Well, the day that many of you have been waiting for is finally here! Any even those of us who work some over Winter Break are looking forward to a little down time coming soon. I think we all could use some rest—including our students! But I know you’re also aware that it’s a very stressful time for many of our students and you’ve been very sensitive to that. They may not admit it—but many of them miss you and the supportive environment you provide while they’re away.
There’s never a good day for bad weather to hit, but our calamity day Wednesday seemed to hit at a particularly inconvenient time. Of course, a lot of testing got thrown off schedule; and I know there were a lot of holiday activities planned. But one planned event came off without a hitch regardless of the weather, and I think this story is a perfect example of the work ethic we instill in our students and the respect that our staff earns from those students.
Our annual Board Christmas Dinner, prepared and served by our Culinary Arts Students, was scheduled for Wednesday evening prior to the Board Meeting. When I had to cancel school, I didn’t call Donna Beale, Culinary Arts Teacher, right away because I thought she might want to enjoy a couple extra hours of sleep. I figured I could always order pizza for the Board! But soon Donna was on the phone to me telling me that her students who had worked so hard to plan the dinner were text-messaging her like crazy asking her what was going to happen, telling her they still wanted to go ahead with the dinner, and begging her to let them come in. She and I talked and decided that, if they were willing to put in that effort and felt that strongly about it, we certainly didn’t want to stand in their way! So later that afternoon, 11 of our Culinary Arts students (and Mrs. Beale!) arrived to begin cooking, setting up, and decorating for the dinner. I can’t tell you how proud I was of that group of kids. How many high school students do you know that would give up an afternoon and evening when their school was closed in order to carry out such a commitment? Our Board of Education was also tremendously impressed and appreciative, both with the students’ commitment and the wonderful meal. My heartfelt thanks to Donna and her students!
Thursday afternoon, Urbana University hosted an open house here in the Sloan Inn to bring together educational leaders in Logan County and make them aware of the opportunities for our students both on their Urbana campus and here at OHP. University staff outlined several fantastic new scholarship opportunities specifically for Logan County high-school graduates. Nancy Sweeney, Director of UU’s Nursing Programs, noted for the group that two graduates of their nursing program are employed here at Ohio Hi-Point—Lori Ludwig, Adult Ed. HIT Program Coordinator, and Mari Stormer, Adult Ed. HIT Instructor. UU President, Dr. Steve Jones, expressed publicly his appreciation for allowing his institution to have a “home base” here, and he is excited about expanding partnerships with our county schools.
Thursday evening was another great highlight of the week—I had the privilege of giving the welcome at our Adult Education Health Information Technology graduation ceremony. Twelve adults completed the program and received their certificates. As is always the case, there were many children of the graduates in the audience. The front row was entirely filled with youngsters who cheered on their moms. I couldn’t tell if they were more excited when their respective mothers walked across the stage or when it was announced that cookies and punch would be served afterward—but their enthusiasm was fun to watch! Thanks to Lori Ludwig, Program Coordinator, and Instructors Mari Stormer, Tanya Knief, and Alyce Kalb for the invitation and for their dedication to helping these students achieve their dreams.
We’re often reminded what a small world it is, and one of our staff members shared with me one such reminder this week. I received notification that our Early Childhood Education Program had passed its licensing inspection with flying colors, and I made a point to congratulate Angie Walls, ECE teacher. Angie shared with me that the very next day the same inspector (who is known to be pretty tough) visited a program run by her sister (but the inspector didn’t know it was Angie’s sister). Her sister shared with Angie that the inspector talked about having visited OHP the day before and just went on and on about what a top-notch, high-quality program Ohio Hi-Point runs. Having four sisters of my own, I know that sometimes a little competitiveness and jealousy can creep up when one of us get a little too much praise! So Angie’s sister finally had to tell the inspector that Angie was her sister and that she knows all about our program. Hey, there’s nothing wrong with setting the standard! Congratulations again to Angie, her aides Stacy Colwell, Barb Hopkins, and Deb Vermillion, as well as our ECE students for the great job they do every day to provide top-notch childcare.
I’ll close with a wish to all of you for a beautiful holiday season. I got a free box of Christmas cards from a magazine I subscribe to, Real Simple. (I love that magazine—it’s like Better Homes and Gardens for Dummies!) The verse on the card says, “Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are.” While we could worry ourselves crazy with all that’s going on in our world, I hope you’ll all take time to relax, rejuvenate, enjoy family and other loved ones, and appreciate how good things really are.
We’ll see you in the New Year!
Friday, December 19, 2008
Friday, December 12, 2008
December 12, 2008
Someone mentioned yesterday that Christmas was two weeks away—holy cow! I had planned to do some wrapping this weekend, but I just realized I don’t have anything to wrap yet! I hope you’re all more organized than I am—I know you’re every bit as busy.
Last Friday evening I attended a reception for the December graduates at Urbana University. I have to share one really neat story. There was a gentleman who stood out in particular who was graduating with a degree in Business. He was so excited he just couldn’t sit down and enjoy the refreshments. He told me he will turn 60 in three months and plans to continue in his current job, and he feels his degree will make him a better employee. What an inspiration! Here’s a man who truly embraces being a lifelong learner.
Tuesday afternoon I attended grant presentations by the Union County Business-Education Workforce Team (through the Chamber of Commerce). The grants are presented for projects that tie academic instruction to real-world applications. (That’s what we do best, isn’t it!) We’ve received these grants in the past, and this year three of our teachers received grants! Congratulations to Sally Andrews, Health Technologies Teacher at Marysville; Ben Ludlow, Construction Trades Teacher at Marysville; and Cheryl Hess, Biomedical Sciences Teacher at Marysville and Urbana. Sally’s project involves students becoming certified in EKG, Cheryl’s project will provide equipment to study human body systems and view autopsies and surgeries, and Ben’s project will involve building shelving for a local community agency. What great opportunities for our students!
Wednesday morning was our Secondary Stakeholders Meeting where we invite key business and community leaders to give us input on our work toward meeting the goals of Perkins legislation. We had what I and the H.S. administrative team felt was one of the best discussions ever. In a nutshell, we’re performing well, we have room for improvement, and we have plans in place to reach our goals. And we need to continue to counter the stigma career-tech has carried for over 30 years and make sure our communities are aware of the college-prep opportunities we offer. Of course, much of our discussion centered on the current economic situation and specifically the role career-tech can play in transitioning displaced workers and giving our high-school students every advantage in this tough job market. We’ve always been seen as a tremendous workforce development asset to our communities; but it was very apparent we’re now being seen as an even more critical solution to workforce needs. Many thanks to Joel Staudter, Shelly Swaney, and Deb Wortman for being there to share with our Stakeholders!
