Did you participate in this year’s NC3 National Signing Day? Are you looking for ways to inspire students and celebrate the dignity of technical education?

National Signing Day honors students who are choosing to commit to technical education. The event aims to bring dignity to the work these students are choosing to do and is the first step towards not only helping students pinpoint their hopes and dreams, but also helping students MAKE THEM A REALITY.

2020 NC3 Game Day Pre-Show

Each year, our NC3 Leadership Schools celebrate National Signing Day in their own fantastic way. For NC3, we tried something brand new to make NC3 National Signing Day bigger and better by incorporating a Game Day Pre-Show to showcase across the country.

National Signing Day was inspired by college athletics, so why not have a game day pre-show?!

Held at NC3 Center of Excellence WSU Tech, the Game Day Pre-show was hosted by Lily Wu and Jillian Carroll, WSU Tech Alumni, along with Roger Tadajewski, Executive Director of NC3, and Dr. Sheree Utash, President of WSU Tech. The Game Day Pre-Show also included interviews of special guests from Snap-on Tools, SkillsUSA, 3M, Delta Dental of Kansas, The Manufacturing Institute, Kansas Technical College Authority, and Wichita Public Schools.

During the broadcast, host Dr. Sheree Utash explained that NC3’s National Signing Day represents the bigger work that education and industry partners are doing to:

1. Create economic prosperity for students
2. Ensure that we’re developing and educating the next workforce for the future that can be globally competitive

Roger Tadajewski, Executive Director of NC3 noted that the founder of NC3 National Signing Day, Clark Coco, created this event to give students hope. “All kids want to know that they have hope, that they have a chance in the economy… that someone’s going to give them that chance.” National Signing Day puts a face on hope. By signing letters of intent, students can rest assured that someone wants to help them chase their dreams and succeed.

Nick Pinchuk, CEO of Snap-on, Inc., added that “We’re in a global competition for jobs. To be the amplifier of jobs today you not only need commitment, dedication and energy, you also need SKILL.” He noted that the world is changing and that America is going to be able to keep renewing its prosperity by having a continuous line of makers and fixers. He believes these makers and fixers will help us apply the skills of today onward into tomorrow. “I see no path to prosperity without a continuation of our technical capabilities. Career and technical education is the key.”

Nick continued by saying that events like NC3 National Signing Day are important because, in order to be successful, we have to match the skills imparted in schools to what’s actually needed in the workplace and ensure that young people today feel that what they’re enlisting in is important. The young people of today want to know they’re going to have a career that’s fulfilling.

Dr. Sheree Utash commented, “As we look to the future, we have to look at things in a different way. You have this, I kind of call it, a transformational evolution that’s happening across the United States as education and industry work together in a very, very different way… a very, very integrated way.” She said this is the key to providing the future workforce for our country and this is how we’ll be globally successful.

Maureen Tholen from 3M added, “It takes all of us working together to make an impact. We all have a role. Working to close the skills gap is a big challenge and it takes everybody coming together to make that happen.”

Roger Tadajewski closed the pre-show by stating that the partnerships NC3 is working hard to foster are not only important for students, they’re also important for teachers. “New technologies are coming into the marketplace almost literally every day.” He asked, “How do we keep teachers up to speed with new technologies?” He feels strongly that fostering healthy working relationships between education and industry is the solution that will help us keep our teachers current with the ever-evolving technologies of today.  

Do you have any special stories to share from National Signing Day? We’d love to hear them! Please send articles and photos to Hannah Peltier for a chance to be featured in upcoming NC3 newsletters, blogs and more!

Stay tuned for more exciting National Signing Day stories throughout the year and in the meantime, relive some of the greatest NSD moments of 2020 on our National Signing Day website!