driven workforce development.
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PHOTO CUTLINE
Matt McCarthy, director/instructor of the criminal justice program at Northeast Community College (right), works with students on a crime scene investigation scenario inside the College’s Law and Public Safety Lab on the Norfolk campus. McCarthy has been selected to serve on the National Education Team (NET) of SkillsUSA. Members of the NET assist national technical committees in conducting and managing the SkillsUSA Championships.