CareerTech board hears SkillsUSA, DECA and BPA year-in-review as students head to nationals

Miss Goff, SkillsUSA state adviser, told the Oklahoma CareerTech State Board the organization’s membership and competition activity have rebounded and showcased the state’s contest successes. "We are up to 15,554 members," she said, and she reported the state conference (April 23–25 in Tulsa) drew more than 2,000 competitors and roughly 4,000 attendees. She described industry partners that support judging and prizes, from Lowe’s to tool suppliers and unions, and recounted recent state winners in welding and sculpture.

The Division’s program manager, Mark Birch, and state adviser Miss Paxton reviewed two career and technical student organizations (CTSOs): DECA and BPA. Birch summarized the division structure and regional coverage and turned most of the presentation to Paxton, who gave a year-in-review for DECA, noting 1,529 high-school members in Oklahoma and the growth of collegiate DECA. "We are back to our pre COVID numbers," Paxton said, adding that Oklahoma sent three top‑10 international finalists to the DECA international competition and now counts a national executive officer from the University of Oklahoma.

Paxton highlighted initiatives to strengthen adviser training and student performance. She described an "Aim for Glass" five-part training initiative aimed at increasing international competitiveness and said Oklahoma City University joined as a platinum sponsor, providing scholarship awards for state competition winners. Paxton also outlined plans to expand chapter growth and to pilot state competitions for emerging courses such as drone tech and 3‑D animation.

BPA results were also presented: Paxton said BPA now includes about 6,120 members across 253 chapters statewide and reported national finalists and awards in multiple divisions. Presenters emphasized that many contests require industry-certified judges and that industry partners often help drive new program creation — for example, an insurance-representative pathway was piloted at a single center and scaled to four centers in one year after employer engagement.

Board members asked how CTSOs and CareerTech programs are funded and how new programs are chosen. Paxton and Birch said decisions are a mix of local instructor initiative, agency framework approval, and industry partnership, and noted that some programs can be created and piloted at the state level to match local demand. The presentations concluded with board appreciation and invitations for members to attend upcoming state events and the national competitions in June.