I know a lot of our programs are conducting community service programs during the holidays to help our less fortunate families. Doug Limes and his Building Maintenance Program are conducting a Toys for Tots drive, and it was fun to go toy shopping for the first time in many years (my nieces and nephews are all high-school age or older now!) Also, our ProjectSEARCH is collecting gifts for the holiday gift shop at Logan Acres and will be playing Santa’s Elves this Friday and next. Thanks to Doug, Mary Jo, and all the rest of you who are teaching your students to give back!
Shane Haggerty, Communications Coordinator, recently shared with me that he had been asked me to accept the role of V.P. of Professional Development for the National School Public Relations Association/Ohio for the remainder of this year. Shane will take over the professional development planning for the organization for the rest of this school year, including being in charge of NSPRA/Ohio’s spring conference. Shane will be one of two CTE professionals on the board (the other being Lisa Riegel from Delaware Area Career Center who serves as V.P. of Communications. Congratulations, Shane, and thanks for representing CTE so well at the state level!
I was in Walgreens the other evening buying batteries (when I should have been Christmas shopping so I’d have something to wrap!), and I ran into Carmen Scott, a local citizen and volunteer who was very involved with the Logan County Planning Commission when our career center was established. We talked a little bit about the presentation I had made to the Logan-Union-Champaign Planning Commission (as it’s called now) a few weeks ago about OHP. He told me his work in helping to establish our school is one the proudest accomplishments of his career because of all the lives this school has touched in such a positive way over the years. Now that’s a compliment I couldn’t help but pass along to all of you!
Many of you know I’m a huge proponent of networking in order to be successful in our work, and I often encourage our staff to “steal shamelessly” when they see best practices in other schools. I’ll end this week with a quote I came across from Woodrow Wilson: "I not only use all the brains I have, but all that I can borrow." Great advice!
Have a great weekend!
Last Friday evening I attended a reception for the December graduates at Urbana University. I have to share one really neat story. There was a gentleman who stood out in particular who was graduating with a degree in Business. He was so excited he just couldn’t sit down and enjoy the refreshments. He told me he will turn 60 in three months and plans to continue in his current job, and he feels his degree will make him a better employee. What an inspiration! Here’s a man who truly embraces being a lifelong learner.
Tuesday afternoon I attended grant presentations by the Union County Business-Education Workforce Team (through the Chamber of Commerce). The grants are presented for projects that tie academic instruction to real-world applications. (That’s what we do best, isn’t it!) We’ve received these grants in the past, and this year three of our teachers received grants! Congratulations to Sally Andrews, Health Technologies Teacher at Marysville; Ben Ludlow, Construction Trades Teacher at Marysville; and Cheryl Hess, Biomedical Sciences Teacher at Marysville and Urbana. Sally’s project involves students becoming certified in EKG, Cheryl’s project will provide equipment to study human body systems and view autopsies and surgeries, and Ben’s project will involve building shelving for a local community agency. What great opportunities for our students!
Wednesday morning was our Secondary Stakeholders Meeting where we invite key business and community leaders to give us input on our work toward meeting the goals of Perkins legislation. We had what I and the H.S. administrative team felt was one of the best discussions ever. In a nutshell, we’re performing well, we have room for improvement, and we have plans in place to reach our goals. And we need to continue to counter the stigma career-tech has carried for over 30 years and make sure our communities are aware of the college-prep opportunities we offer. Of course, much of our discussion centered on the current economic situation and specifically the role career-tech can play in transitioning displaced workers and giving our high-school students every advantage in this tough job market. We’ve always been seen as a tremendous workforce development asset to our communities; but it was very apparent we’re now being seen as an even more critical solution to workforce needs. Many thanks to Joel Staudter, Shelly Swaney, and Deb Wortman for being there to share with our Stakeholders!
I know a lot of our programs are conducting community service programs during the holidays to help our less fortunate families. Doug Limes and his Building Maintenance Program are conducting a Toys for Tots drive, and it was fun to go toy shopping for the first time in many years (my nieces and nephews are all high-school age or older now!) Also, our ProjectSEARCH is collecting gifts for the holiday gift shop at Logan Acres and will be playing Santa’s Elves this Friday and next. Thanks to Doug, Mary Jo, and all the rest of you who are teaching your students to give back!
Shane Haggerty, Communications Coordinator, recently shared with me that he had been asked me to accept the role of V.P. of Professional Development for the National School Public Relations Association/Ohio for the remainder of this year. Shane will take over the professional development planning for the organization for the rest of this school year, including being in charge of NSPRA/Ohio’s spring conference. Shane will be one of two CTE professionals on the board (the other being Lisa Riegel from Delaware Area Career Center who serves as V.P. of Communications. Congratulations, Shane, and thanks for representing CTE so well at the state level!
I was in Walgreens the other evening buying batteries (when I should have been Christmas shopping so I’d have something to wrap!), and I ran into Carmen Scott, a local citizen and volunteer who was very involved with the Logan County Planning Commission when our career center was established. We talked a little bit about the presentation I had made to the Logan-Union-Champaign Planning Commission (as it’s called now) a few weeks ago about OHP. He told me his work in helping to establish our school is one the proudest accomplishments of his career because of all the lives this school has touched in such a positive way over the years. Now that’s a compliment I couldn’t help but pass along to all of you!
Many of you know I’m a huge proponent of networking in order to be successful in our work, and I often encourage our staff to “steal shamelessly” when they see best practices in other schools. I’ll end this week with a quote I came across from Woodrow Wilson: "I not only use all the brains I have, but all that I can borrow." Great advice!
Have a great weekend!
Thursday, December 4, 2008
December 5, 2008
I couldn’t help but notice this past week how many of us are sniffling, sneezing, and coughing. The news media has even talked about how many people are sick with sinus infections and upper respiratory problems in our region. I’m not sure what it is about this year that is making us all more susceptible! (Amy McCarthy tells me we all just need to keep our hands away from our faces!) I appreciate all your hard work in spite of not feeling so well.
As we came back from Thanksgiving weekend, I couldn’t quite get used to the idea that it’s December already—it kind of snuck up on me. And the winter activities are picking up. Tuesday I attended the Satellite Holiday Luncheon and had a rare opportunity to talk with all our satellite teachers in one place at one time! It did make me stop to think how those programs have grown so much over a relatively short time and what a great team of teachers we’ve assembled to deliver these programs in our partner school districts and communities. I appreciated the invitation!
