Tuesday, February 26, 2013 8:51 am

By TONY STINNETT/ Courier Sports Editor

Cannon County students in the SkillsUSA program will have greater opportunities to compete thanks to Lowe’s.

Lowe’s Charitable and Education Foundation awarded Cannon County a $2,339 Toolbox for Edu-cation Grant, according to Cannon County Director of Schools Barbara Parker. The Schools in Need Grant was written for the SkillsUSA Chapter at Cannon County High School.

The intention of the grant is to fund money for SkillsUSA competition attire and chapter promotional supplies to help grow the CCHS SkillsUSA Chapter, according to Ed Coates, carpentry instructor at Cannon County High School.

“More students will now have a chance to compete at the local, state and national SkillsUSA competitions thanks to this generous grant,” Coates said. “Before we had very few funds for purchasing the required uniforms required for competition. By competing in state SkillsUSA competitions, CCHS students will also have the chance to help the community and win scholarships for their future education.”

Tennessee Technology Center at Murfreesboro gives a one-year scholarship to all Gold Medalists at the state SkillsUSA competiion held in Chattanooga each April.

“The grant in Woodbury represents Lowe’s commitment to career and technical education,” said Marshall Croom, chairperson of Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation. “By supporting schools like Cannon County High School we believe we are contributing to a cause that’s important to our customers and employees by helping provide improved learning environments and building stronger communities.”

SkillsUSA helps students discover and grow their career passions. As a nationwide partnership of students, instructors and industry working together, SkillsUSA works to ensure America has a skilled workforce. It helps every student excel. The nationwide career and technical education student organization annually serves more than 320,000 high school, college and postsecondary students-and their instructors-in technical, skilled, and service occupation instructional programs. Career and technical education is learning that words for America.
SkillsUSA has the active support of more than 1,100 corporations, trade associations, business, and labor unions at the national level. Over 10.5 million people have been annual members of SkillsUSA since its founding as the Vocational Industrial Clubs of America in 1965. SkillsUSA programs teach leadership, citizenship and character development to complement technical skill training. The organization emphasizes respect for the dignity of work, ethics, workmanship, scholarship, and safety.

Lowe’s supports the communities it serves through programs that focus on K-12 public education and community improvement projects. The company’s signature education grant program, Lowe’s Toolbox for Education®, has donated nearly $5 million in grants to K-12 public schools every year since its inception in 2006. Lowe’ Heroes employee volunteers support local community projects and our national nonprofit partners such as Habitat for Humanity and the American Red Cross. In 2011, Lowe’s and the Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation together contributed more than $32 million to support communities in the United States, Canada and Mexico.