April Kidd
New Advisor of the Year
Chattanooga State Community College
Expanding Access. Building Belonging.
April Kidd has transformed the experience of dual enrollment students by making SkillsUSA leadership, competition, and professional development more accessible, intentional, and connected.
As Lead Advisor at Chattanooga State Community College, Kidd has strengthened student preparation, recruited new members, established a dedicated dual enrollment chapter, and created experiences that help students see themselves as full members of the college community.
Her work demonstrates what a new advisor can accomplish by combining creativity, high expectations, personal support, and a clear commitment to the SkillsUSA mission.
Measurable Chapter Impact
Dual Enrollment Members
Kidd’s outreach and recruitment efforts helped build a growing community of dual enrollment SkillsUSA members.
One-Year Growth
Dual enrollment membership increased by 200% over the previous year.
Student Statesmen
Kidd helped guide eight students in earning the National Statesman Award during the 2025 Washington Leadership Training Institute.
Creating the Dualie Day Experience
Kidd developed Dualie Day to give dual enrollment students a complete, college-level SkillsUSA preparation experience. Rather than asking students to navigate competition requirements alone, she brought preparation, advising, professional development, and team building together in one coordinated day.
- SkillsUSA professional development testing
- One-on-one competitive-event advising
- Résumé development workshop
- Professional attire consultation
- Interactive competition review activities
- Professional student photographs
- College identification badges
- Lunch and campus connection
Bringing the SkillsUSA Framework to Life
Kidd does not treat SkillsUSA as a competition-only activity. She uses the SkillsUSA Framework to help students develop the confidence, professionalism, communication, and responsibility required for long-term career success.
Personal Skills
Individual coaching, regular check-ins, accountability, and encouragement help students strengthen confidence, self-motivation, and personal responsibility.
Workplace Skills
Résumé workshops, professional attire reviews, speaking practice, teamwork, and career-readiness activities prepare students to communicate and perform professionally.
Technical Skills Grounded in Academics
Contest preparation and individualized guidance help students connect academic learning with competitive events, career pathways, and real-world expectations.
Leadership Beyond the Chapter
Kidd first encountered SkillsUSA while volunteering as a state competition judge. She quickly recognized the organization’s value and became an active advisor at Chattanooga State.
In 2025, she attended the Washington Leadership Training Institute in Washington, D.C., earned the National Statesman Award, and supported eight students as they earned the same distinction.
Her work has also included developing a Career Quest grant proposal to expand student leadership, professional skill-building, career readiness, and long-term member engagement. She has served SkillsUSA as an advisor and volunteer judge at state and national events.
In a Student’s Words
“She helped me choose a competition based on my skill set and strengths, which made me feel far more prepared than I have in the past. She made the college and dual enrollment students feel like one big team.”
About April Kidd
April Brooke Kidd is an educator, scholar-practitioner, and leadership advocate whose career spans secondary education, community colleges, workforce development, nonprofit service, and higher education research.
She is a tenure-track faculty member at Chattanooga State Community College, where she serves as a SkillsUSA Lead Advisor and workforce development trainer. She teaches communication courses while mentoring students in public speaking, leadership development, competition preparation, and professional readiness.
Kidd is also a doctoral candidate in Leadership and Decision-Making at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Her work is grounded in the belief that education should be transformative and accessible, particularly for first-generation, dual enrollment, and workforce-bound students.
Across her work as a teacher, coach, advisor, researcher, and leader, Kidd remains focused on helping students find their voices, develop leadership capacity, and enter educational and professional environments with confidence and integrity.