Tuesday evening I attended an alumni meeting for Union County Leadership Institute. It was good to re-connect with my class and other classes that have gone through the program. All of the four county leadership programs I’ve completed have proven to be a great network of people to help me make connections for business/industry input, field trips and experiences for our students, and support for Ohio Hi-Point in general. We’re fortunate to work in a region that has these programs available. Two different people at the meeting made a point to speak to me and commend Ohio Hi-Point for our work in Union County (specifically our acquisition of the Union County ABLE program). It was nice to have this recognition from leaders in the community!
At the Logan County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors meeting on Wednesday, Natalie Comer, Economic Development Coordinator, gave an overview of the report the County received from a consultant group who had reviewed our “readiness” for attracting new businesses. She said one of the factors they look at is “workforce readiness,” and I asked her how they determine that. She said they take into account the educational levels of current workers and potential displaced workers from other businesses that have or plan to close. While Logan County struggles in this area, she said it is certainly a “plus” when we can demonstrate rapid-response training programs such as we have at Ohio Hi-Point in our Adult Education Department, as well as the future well-educated workforce we are developing by sending so many of our high-school students on to higher education. Just another example of the value we add to our community!
Thursday morning started off with my three hours of required annual public records training through the State Attorney General’s Office (Yawn! Thanks to Lisa McCullough for sitting through that with me!) But the day finished with what had to be the highlight of the week—our “Taste of the Future” Career Preview/Open House! The committee tried a lot of new things this year, including culinary delights from local restaurants and our own Culinary Arts Program. I finally had to make myself leave the cafeteria area after a walking taco, pizza, and four desserts! But the event really lived up to its name—we had a “taste” of something for everyone, and the community came out take advantage of it! Those that attended really seemed to be there with a purpose—whether to learn about adult education job training programs, get information about local colleges, visit our high-school program labs, or even get a flu shot! It was just great (as always) to visit the various areas and hear our staff and students sharing enthusiastically about what we offer. Shane Haggerty was taking lots of photos, so I know he’ll post those for you to view soon. Many, many thanks to Shane and his committee who worked so hard to put this wonderful event together, to JoEtta Spain and our Student Ambassadors for taking such good care of our visitors, and to all our staff members who gave up their evenings to be here. It will pay big dividends, no doubt!
The Christmas cards are starting to come in from our colleagues at other schools, agencies, and businesses. We received one from Miami Valley Career Technology Center that had a really neat quote on it that I wanted to share:
As we came back from Thanksgiving weekend, I couldn’t quite get used to the idea that it’s December already—it kind of snuck up on me. And the winter activities are picking up. Tuesday I attended the Satellite Holiday Luncheon and had a rare opportunity to talk with all our satellite teachers in one place at one time! It did make me stop to think how those programs have grown so much over a relatively short time and what a great team of teachers we’ve assembled to deliver these programs in our partner school districts and communities. I appreciated the invitation!
Tuesday evening I attended an alumni meeting for Union County Leadership Institute. It was good to re-connect with my class and other classes that have gone through the program. All of the four county leadership programs I’ve completed have proven to be a great network of people to help me make connections for business/industry input, field trips and experiences for our students, and support for Ohio Hi-Point in general. We’re fortunate to work in a region that has these programs available. Two different people at the meeting made a point to speak to me and commend Ohio Hi-Point for our work in Union County (specifically our acquisition of the Union County ABLE program). It was nice to have this recognition from leaders in the community!
At the Logan County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors meeting on Wednesday, Natalie Comer, Economic Development Coordinator, gave an overview of the report the County received from a consultant group who had reviewed our “readiness” for attracting new businesses. She said one of the factors they look at is “workforce readiness,” and I asked her how they determine that. She said they take into account the educational levels of current workers and potential displaced workers from other businesses that have or plan to close. While Logan County struggles in this area, she said it is certainly a “plus” when we can demonstrate rapid-response training programs such as we have at Ohio Hi-Point in our Adult Education Department, as well as the future well-educated workforce we are developing by sending so many of our high-school students on to higher education. Just another example of the value we add to our community!
Thursday morning started off with my three hours of required annual public records training through the State Attorney General’s Office (Yawn! Thanks to Lisa McCullough for sitting through that with me!) But the day finished with what had to be the highlight of the week—our “Taste of the Future” Career Preview/Open House! The committee tried a lot of new things this year, including culinary delights from local restaurants and our own Culinary Arts Program. I finally had to make myself leave the cafeteria area after a walking taco, pizza, and four desserts! But the event really lived up to its name—we had a “taste” of something for everyone, and the community came out take advantage of it! Those that attended really seemed to be there with a purpose—whether to learn about adult education job training programs, get information about local colleges, visit our high-school program labs, or even get a flu shot! It was just great (as always) to visit the various areas and hear our staff and students sharing enthusiastically about what we offer. Shane Haggerty was taking lots of photos, so I know he’ll post those for you to view soon. Many, many thanks to Shane and his committee who worked so hard to put this wonderful event together, to JoEtta Spain and our Student Ambassadors for taking such good care of our visitors, and to all our staff members who gave up their evenings to be here. It will pay big dividends, no doubt!
The Christmas cards are starting to come in from our colleagues at other schools, agencies, and businesses. We received one from Miami Valley Career Technology Center that had a really neat quote on it that I wanted to share:
“Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.”
I love that!
Finally,
· Have a great weekend,
· Stay warm,
· If you’re healthy, stay healthy,
· If you’re not, get well soon!
Friday, November 21, 2008
November 21, 2008
TGIF November 21, 2008
Good frigid Friday to all of you! I hope you’ve all been able to dig out your winter coats, gloves, hats, etc. I always seem to have a hard time finding that stuff when the cold weather hits. But it’s like finding old friends to help get through these winter months.
