An Oklahoman will lead the National SkillsUSA college/postsecondary division this year.
Rachel Worthen, Autry Technology Center, has been named the SkillsUSA national college/postsecondary president.
Worthen, who completed the welding program at Autry Tech and graduated from Chisholm High School in Enid in May, said she sees national office as a “platform for hope.”
“I truly believe life is built on hope,” she said. “If we stop hoping for a better tomorrow, we stop believing that change is possible. SkillsUSA gave me that hope, and because someone believed in me, I have the opportunity to believe in someone else.”
She was first inspired to run for national office at her first National Leadership and Skills Conference when she was 16, she said. The desire was confirmed during the 2025 Northwest District Leadership Conference, when she stepped in to help prepare leadership contestants.
Two of the contestants were women who were also studying welding, Worthen said. She spent time practicing speeches, preparing official dress and helping them find the confidence to go on stage.
“Watching them campaign reminded me so much of myself. They did not need someone extraordinary standing in front of them. They just needed someone who believed in them,” Worthen said; that’s when she told her adviser, Cheryl Cooksey, that she wanted to run for national office.
Worthen was elected as a national officer at the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference in Atlanta, Georgia in June, but her path to national office began in Oklahoma. The process began with screening and online training and then a national officer candidate election at the Oklahoma SkillsUSA Leadership and Skills Conference, said Renee Reed, Oklahoma CareerTech trade and industrial education program administrator.
After the national conference, the elected students go to a national officer training retreat where they go through a series of interviews and interact with the team. The officers are chosen for specific roles after that, said Lauren Holmes, Oklahoma SkillsUSA state adviser.
Worthen has been in SkillsUSA only two years, but has already served as a chapter officer and briefly as a state officer before being elected to national office. She finished in the top 10 in the national prepared speech contest and also competed on a welding fabrication team.
Some of her favorite memories, she said, were working under a welding hood next to her best friends and learning that leadership is as important in the shop as it is on the stage.
“Rachel is definitely a leader and an exceptional public speaker and represents Oklahoma well,” Holmes said.
Hope has been a part of Worthen’s SkillsUSA experience since the beginning.
“I joined SkillsUSA because I was looking for hope,” she said. “Growing up, I often felt like I did not quite fit anywhere. I was unsure of who I was, what I wanted to do or where I belonged. SkillsUSA became the first place where I realized that being different was not something to overcome. It was something to embrace. It gave me a place where my passion for leadership, public speaking, manufacturing and serving others could all exist together.”
That desire for a place to fit in is also what drew Worthen to welding at Autry Tech. When she toured the tech center in eighth grade, she said, the sparks, heat and creativity in the welding shop fascinated her, and she kept finding reasons to sneak back in. Although she was afraid she would not be good enough, she added, the welding shop felt like home.
Now a high school graduate, Worthen plans to return to Autry Tech to study CNC machining to become what she calls “a more complete manufacturing professional.”
“Understanding both welding and machining will help me become a stronger engineer by giving me a broader understanding of how products are designed, manufactured and brought to life. I know skilled professionals never stop learning,” she said.
After completing the CNC machining program, she plans to pursue a degree in welding engineering at LeTourneau University in Longview, Texas.
She will take the things she’s learned and the things she loves about SkillsUSA with her throughout her education and career.
“Whether I am designing blueprints, leading manufacturing teams, advocating for career and technical education or simply encouraging another young woman to believe she belongs in the skilled trades, I know my future will always involve serving others through manufacturing,” she said. “Wherever my career leads, I know I will love every minute of it.”
SkillsUSA, one of seven co-curricular CareerTech student organizations, is affiliated with trade and industrial education. The other six CTSOs are Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (family and consumer sciences education), FFA (agricultural education), DECA (marketing education), HOSA (health careers education), Business Professionals of America (business and information technology education) and Technology Student Association (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).
Oklahoma CareerTech: Oklahoma’s Workforce Leader
The Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education provides leadership and resources and assures standards of excellence for a comprehensive statewide system of career and technology education. The system offers programs and services in 29 technology center districts operating on 63 campuses, 394 PK-12 school districts, 20 skills centers campuses that include three juvenile facilities and 49 adult education and family literacy providers.
The agency is governed by the State Board of Career and Technology Education and works closely with the State Department of Education and the State Regents for Higher Education to provide a seamless educational system for all Oklahomans.
