November 30, 2007

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and that the time off recharged your batteries a bit. It seems as if it’s been a marathon of activities since we started school, and it’s hard to believe we’re past Thanksgiving and on our way to Winter Break! But the results of all that activity have been very positive, so take time to stop, look back, and appreciate all you’ve accomplished.

I’ve had the opportunity these past couple of weeks to get out and visit some of our programs “afar” in our various satellite locations. It’s exciting to see all the developments in program growth and the outstanding work our students are doing. An overriding theme is their appreciation for the programs and the support OHP provides to them. I know that this positive perception of our school spills over to all of the students in our partner schools and is helping to raise interest in our Main Campus programs as well. Thanks to all of our satellite teachers for the quality programs you deliver!

We held our annual Perkins Stakeholders Meeting (an advisory group for our federal performance measures) last week, and I was so pleased with the turnout representing all of our counties and the feedback from the group. They fully support our efforts to “raise the bar” with our academics, are excited about industry-based skills assessments for our programs, and confirmed that we’re on the right track with our program offerings. Jack Reeser, currently Logan County Commissioner and possibly our next State Representative, specifically commended the positive direction Ohio Hi-Point has taken in increasing programs and aligning them closely with workforce needs. While I realize we’ve all lived through a lot of change the past several years and fully understand that change is just plain hard work, kudos to all of you for the tremendous strides you’ve made in providing a quality product to our students! People are noticing!

On Monday, I was given the opportunity to present to the Bellefontaine Rotary Club and share the DVD of testimonials from our students, parents, employers, and higher-education representatives. They really enjoyed the personal stories and had a lot of great questions about “what’s new” at Ohio Hi-Point. They were particularly impressed by our percentage of students going on to higher education, the partnerships with higher education that we’ve established, and the variety of career-tech and academic programs we offer. Little by little, we’re getting the word out and dispelling some of those “myths” about career-technical education! Thanks to Shane Haggerty and JoEtta Spain (Rotary members) for helping me field some of the questions.

Tuesday I visited our ProjectSEARCH program at Logan Acres nursing home and also heard a presentation on the program at our Board Meeting on Wednesday. This is our program for young adults with disabilities who have completed graduation requirements and are transitioning into competitive employment. I never cease to be amazed at what these young people can accomplish and how much they are appreciated by their co-workers! And they just beam with pride when telling me about their duties. It’s also so gratifying to see the social bonds they’re forming with one another in the class. Two graduates of the program presented at the Board Meeting and I wasn’t sure who was more proud—the graduates or their parents! Both of these young ladies are now employed in the community and have matured so much since I met them when they started the program. Mary Jo Alstaetter, program instructor, has brought this program from a dream to reality; and I’d encourage you all to arrange a visit with her and to help spread the word about the very valuable employees this program is producing!

On Wednesday, Nila Marquard, Deb Wortman, Shelly Swaney, Lynne Hall, Bob Lawrence, and I attended the West Central Ohio Tech Prep Consortium Administrator/Counselor Luncheon hosted by Honda of America Manufacturing. In addition to touring the plant that builds the Accord (which was absolutely amazing—1,800 Accords a day!!), we heard from their staffing department about the critical need for manufacturing maintenance employees. They described a partnership they’ve formed with several community colleges and OHP’s Adult Education division (the only career center in the group!), and they’ve also committed to assisting us in recruiting for our high-school programs which train students in this career pathway. We know we have the training they need; it’s a matter of getting the word out to students and parents that manufacturing is not a “dead end” job and the opportunities are tremendous. We’re happy to have Honda partner with us in this initiative. Special thanks to Bob Lawrence for driving the bus and transporting staff from several surrounding school districts to Honda—we were in good hands!

I hope you’ll all participate in the “Let It Snow” contest and take a guess at the date of our first snow day. I received special permission to participate, so I may be calling a snow day when it’s 50 degrees and sunny if that happens to be the day I picked!

Have a great weekend and stay warm!