If I had to give this week a theme, I’d have to say it’s been a “week of validation” for Ohio Hi-Point and the value we provide to our region. Monday I attended a luncheon at Clark State Community College (along with Sharon Halter, ABLE Coordinator, and Amy Main, Adult Education Health Occupations Coordinator) to meet with Clark State’s accreditation team. This team of representatives from all over the country wanted to hear how Clark State has partnered with us to serve students. We were able to share how we’ve worked with Clark State in our Tech Prep programs to give many students a head-start toward college, how they’ve been leaders in facilitating dual enrollment classes for us, how they have co-located on our campus to bring higher education to Logan County, how our Adult Education Practical Nursing Program is pioneering a blended-curriculum program in Marysville with Clark State, and how we are partnering with them to bring public safety services training to Logan Co. Afterward, I received a personal thank-you from David Devier, VP of Academic and Student Affairs at Clark State, for sharing and for the tremendous cooperation he has received from my staff on all these initiatives—he couldn’t say enough about the professionalism of all of you in the high-school, adult education, and even facilities and grounds for making them feel so at home here. Thanks to all of you for living up to the high bar we’ve set!
On Wednesday, Darlene Chiles, Adult Education Director, attended a meeting with the Logan County Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development as a member of a stakeholder team convened to position Logan County competitively as businesses look to locate here. Prior to the meeting, she had given the visiting consultants a tour of our facilities. She shared with me and our Board on Wednesday evening that the visiting team just couldn’t say enough at the stakeholders meeting about what an asset Ohio Hi-Point is to Logan County; as a matter of fact, they cited us as the number one asset to the County in attracting new businesses. How about that!! (Darlene said it was actually a little embarrassing that they kept raving about us at the meeting, but of course she didn’t stop them!) I think it’s important for all of you to hear examples such as this when outside sources come to our region and recognize the quality educational opportunities we provide. We expect a lot of ourselves, we deliver, and people are noticing!
Thursday evening I had the opportunity to present to the Logan-Union-Champaign Regional Planning Commission at their annual meeting. This group included about 140 county commissioners, county engineers, elected officials, and other leaders from this three-county region. Jack Reser, Logan County Commissioner, had asked me to speak because we serve this same region. I agreed because I thought it was a perfect fit! Jack also shared with the group as he introduced me how very impressed the visiting consulting team for the Chamber had been with our facility. The theme of my presentation was the history of our site in Bellefontaine, the establishment of the Ohio Hi-Point Joint Vocational School District, and our impact on the region. I have to say I had a lot of fun digging through some old records to learn more about how our District was established. Did you know the initial 3-mill, 5-year levy to establish the District, initially placed on the ballot in November of 1970, failed twice before it was finally passed in May of 1972? I didn’t! Reading through those old leather-bound board minutes from the meetings of our original Board of Education helped me to understand that it took a very dedicated group of persistent pioneers to make our school a reality. We all owe them a tremendous debt, and I’m sure they would all be proud (or are proud if they’re still with us) of how far we’ve come in our first 35 years! Many thanks to Robert Walker and Shane Haggerty for their assistance in helping me put this presentation together.
I understand there’s some big football game going on this weekend? Have a great weekend and stay warm!
Good frigid Friday to all of you! I hope you’ve all been able to dig out your winter coats, gloves, hats, etc. I always seem to have a hard time finding that stuff when the cold weather hits. But it’s like finding old friends to help get through these winter months.
If I had to give this week a theme, I’d have to say it’s been a “week of validation” for Ohio Hi-Point and the value we provide to our region. Monday I attended a luncheon at Clark State Community College (along with Sharon Halter, ABLE Coordinator, and Amy Main, Adult Education Health Occupations Coordinator) to meet with Clark State’s accreditation team. This team of representatives from all over the country wanted to hear how Clark State has partnered with us to serve students. We were able to share how we’ve worked with Clark State in our Tech Prep programs to give many students a head-start toward college, how they’ve been leaders in facilitating dual enrollment classes for us, how they have co-located on our campus to bring higher education to Logan County, how our Adult Education Practical Nursing Program is pioneering a blended-curriculum program in Marysville with Clark State, and how we are partnering with them to bring public safety services training to Logan Co. Afterward, I received a personal thank-you from David Devier, VP of Academic and Student Affairs at Clark State, for sharing and for the tremendous cooperation he has received from my staff on all these initiatives—he couldn’t say enough about the professionalism of all of you in the high-school, adult education, and even facilities and grounds for making them feel so at home here. Thanks to all of you for living up to the high bar we’ve set!
On Wednesday, Darlene Chiles, Adult Education Director, attended a meeting with the Logan County Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development as a member of a stakeholder team convened to position Logan County competitively as businesses look to locate here. Prior to the meeting, she had given the visiting consultants a tour of our facilities. She shared with me and our Board on Wednesday evening that the visiting team just couldn’t say enough at the stakeholders meeting about what an asset Ohio Hi-Point is to Logan County; as a matter of fact, they cited us as the number one asset to the County in attracting new businesses. How about that!! (Darlene said it was actually a little embarrassing that they kept raving about us at the meeting, but of course she didn’t stop them!) I think it’s important for all of you to hear examples such as this when outside sources come to our region and recognize the quality educational opportunities we provide. We expect a lot of ourselves, we deliver, and people are noticing!
Thursday evening I had the opportunity to present to the Logan-Union-Champaign Regional Planning Commission at their annual meeting. This group included about 140 county commissioners, county engineers, elected officials, and other leaders from this three-county region. Jack Reser, Logan County Commissioner, had asked me to speak because we serve this same region. I agreed because I thought it was a perfect fit! Jack also shared with the group as he introduced me how very impressed the visiting consulting team for the Chamber had been with our facility. The theme of my presentation was the history of our site in Bellefontaine, the establishment of the Ohio Hi-Point Joint Vocational School District, and our impact on the region. I have to say I had a lot of fun digging through some old records to learn more about how our District was established. Did you know the initial 3-mill, 5-year levy to establish the District, initially placed on the ballot in November of 1970, failed twice before it was finally passed in May of 1972? I didn’t! Reading through those old leather-bound board minutes from the meetings of our original Board of Education helped me to understand that it took a very dedicated group of persistent pioneers to make our school a reality. We all owe them a tremendous debt, and I’m sure they would all be proud (or are proud if they’re still with us) of how far we’ve come in our first 35 years! Many thanks to Robert Walker and Shane Haggerty for their assistance in helping me put this presentation together.
I understand there’s some big football game going on this weekend? Have a great weekend and stay warm!
Friday, November 14, 2008
November 14, 2008
I’m back to blogging after a brief absence! It’s been a crazy couple of weeks—some planned activity, some unplanned. And from what I’ve seen and heard, you’ve all been very busy as well!
