These two days have given me time to dig through some piles on my desk and feel some sense of being caught up. It’s mighty quiet around here with all of you gone!
While it was a short week, it was an eventful one! On Tuesday at our staff breakfast, which many of you attended, we were thrilled to announce that our high-school performance measures for 2006/2007 placed us at #10 in the state, up from #37 just four years ago! We also announced that our Adult Education programs met 7 out of 9 high-performance targets for 2006/2007, and rankings will follow. This is huge, and I couldn’t be more proud of the accomplishments of this school. It has truly been a team effort—teaching staff, support staff, administrators, board members, and—of course—our students! Without everyone staying focused on improving performance, it just wouldn’t happen. It’s great (and important) to look back and celebrate. And it’s equally important to keep an eye on the horizon! The state and federal measures we’ll be accountable for will change significantly over the next few years, and we need to continue our excellent initiatives to assure our students’ continued success--I’m confident we will!
The community and our stakeholders have also taken notice of our success and are happy for us. Board President, Anne Reames, wrote:
Kim,
On behalf of the Board, please share our congratulations to all. It is heart-warming to see all work so hard to achieve goals. This one was hard earned. So pleased that I am a part of it all.
Anne Marie Reames
Warren Stevens, our Board Member from Urbana, wrote:
Kim,
I commend you and all of the Staff for this most recent accomplishment. Everyone has worked very hard to attain this new ranking.
Warren
Bill Cook, our Upper Scioto Valley Board Member, wrote:
Congrats to all involved ! I'm sure we will hear more about the road to success and the map for the future.
Bill
One of our community agency representatives wrote to Darlene Roll:
Darlene,
I just wanted to write and congratulate the Ohio Hi Point Career Center for being ranked 10th in the state! I heard that on the radio this morning and just wanted to pass on my congratulations!
Susan Downing
Tri-County Community Action
Community Relations Specialist
And finally, I heard the following from Candace Watson, Director of the Logan County Convention and Tourism Bureau:
Kim, Nila & Shane-
Congratulations on being ranked 10th in the state! I think it is important for the community to realize the positive progression that OHP has achieved. This is good news to all Logan County businesses owners seeking quality employees.
On Thursday morning, the current Union County Leadership Institute (which I’m participating in) visited Ohio Hi-Point as part of their Education Day. I didn’t serve on the committee planning the day and didn’t even suggest that they come here (although I would have!) But a member of the committee approached me and asked if the group could take a tour, and of course I jumped on the opportunity! Nila Marquard introduced five of our Student Ambassadors who talked to the group about why they came to OHP, what they like best about their experience here, what kind of extra-curricular activities they participate in, and what they have planned for the future. Due to our delay that day, we called on students other than those we had planned to use; but the substitutes stepped in and never missed a beat! Deb Wortman filled the group in on our Satellite Programs, and Darlene Chiles informed them about our Adult Education offerings. The students then gave them the “grand tour” of our main building. I just wanted to burst with pride in watching and listening to the student ambassadors as well as our students in labs! They were mature, articulate, and confident as they spoke; and it’s clear they value the experience they’ve been given here at OHP. Most of the visitors had never been to our campus, and I heard from several of them later in the day how impressed they were with our students, our facility, and our vast program offerings for both young people and adults. Thanks to Nila, Deb, and Darlene, as well as Pat Roby, Joel Staudter and Shelly Swaney, who assisted with tours. And special thanks to JoEtta Spain for her work in preparing our Student Ambassadors to represent us so well. All around, it was a class act!
I have to share one cute story from this event: One of the students who spoke, Andrew, told the group that he ended up at Ohio Hi-Point “by accident” because he got on the wrong bus at Graham during 10th grade visits. But he came up anyway and liked what he saw. Now he’s a half-day student here and very active in band, SkillsUSA, and our Student Ambassador program. Andrew—we’re glad you got on that wrong bus!!
I hope you all have a safe, warm, and relaxing weekend!
