Our Town Spotlight on Seminole ISD SkillsUSA program

SEMINOLE, Texas (KJTV) - Seminole ISD is known for outstanding vision, leadership and work ethic. They’re known as the Indians.

Superintendent Kyle Lynch explains that their mascot is much more than just a name. In Seminole they talk about one tribe, finding unity even within diversity.

“We wanted our vision to be about one tribe, in pursuit of excellence,” Lynch said. “When we think about that idea of excellence, we think about striving for certain qualities. Qualities that...that prepare [them] for success, quite frankly.”

The third-year superintendent wants to prepare his students academically. And that’s much more than just good test scores. One way to do that is through the SkillsUSA program.

Tommy Spence is the automotive teacher, but he does double-duty. He also works with students, to teach skills they can use after graduation.

“It helps them improve personal skills and workplace skills, that they need to succeed outside of school, and get their career lined up,” Spence said. “They can take classes here in Seminole, like automotive, welding, cosmetology, nursing, we have law enforcement. We have a wide range of stuff here.”

Students compete against other schools. That competition was a challenge this year due to COVID. The competition was done virtually. But that didn’t stop Seminole from being very successful: first in district, first in state, and second in nationals.

“Our project was community service, based on our bike restoration project and our canned food drive that we’ve held every year for the past 21 years,” Brody Crawford said. “This carried through in a way that we had to compose it into a notebook, a slide show and a seven- to 10-minute orientation as well.”

SkillsUSA is not the only way they teach life skills to their students.

“Our athletic programs, our arts programs...we’ve got an award-winning choir program,” Superintendent Lynch said. “So there are many places for students to plug in. And, really, those are opportunities to learn all of those skills.

Now you know why Kyle Lynch says he’s not only the superintendent of Seminole schools, he is the proud superintendent.

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