Early in November I had the opportunity to attend the American Association of School Administrators Women in Leadership Conference. The overall theme was having the courage to affect change, and I think we at OHP have all learned through our many changes over the past several years that change does indeed take courage! Featured speakers were the Superintendents of Atlanta, Georgia and Huntsville, Alabama Public Schools. Both of these districts have come from being low-performing schools to showing tremendous improvement over the past five years in spite of difficult conditions. The superintendent of Atlanta Public Schools, Beverly Hall, described the strategic plan her district enacted through decentralized building leadership teams focused on standards. She also shared that financial restrictions required her to cut over 1,000 employees from their central office (makes me wonder how many they had to begin with!) It’s hard for me to fathom an organization that large and complex. But I think this district is an excellent example that schools can achieve success even in tough times by staying focused and working together.
Once again our GRADS Department (Deb Baker, Nancy Decker, Francie Ross) worked with the March of Dimes on the “Light a Little Star” event which raises funds to help prevent birth defects. At Ohio Hi-Point Career Center, the GRADS Department had a brownie day and a teacher Soup Luncheon for donations (and we all got some great soup recipes as a result!) In addition, students sponsored a Harvest Dance on November 7 with proceeds going to the “Light A Little Star” Event. Ohio Hi-Point’s total donation to March of Dimes was $350, which was presented at the “Light a Little Star” community event on November 8 at Northeastern Elementary school in Bellefontaine.
Many thank to our GRADS instructors and the following students who worked very hard to organize the Harvest Dance:
Alison Godfrey, Cosmetology I from Bellefontaine
Michael Overfield, Cosmetology I from Bellefontaine
Alyson Mowery, Cosmetology II from Marysville
Emma Barrett, Cosmetology II from West Liberty-Salem
Mary Rose Sanders, Culinary II from Urbana
Ashley Kuch, Cosmetology I from Ben Logan
A photo of the “Light a Little Star” Committee is pictured at right. Absent from the photo is Nancy Decker, GRADS Instructor.
This past Monday and Tuesday I attended the Ohio School Boards Association Capital Conference in Columbus. We heard from both Governor Strickland and our new State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Deborah Delisle. Governor Strickland vowed that school funding reform will be his first priority in 2009 and will be reflected in his proposed state budget. We’ll have to wait for the details on that! Mrs. Delisle spoke enthusiastically about her goal to make the Ohio Department of Education a service and support organization for Ohio’s public schools. I have to say it is refreshing to have a State Superintendent who has superintendent experience in an Ohio public school (Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District) and who has been “in the trenches” with us in enacting federal and state mandates. I look forward to the perspective she brings to the position.
During the Capital Conference, the Ohio Association of Career-Tech Superintendents met and heard from Tom Ash, Legislative Specialist with Buckeye Association of School Administrators (Ohio has no shortage of “Associations,” does it?!) Tom cautioned us to expect another round of cuts to the education budget from the Governor’s office yet this school year, most likely in February/March. We’re fortunate at Ohio Hi-Point not to have to worry about the possibility of a negative cash balance with news of such cuts, but we certainly need to work very carefully to watch our resources and plan to spend even less than what was appropriated by the Board in September. The Administrative Team and I will work together to assure we can operate even within a reduced budget, and I want to thank all of you for your efforts to use our resources wisely.
Speaking of budgets, a new State Biennium Budget will be enacted in the first half of 2009. This is likely to be one of the “leanest” budgets we’ve seen in quite some time; and Shane Haggerty, the Administrative Team, and I will be setting up appointments to talk with our legislators in January during the Ohio ACTE Legislative Conference. It’s critical that we keep the importance of career-technical education at the forefront as they begin the budgeting process.
OK, enough with the gloomy news! Let me share some of the great things our students are doing! During the Capital Conference, I attended a session on Satellite Programs presented by Sharon Maurice, Supply Chain Management Instructor at Urbana, two of her current students, and one graduate of the program. They were just great! The two current students, Victoria Noble and Wade Nichols, are juniors in the program; and their presentation was as professional as you would expect from any business person. The former student, Chris Rittenhouse, talked about his experience both in the program and at his current job with the Defense Acquisition University at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. Wow—the experiences he’s having! And, of course, it takes an enthusiastic teacher to get kids this excited about a program, and Sharon certainly fits the bill. Thanks to all of you for representing us so well at a state-wide conference!
Last evening I attended the annual Union County Chamber of Commerce “Salute to Leaders” Dinner. The Chamber holds this dinner because they strongly believe in growing and recognizing local leadership. Leaders are recognized in several areas; and the gentleman recognized for his contributions in Culture/Arts, Larry Ohnsman, stated he was a former career-technical construction trades teacher. I spoke with Larry afterward and asked him where he taught, and it was right here at OHP! Some of you may remember him. He talked for quite some time about how much he enjoyed his teaching here.
JoEtta Spain, who advises our Student Ambassadors, has been very busy out and about with this group of students beginning our recruiting efforts for next year at our partner schools. I was able to see a very brief portion of their presentation at West Liberty-Salem (next year I’ll schedule better and stay for the whole thing!) But even in the short portion that I saw, the enthusiasm of both the students and Joetta was tremendous. JoEtta shared:
I really wanted to tell you how proud I have been of the work the Lead Ambassadors have done this year on our visits to the partner schools. The information the students are able to share with them is so powerful for our recruitment efforts. We have such wonderful students and they really give 100% to do a great job for OHP. I always look forward to each year and the new group of students we have as Lead Ambassadors. I enjoy the time I spend with them also.
JoEtta also shared about this year’s first student incentive activity for grades/attendance:
This Thursday, November 6, was our first student incentive activity. We went to T.P. Lanes for 2 games of bowling and pizza and drinks. We had 175 students make the TAD list (tardy-attendance-discipline). Out of the 175 we took 112 to the bowling lanes and had such an exciting time. The students were so good even the staff at the bowling lanes said what a good bunch they were. I had great help with the group from Eric Harman, Tammy Troyer, Judy Gratz, Carol Siebeneck, and Ryan Mulholland. I really appreciate all their help. Thanks so much for allowing us to give the students such a fun activity.
Thanks to all of the staff members who assisted with this well-deserved activity for the students!
I often say that I run into good news about OHP just about everywhere I go. My husband Scott spent last weekend in Union Memorial Hospital in Marysville with a pulmonary embolism. (He’s doing fine now—just has to keep his blood thinner than water!) When we got to the emergency room at 2:30 Friday morning, I of course had to fill out all the necessary paperwork for insurance. When the lady helping me saw that I worked at Ohio Hi-Point, she asked what I do here. (I was almost embarrassed to admit I was superintendent, because I definitely had my “just-rolled-out-of-bed” look going on!) She said, “Oh, we have your students here all the time! We really enjoy them.” I thanked her for the clinical experiences the hospital makes available to our students. I also found it interesting that Scott had two male nurses in the ER, and his physician was female. Those gender roles are clearly being redefined in the health care field!
