SKILLS - USA

January 12, 2009

Member Joe Garner brought us a wonderfully gifted young man to speak to us about

SKILLS - USA (VICA). Stephen Lupton is a Newport resident and a junior at West Carteret High School.

VICA started back in the 1920's, offering young people the opportunity to learn trade skills such as welding, carpentry, masonry, and more. In the 1960's, they held their first Olympics and the young people were challenged in the same trade skills. In 1998, VICA changed it's name to SKILLS - USA and added new components to it's agendas with public speaking, Leadership , poster contests, and elections. The membership has grown to more than 300,000 members. One of the biggest sponsors of SKILLS - USA is Lowe's, having contributed over $1,000,000.

Stephen has been to the National Convention ,and there he was elected by his peers, delegates to the convention, to be the North Carolina State President.

SKILLS - USA has a tie in with Rotary as they have adopted the 4 Way Test as part of their creed.

Thank you to Stephen's Mentor, Mr. Whitfield, for bringing this young man so far, and we wish Stephen all the best in all of his endeavors.