Matt Mullins was born in Florida, moved to Virginia, and ended up in Illinois where he attended high school and college. His father is a foods buyer for Costco and his mother is a receptionist at a hospital. 

In high school, Matt had heard about SkillsUSA Illinois, but he was in a unique situation of being the first graduating class at his particular school. Unfortunately, that meant programs like SkillsUSA had not yet been established and chapters were not formed. It was while in college that Matt’s professor asked him to help chaperone their chapter at the SkillsUSA Illinois State Leadership and Skills Conference. 

While shadowing his professor, Matt was able to see just what the program had to offer students. He saw the values and motivation instilled in the participants and the incredible support and impact the advisors, mentors, judges, and authority roles imparted on the students. Matt never competed in competitions himself, but his experience as a chaperone and eventually an advisor gave him experiences that he still takes with him through his job today. 

Matt graduated from Eastern Illinois with a bachelor’s degree in Career in Technical Education with an emphasis in technology. He then accepted a position at Lockport High School where he began teaching many different courses, including Into to Autos, Electricity/ Electronics, Robotics Engineering, STEM Exploration, and Intro to Construction to name a few. As the school’s SkillsUSA Illinois chapter advisor, he now looks forward to taking his own students to the SkillsUSA Illinois State Leadership and Skills Conference where he hopes to have an impact on them just as he experienced.

Matt is appreciative of his early experience being able to observe the career competitions and get a behind-the-scenes look at how the state conference was run. From that, he brought many of the positive instruction methods, interaction techniques, and insights from competition management and judging to his current instructor position. He feels he is better able to prepare students for their own competitions by being able to see how they are facilitated. He is also able to gauge what things students may need to focus on beforehand versus having to wait to get their score. In this way, he feels he can offer his students better preparation and give them an edge. 

When asked about the benefits of a SkillsUSA Illinois membership, Matt believes there are many. He emphasizes the support aspect of the organization, stating participants can demonstrate skills in front of professionals who are in the industry they want to be a part of. These people are there to help, guide, and encourage students. SkillsUSA Illinois makes sure participants are capable of doing what is require to succeed, and to provide assistance and resources for any weak areas. All of these things provide the opportunities to get a foot in the industry door and start networking early so participants can expand those networks once they graduate and enter the business industry.

For schools, Matt believes SkillsUSA Illinois offers a unique opportunity for their students to grow outside the classroom. It allows schools to evaluate students in relation to real world experience. They are provided insights and practice obtaining job skills (hard skills) an well as leadership (soft skills); experiences they wouldn’t get any other way. When teachers are interested and invested, it deepens their connection with their students, and this can only benefit both parties. 

Participants can demonstrate skills in front of professionals who are in the industry they want to be a part of. 

Matt believes businesses benefit from SkillsUSA Illinois as well. They are able to reach young and new members of an industry who are at the earliest stages of their career. This allows them to shape them but also saves valuable training time as they already have a good, stable base. SkillsUSA Illinois participants have already proven they are engaged, motivated, and receptive to feedback. It is hard to find an organization which truly benefits so many entities at the same time.