This past year, the rest of America has been reminded of something Harbor Freight customers and associates have known all along: skilled trades workers are the backbone of our country. They are essential. We rely on them every day to keep our homes, cars, workplaces and infrastructure running smoothly.

Before someone can start a career in the skilled trades, they need a great teacher. All too often skilled trades teachers are unsung heroes who don’t get the recognition or funding they deserve. And of course this year, like all teachers, they’ve faced new challenges, pivoting quickly to virtual learning and working against all odds to keep students engaged. These teachers deserve our respect and gratitude.

For the last several years, you’ve likely noticed in our stores a poster of a smiling teacher holding a big check for $100,000 after winning the Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence. Every year, Harbor Freight Tools for Schools awards over $1 million in cash prizes to be shared among 18 outstanding U.S. public high school skilled trades teachers and their programs.

This year, the teacher you’ll see on our poster is Brian Manley, an automotive technology teacher from Colorado, who is smiling (behind his mask) because he had just won the 2020 Prize for Teaching Excellence.

Is there an excellent high school skilled trades teacher in your community? Skilled trades teachers get so little recognition but make such a big difference. Please take a moment to thank them and then encourage them to apply for the 2021 Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence at hftforschoolsprize.org. Tell them they deserve to be recognized for their incredible work and, even during this difficult time, they deserve to be celebrated.

Harbor Freight Tools for Schools is a program of The Smidt Foundation established by Harbor Freight Tools owner and founder Eric Smidt. For more information about the program, please visit: https://harborfreighttoolsforschools.org/. Applications for the prize are open at hftforschoolsprize.org.
 

Local SkillsUSA chapters are encouraged to host a signing day event by inviting business partners, school administrators, teachers, elected officials, SkillsUSA alumni, family and friends to honor students signing “letters of intent” for a job offer, apprenticeship or advanced technical training. An electronic toolkit of resources is available to advisors at SkillsUSA CONNECT to assist them with planning their local chapter event. The toolkit includes items such as an event logo, an event invitation template, social media posts, a sample press release, thank you notes and an event planning checklist. To learn more, login to your account at SkillsUSA CONNECT or https://www.skillsusa.org/events-training/national-signing-day/. Please register here before April 16th.
 

• April 13-23 - SkillsUSA State Conference (Contests) VIRTUAL
• April 13 - State Conference Virtual Opening Session, 4:00pm
• April 13 - SkillsUSA NC Virtual Trade Show LIVE, 4:30-5:30pm
• June  - SkillsUSA National Conference VIRTUAL
• July 19-23 - CTE Summer Conference - SkillsUSA Sessions