On June 29, 1983, President Ronald Reagan gave the keynote address at VICA, the Vocational Industrial Clubs of America (now known as SkillsUSA). The 19th Annual Conference was held this year in Louisville, Kentucky. Reagan’s full remarks can be read at this website: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=41540
President Reagan begins this way: “This country was built with the sweat and determination of hard-working men and women who, like many of you, love to work with their hands as well as their minds. Your forerunners were America’s link between our dreams and reality. They were the people who transformed this continent into one of the wonders of the modern world. … But in this country, we have no patent on greatness. There is no guarantee that “made in America” will always mean made the best. … Each generation must feel the spur of competition, share the commitment to excellence, and receive the rewards for a job well done. …We should see that all our young people get a good grounding in English and literature, history, math, science, and the other basics. But we must also recognize that our vocational classrooms are just as important as any other. And we should insist that the vocational courses we teach prepare this generation with the skills they need for real jobs.”
SkillsUSA was originally known as the Vocational Industrial Clubs of America (VICA). Prior to 1965, attempts at creation of national skill organizations failed. There was still a demand for skill and trade organizations, however. In 1960, the American Vocational Association (AVA) held a meeting, where a committee was formed to facilitate a solution. Representatives from the U.S. Office of Education and the National Association of State Supervisors of Trade and Industrial Education (NASSTIE – now known as the Association for Skilled and Technical Sciences – ASTS – http://www.astsonline.org) formed the committee. By 1962, the AVA encouraged the Office of Education to hire an employee to form the national organization. At the 1964 AVA convention, powerful leaders of industry and organizational leaders to include U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Secondary School Principals spoke in favor of the proposed organization.
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