Finally, I’d like to wish all of our staff members who are veterans a belated Happy Veterans Day! I hope we never take for granted the freedoms we enjoy because of your dedication to our country.
Have a great weekend!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
October 29, 2008
I’m posting to my blog today (Wednesday) because I was off campus last Friday and will be again this Friday. But there’s a lot to share about the past week and a half!
If you’ve been on our Main Campus lately, it would be hard not to notice the historical marker which has been placed at our entrance in honor of the 664th AWC—the Air Force group that was on our campus from 1951-1969. It’s a very fitting tribute to those who served here to protect our country during the Cold War. On October 20, several veterans of the 664th were on campus to dedicate the marker, and their pride in placing the marker was really touching. We are so very fortunate that this site was turned over to the Ohio Hi-Point JVSD so that this school could be built to serve thousands of students over the past 35 years. Please take a moment to read the historical marker—it tells a wonderful story!
On October 21, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown hosted a round-table discussion at OHP for representatives from a cross-section of Logan County: education, local government, retail, real estate, health care, agriculture, manufacturing, and banking. It was good discussion. I asked Senator Brown if he had visited other career centers, and he said a few. He called us a “jewel of the state”—a fitting description, I think! He commended us for the contribution we make to workforce development at the local and state level.
Tom Oates, V.P. for Academic Affairs at Urbana University, paid a visit last Wednesday to talk with me about how we and UU can partner better to provide additional pathways for our students. I was impressed by the message he relayed from President Steven Jones—that the University is ready to break through past barriers and work with us and our student population to provide relevant, affordable, and convenient degree programs. As we work toward formal agreements, I’ll keep you posted as to the new opportunities our students will have!
Thursday and Friday I attended the National Career Pathways Network Conference (formerly the Tech Prep Conference) in Cincinnati along with several other staff members. When national conferences come to Ohio, I think it’s great to take advantage of the opportunity. I attended some good sessions on partnerships with business & industry, retaining students in high school, and transitioning students to higher education. But the real highlight of the conference for me was attending a presentation made by Art Spragen and five of his Architectural and Mechanical Design students on inquiry-based learning. They were super! They presented a project they completed on streamlining the production process of an office chair and designing packaging for the chair—impressive stuff. But I was most impressed with how they fielded questions after the presentation. Their maturity level was amazing! The answer that struck me most was that through working as a team, they got to know each other better, learned each other’s strengths and limitations, and maximized each team members capabilities to work efficiently as a team. Wow! Those skills will serve them will in any career pathway they take! Congratulations to Art and his students (Jonathan, Scott, Zac, Daniel, and Brandon) for a terrific job, and thanks for representing OHP so admirably.
We host a lot of meetings here at OHP; and during one meeting I recently attended here, we decided about mid-way that we needed some snacks (in other words—we got the munchies!) It was about 5 p.m. on a Friday evening, so I had to use my magical master key to go snack-hunting in the kitchen. (And for the record, I made a list for Jann of what I took so she could bill us!) A gentleman who was also attending the meeting came into the kitchen to help me, and he looked around and said, “Wow! Who keeps this place so clean?” Those kinds of observations make me so proud of our facility—as you should be also. Certainly I don’t police the kitchen for cleanliness—there’s no need to. Our cafeteria staff does a super job of providing tasty, nutritious meals out of an immaculate kitchen, and I wanted to pass this compliment along so they know others are noticing. Nice job ladies!
Lisa McCullough, our EMIS Coordinator, prepared a report for me recently documenting the professional development points earned by our staff over the 2007-2008 school year. As I looked over the multiple professional development opportunities our staff took advantage of, I was amazed at the variety of topics related to so many different positions. As a staff, you earned a total of 2,418 PDP points! Thanks to all of you for your commitment to continuous improvement on a personal level so that you can better serve our students.
Have a great finish to the week, stay warm now that winter seems to have rolled in, and I’ll be back on my blog on November 7!
If you’ve been on our Main Campus lately, it would be hard not to notice the historical marker which has been placed at our entrance in honor of the 664th AWC—the Air Force group that was on our campus from 1951-1969. It’s a very fitting tribute to those who served here to protect our country during the Cold War. On October 20, several veterans of the 664th were on campus to dedicate the marker, and their pride in placing the marker was really touching. We are so very fortunate that this site was turned over to the Ohio Hi-Point JVSD so that this school could be built to serve thousands of students over the past 35 years. Please take a moment to read the historical marker—it tells a wonderful story!
On October 21, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown hosted a round-table discussion at OHP for representatives from a cross-section of Logan County: education, local government, retail, real estate, health care, agriculture, manufacturing, and banking. It was good discussion. I asked Senator Brown if he had visited other career centers, and he said a few. He called us a “jewel of the state”—a fitting description, I think! He commended us for the contribution we make to workforce development at the local and state level.
Tom Oates, V.P. for Academic Affairs at Urbana University, paid a visit last Wednesday to talk with me about how we and UU can partner better to provide additional pathways for our students. I was impressed by the message he relayed from President Steven Jones—that the University is ready to break through past barriers and work with us and our student population to provide relevant, affordable, and convenient degree programs. As we work toward formal agreements, I’ll keep you posted as to the new opportunities our students will have!
Thursday and Friday I attended the National Career Pathways Network Conference (formerly the Tech Prep Conference) in Cincinnati along with several other staff members. When national conferences come to Ohio, I think it’s great to take advantage of the opportunity. I attended some good sessions on partnerships with business & industry, retaining students in high school, and transitioning students to higher education. But the real highlight of the conference for me was attending a presentation made by Art Spragen and five of his Architectural and Mechanical Design students on inquiry-based learning. They were super! They presented a project they completed on streamlining the production process of an office chair and designing packaging for the chair—impressive stuff. But I was most impressed with how they fielded questions after the presentation. Their maturity level was amazing! The answer that struck me most was that through working as a team, they got to know each other better, learned each other’s strengths and limitations, and maximized each team members capabilities to work efficiently as a team. Wow! Those skills will serve them will in any career pathway they take! Congratulations to Art and his students (Jonathan, Scott, Zac, Daniel, and Brandon) for a terrific job, and thanks for representing OHP so admirably.
