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Houston named SkillsUSA ‘Advisor of the Year’
LEESBURG, Va. - A Missouri teacher is the 2021 SkillsUSA National Advisor of the Year.
The award was presented to Gloria Houston, a health sciences instructor at the New Madrid County (Mo.) R-1 Technical Skills Center, on June 24 at a virtual national recognition ceremony.
Houston loves teaching in the healthcare field where, as she put it, “you can make a difference.” She enjoys watching her students become great nurses, therapists and healthcare professionals.
Houston has a master’s degree in career and technical education leadership and administration and has been a registered nurse for over 20 years. She has taught for 11 years, including a stint with the Sikeston R-6 School District, and is a huge advocate for career and technical education and SkillsUSA.
Houston has won numerous awards, including Educator of the Year, Home Health Nurse of the Year, Volunteer of the Year and Woman of the Year.
She loves being an educator and advisor because it changes lives. She said, “when you help a student find what they are passionate about and watch them excel in it, nothing compares to it.” She believes that students can find themselves and their purpose through SkillsUSA community service projects, where they focus on others. “This is where change takes place,” she said.
One of her students describes her as “an amazing person who is always there for her community, students, teachers, administrators and peers.”
“Gloria is a SkillsUSA champion with a true passion for helping students develop their talents and leadership,” said Chelle Travis, executive director of SkillsUSA. “She supports quality programming for students built around the SkillsUSA Framework, which prepares them for further education or joining America’s skilled workforce.”
SkillsUSA created the Advisor of the Year award to recognize dedicated career and technical education instructors who serve as SkillsUSA advisors.
Each state selects a winner and then a regional winner is selected. The top five regional finalists then compete for Advisor of the Year.
Houston’s award for SkillsUSA Region 4 represents nine states including North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, Iowa and Minnesota.
About SkillsUSA
SkillsUSA is a nonprofit partnership of education and industry founded in 1965 to strengthen our nation’s skilled workforce. Driven by employer demand, SkillsUSA helps students develop necessary personal and workplace skills along with technical skills grounded in academics. This SkillsUSA Framework empowers every student to succeed at work and in life, while helping to close the skills gap in which millions of positions go unfilled. Through SkillsUSA’s championships program and curricula, employers have long ensured schools are teaching relevant technical skills, and with SkillsUSA’s new credentialing process, they can now assess how ready potential employees are for the job. SkillsUSA has members nationwide in high schools, colleges and middle schools, covering over 130 trade, technical and skilled service occupations, and is recognized by the U.S. departments of Education and Labor as integral to career and technical education. We have served nearly 13.8 million members since 1965. For more information: www.skillsusa.org