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ERIC BRADY | The Roanoke Times

Brian Luckett, a junior at Franklin County High School, was elected to be the SkillsUSA National Region II vice president.

Brian Luckett has been class president for five years. While that's been good practice for the aspiring politician, he's landed a gig that will get him even more experience.

Late last month, the Franklin County High School junior was elected to be the SkillsUSA National Region II vice president, but not before being named Virginia State Region II vice president and representing the commonwealth as a delegate at the SkillsUSA national conference.

But the 16-year-old is modest and says he's just your average kid -- he's just waiting for his driver's license.

"I play basketball for the school; I love to play sports outside of school," he said.

"I really do like politics, which is kind of what got me involved in SkillsUSA, but I'm just like any other normal kid."

As a vice president, Brian is responsible for overseeing what SkillsUSA, a career-building organization, does. He'll attend competitions and try to increase membership and revenue in region II, which constitutes Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee and Puerto Rico.

Brian just became involved with SkillsUSA this academic year. It was through a television production class that he found out about the organization and he attributes his success to his teacher.

"It's really Mr. [Ken] Kilinsky that's taken me to everything so far," Brian said about his school's SkillsUSA faculty sponsor. "Without him, really, I wouldn't be where I am now."

While Brian is involved with the television (video) production division of the organization, SkillsUSA has 81 contests.

"From automotive to writing to culinary to brick laying," as Brian put it.

The national organization, which used to be known as the Vocational Industrial Clubs of America, has more than 300,000 members join annually. The nonprofit organization's main goal is to serve teachers and students, both high school and college level, who are preparing for careers in technical and skilled service industries.

The organization "tries to teach you basic skills that you're going to need in the work force: how to communicate with others, write a resume, tie a tie," said the young man about what he referred to as "soft skills." "That's really what SkillsUSA does."

Brian is thinking about a career in sports broadcasting before becoming a politician, which, along with coaching basketball, is what he really wants to do.

Politicians, to this young man, make a difference in their communities and the world.

"They lead the country, they give back," said Brian, who said his political inspiration was his grandfather, who also wanted to get into politics as a young man. "It's just something I've always wanted to do: be a leader."