TGIF October 18, 2007

Welcome to my first blog posting! Thank you for visiting, and thanks to Shane Haggerty, Communications Coordinator, for getting me started on my first blogging experience. It really was a piece of cake!

I’ve been playing “catch up” ever since I got back from vacation, and there’s been a lot of good news to catch up on. From reading volumes of e-mails and snail mail upon my return, I can see that I missed a lot!

I’m told we had over 100 grandparents here for our Grandparents Day on October 3—what a great turnout! And this event got terrific coverage in the Bellefontaine Examiner with a really nice front-page photo! Thanks to Darlene Roll, JoEtta Spain, and Amanda Blackburn for all their efforts in organizing this very worthwhile event. Not only did we honor our students’ grandparents, but we enlisted a whole new group of “ambassadors” to spread the good word about Ohio Hi-Point!

I was also gone during Spirit Week; but I could tell from the e-mails outlining the week’s activities that it was surely a lot of fun! What a shame I couldn’t be here—I’m just sure I could have won that “Worst School Photo” contest! (How could my mother ever have let me leave the house looking like that?!?) I know a lot of you worked hard to make it a special week for our students, and I’m sure they had a great time.

I have to share a really cute story. I walked into the Main Building one morning just before I left on vacation and saw a student learning through the window at the front counter giving Joyce Furlong, our Attendance Secretary, a hug. I asked Joyce later what she had done to deserve such an honor, and she said the student was thanking her because she got ahold of his grandparents so quickly. I’m not sure what all the circumstances were, but I thought it was just great that a student took time to express his gratitude so sincerely. You made a difference for that young man, Joyce!

JoEtta Spain, our Recruiting and Placement Coordinator, has been busy taking students out to our partner schools to share their experiences with their students. She wrote to me after her visit to Marysville:

Kim, as I was watching our students present today at Marysville, I thought to myself how proud I was of them. The students do such an outstanding job. They believe in their programs and have a love for the Career Center. Each year I see the quality of our students grow and this year it really shows. I wanted to thank you for allowing me to be their advisor. It has truly been an honor to work with such fine young adults. They are our voice for recruitment. When we went to Marysville, they cautioned us that they were not going to bring all the students as they had in the past and we would not have many sign up to attend. We have been there for two days and did four sessions. After the students and I were finished, we brought back 215 registrations for Career Days out of 310 students we talked with. I think that is really great and says a lot about the recruitment job done by the students.

That does say a lot about our students, JoEtta, and we should all be proud of them! Thanks for working with them and giving them this opportunity.

Ben Stahler, our former Board President, stopped by last week to have lunch with me in the Inn. He thoroughly enjoyed the food and service provided by our Culinary Arts Students, and he expressed several times how good it was to be back at OHP. He stated how much he appreciates everyone going out of their way to greet him when he’s in the building and taking time to tell him about what’s going on. He said this isn’t something he necessarily experiences in all schools. It was obvious to him that we take a lot of pride in what we do! Thanks to everyone for making him feel welcome.

It’s election time, and I’m sure a lot of you have been following the candidates for various positions. Annette Bertke, Supply Chain Management Teacher in Urbana, shared with me a clipping from the Urbana Daily Citizen in which Al Evans, candidate for City Council, was quoted in answering a question about how to bring good-paying jobs to Urbana:

Currently, we’re working with Ohio Hi-Point to bring some workforce development to the area, utilizing the old armory. Hopefully, with a trained work force, we’ll be able to attract high-tech, high-paying jobs to the area. . . Individuals trained at Ohio Hi-Point’s local satellite can be ready for a high-tech employer that wants to come to town.

How about that?!? We’re now considered “clout” by the candidates as they campaign! On the same topic, I attended the Champaign Co. Community Improvement Corporation Economic Development Summit on Wednesday evening. At least five (I lost count after a while!) local leaders approached me to express their support of our adult education and high-school programs both at the new satellites and Main Campus. They really do “get it” when it comes to understanding the impact our programs have on the local economy. I hope you all puff up with pride at this recognition of the important role you play every day—I know I do!

I’d like to share a new website which has been developed to provide labor market information for Ohio. It’s really an improvement on other sites we’ve relied on in the past. This site focuses on high-skill, high-demand, high-wage jobs, it’s up to date, and it’s easy to navigate. You can “slice and dice” the statistics related to future labor market demand in hundreds of occupations as well as training programs available in each career field. Ohio is one of only three states featured on the website. The URL is www.occsupplydemand.org Take a look!

Have a great weekend and enjoy this beautiful fall weather—the snow will be flying soon enough!