We host a lot of meetings here at OHP; and during one meeting I recently attended here, we decided about mid-way that we needed some snacks (in other words—we got the munchies!) It was about 5 p.m. on a Friday evening, so I had to use my magical master key to go snack-hunting in the kitchen. (And for the record, I made a list for Jann of what I took so she could bill us!) A gentleman who was also attending the meeting came into the kitchen to help me, and he looked around and said, “Wow! Who keeps this place so clean?” Those kinds of observations make me so proud of our facility—as you should be also. Certainly I don’t police the kitchen for cleanliness—there’s no need to. Our cafeteria staff does a super job of providing tasty, nutritious meals out of an immaculate kitchen, and I wanted to pass this compliment along so they know others are noticing. Nice job ladies!
Lisa McCullough, our EMIS Coordinator, prepared a report for me recently documenting the professional development points earned by our staff over the 2007-2008 school year. As I looked over the multiple professional development opportunities our staff took advantage of, I was amazed at the variety of topics related to so many different positions. As a staff, you earned a total of 2,418 PDP points! Thanks to all of you for your commitment to continuous improvement on a personal level so that you can better serve our students.
Have a great finish to the week, stay warm now that winter seems to have rolled in, and I’ll be back on my blog on November 7!
Friday, October 17, 2008
October 17, 2008
The temperature is finally matching the color of the leaves and it feels like fall! Hope you’re enjoying this beautiful time of year.
Our District’s liability insurance is not one of the most exciting topics I deal with in my position, but this past Monday I did have the opportunity to have some fun with representatives from our insurance providers, Hill & Hamilton Insurance here in Bellefontaine and The Cincinnati Insurance Company. Five folks from Hill & Hamilton and two from Cincinnati Insurance spent an entire day touring a sampling of our Satellite and Main Campus programs to get a feel for what it is our students do. As you can imagine, they were amazed with the variety of programs we offer, the variety of school and community sites for our programs, and the wealth of educational opportunities our students are exposed to. Of course, they appreciated the culture of safety all of you have established in your labs, and they loved the enthusiasm! As one put it,
Thank you so much for the wonderful tour! We are so proud of your programs and of your students’ accomplishments! We saw the pride in both the teachers and students and that says a whole lot!
I love giving these tours. Thanks for all you do to make showing off our students, programs, and facilities such a pleasure!
Wednesday evening we held our fall Work Session with the Board to review our 5-year forecast and our district strategic plan. It always makes for good discussion as we look forward and take our best shot at predicting where we might be financially over the next five years. As Eric Adelsberger always says, these forecasts are “fiction” because it’s virtually impossible to anticipate all the forces that impact our financial picture. But it’s also exciting to estimate where we think we’re headed based on how far we’ve come! I think it would be fun to take our 5-year forecast from five years ago and see if this past year looks anything like what we predicted. I doubt it! On the positive side, we’ve grown more than we could have anticipated both on our Main Campus and particularly in our Satellite programs (since we were at zero then!) On the not-so-positive side, we’ve had some unpleasant surprises with funding cuts at the state level. But overall, we’re in solid financial shape and have every reason to believe we’ll continue to be so. Thank you for continuing to be good stewards of our public resources!
Thanks to all of you who attended our District In-Service this morning. We appreciate your suggestions and questions you raised during the security drill debrief. The Administrative Team and I were very pleased with the way the security drill went and we learned some things as well. We’ll just keep getting better at this! And as I said, I’d rather learn lessons during a drill than during the real thing.
I also appreciate your warm welcome for the family of Roy Angle. As we made the presentation, I thought about the many unsung heroes who must have worked behind the scenes to make Ohio Hi-Point “JVS” a reality. I didn’t realize until talking with Robert about Roy’s influence that the initial operating levy (which supports us to this day) didn’t pass the first time! So everyone involved worked double hard to put the issue back on the ballot to secure the funding for our school. Vocational schools were a new concept at that time, and I suppose the communities we serve had to warm up to the idea a bit. But I think you’d be hard pressed to find a member of our communities today who wouldn’t agree it was a great thing for our region! We hear it from parents, students, and employers all the time. (One great example is Steve Austin who spoke at our H.S. staff meeting in support of United Way this week. He went out of his way to thank us for the great job we do in preparing students for the automotive field!)
As I promised last week, at the right are the photos I took during the statewide Communicators Meeting here at OHP and the Culinary students preparing lunch for them. I think I’ve got this Blackberry transfer-of-photos thing down!
Have a great weekend and enjoy this beautiful fall weather. Remember--snowflakes are coming!
Our District’s liability insurance is not one of the most exciting topics I deal with in my position, but this past Monday I did have the opportunity to have some fun with representatives from our insurance providers, Hill & Hamilton Insurance here in Bellefontaine and The Cincinnati Insurance Company. Five folks from Hill & Hamilton and two from Cincinnati Insurance spent an entire day touring a sampling of our Satellite and Main Campus programs to get a feel for what it is our students do. As you can imagine, they were amazed with the variety of programs we offer, the variety of school and community sites for our programs, and the wealth of educational opportunities our students are exposed to. Of course, they appreciated the culture of safety all of you have established in your labs, and they loved the enthusiasm! As one put it,
Thank you so much for the wonderful tour! We are so proud of your programs and of your students’ accomplishments! We saw the pride in both the teachers and students and that says a whole lot!
I love giving these tours. Thanks for all you do to make showing off our students, programs, and facilities such a pleasure!
Wednesday evening we held our fall Work Session with the Board to review our 5-year forecast and our district strategic plan. It always makes for good discussion as we look forward and take our best shot at predicting where we might be financially over the next five years. As Eric Adelsberger always says, these forecasts are “fiction” because it’s virtually impossible to anticipate all the forces that impact our financial picture. But it’s also exciting to estimate where we think we’re headed based on how far we’ve come! I think it would be fun to take our 5-year forecast from five years ago and see if this past year looks anything like what we predicted. I doubt it! On the positive side, we’ve grown more than we could have anticipated both on our Main Campus and particularly in our Satellite programs (since we were at zero then!) On the not-so-positive side, we’ve had some unpleasant surprises with funding cuts at the state level. But overall, we’re in solid financial shape and have every reason to believe we’ll continue to be so. Thank you for continuing to be good stewards of our public resources!
Thanks to all of you who attended our District In-Service this morning. We appreciate your suggestions and questions you raised during the security drill debrief. The Administrative Team and I were very pleased with the way the security drill went and we learned some things as well. We’ll just keep getting better at this! And as I said, I’d rather learn lessons during a drill than during the real thing.
I also appreciate your warm welcome for the family of Roy Angle. As we made the presentation, I thought about the many unsung heroes who must have worked behind the scenes to make Ohio Hi-Point “JVS” a reality. I didn’t realize until talking with Robert about Roy’s influence that the initial operating levy (which supports us to this day) didn’t pass the first time! So everyone involved worked double hard to put the issue back on the ballot to secure the funding for our school. Vocational schools were a new concept at that time, and I suppose the communities we serve had to warm up to the idea a bit. But I think you’d be hard pressed to find a member of our communities today who wouldn’t agree it was a great thing for our region! We hear it from parents, students, and employers all the time. (One great example is Steve Austin who spoke at our H.S. staff meeting in support of United Way this week. He went out of his way to thank us for the great job we do in preparing students for the automotive field!)
As I promised last week, at the right are the photos I took during the statewide Communicators Meeting here at OHP and the Culinary students preparing lunch for them. I think I’ve got this Blackberry transfer-of-photos thing down!
Have a great weekend and enjoy this beautiful fall weather. Remember--snowflakes are coming!
Friday, October 10, 2008
October 10, 2008
Wow, is this a beautiful time of year or what?! I enjoyed the beautiful fall colors in Vermont last week and now get to enjoy them here at home.
I was reminded this week that I'm able to take a vacation and not have to worry about a thing here because we've got a great staff! As many of you have caught me up on last week’s activities, it’s comforting to know I could take on the challenge of biking those Vermont hills knowing that the district was in good hands and business was going on as usual (meaning our students were being taken care of). Thanks to all of you!
Tuesday we took part in a ribbon cutting for the Logan County Convention and Tourism Bureau Welcome Center, which our Building Maintenance students constructed last year. This is a great way for visitors coming off Rt. 33 at Rt. 540 to pick up information about the County. Our students did a great job and had reason to be proud! If you haven’t seen it, stop by the Park and Ride on Rt. 540 west of Rt. 33 and take a look. Thanks to Doug Limes and students for taking on this community service project!
Our Alumni and Friends Association met on Wednesday. I wasn’t able to make the meeting due to a commitment in Columbus; but from reading the minutes, I can see the committee officers are charging ahead with a lot of great plans and activities to build a strong network of alumni and provide resources to current students. It’s especially exciting that many of the events planned for this year revolve around our 35th anniversary. Stay tuned regarding specific activities—it’s going to be a busy year and we’ll need staff involvement!
On Thursday we hosted a statewide Career-Technical Communicators meeting at OHP. Shane Haggerty hosted his counterparts from both career centers and K-12 schools as well as ODE officials, and the topic was using social networking in public relations. I was able to welcome the group and sit in briefly on the discussion. I’m proud that OHP is seen as a leader in this area, and I applaud Shane’s efforts and all of you who are using Web 2.0 technologies to enhance instruction and spread the good word about our programs! I got a good photo of the group, but I can't figure out how to get it off of my Blackberry. That's my "technology challenge" for the coming week--I'll have it for you next week!
I slipped out of the meeting through the Culinary Arts kitchen where the students were busy at work preparing a wonderful lunch for the communicators group. (I also got some great photos of this group too, which I'll share next week!) The dessert was a wonderful baked-apple bread-pudding concoction which was almost too pretty to eat. But, of course, when asked to taste-test it, I felt I should. (It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it!) Yum! Donna Beale and her students always do a terrific job taking care of our guests!
Thursday I sat in on a training session for our United Way Captains. I want to personally thank JoEtta Spain for agreeing to captain our Main Campus, Earl LeVan for taking charge of Adult Education, and Sally Andrews for stepping up for Satellite Programs. Jack Reser and Ilene Heaton of United Way really helped to clarify the impact we can have as a staff if we each give just a little bit. Ilene also mentioned the five students we have involved with United Way Youth Allocations and said, “You’ve got great kids!” She didn’t get any argument from us on that! I hope you’ll all consider doing what you can to support United Way in these difficult economic times. When times get tough, community needs become even more critical. Together we really can make a difference.
I always like to share when I run into former OHP students in the community. I tried a new venture this year and ordered half a pig through a local meat processor. When I went to pick it up, the young man saw my nametag and told me he had gone to OHP in the Machine Trades Program. While he never worked in that career field, he shared that he felt he'd learned a lot through his time here about how to be a good employee. He must have, because he certainly provided great customer service! He was polite and thorough in assuring the order was filled correctly. (He also assured me the pig met its end quickly and painlessly--that meant a lot to me!) Just another example of how we prepare students not just for careers but for success in life.
Have a great weekend and enjoy the beautiful fall colors!
I was reminded this week that I'm able to take a vacation and not have to worry about a thing here because we've got a great staff! As many of you have caught me up on last week’s activities, it’s comforting to know I could take on the challenge of biking those Vermont hills knowing that the district was in good hands and business was going on as usual (meaning our students were being taken care of). Thanks to all of you!
Tuesday we took part in a ribbon cutting for the Logan County Convention and Tourism Bureau Welcome Center, which our Building Maintenance students constructed last year. This is a great way for visitors coming off Rt. 33 at Rt. 540 to pick up information about the County. Our students did a great job and had reason to be proud! If you haven’t seen it, stop by the Park and Ride on Rt. 540 west of Rt. 33 and take a look. Thanks to Doug Limes and students for taking on this community service project!
Our Alumni and Friends Association met on Wednesday. I wasn’t able to make the meeting due to a commitment in Columbus; but from reading the minutes, I can see the committee officers are charging ahead with a lot of great plans and activities to build a strong network of alumni and provide resources to current students. It’s especially exciting that many of the events planned for this year revolve around our 35th anniversary. Stay tuned regarding specific activities—it’s going to be a busy year and we’ll need staff involvement!
On Thursday we hosted a statewide Career-Technical Communicators meeting at OHP. Shane Haggerty hosted his counterparts from both career centers and K-12 schools as well as ODE officials, and the topic was using social networking in public relations. I was able to welcome the group and sit in briefly on the discussion. I’m proud that OHP is seen as a leader in this area, and I applaud Shane’s efforts and all of you who are using Web 2.0 technologies to enhance instruction and spread the good word about our programs! I got a good photo of the group, but I can't figure out how to get it off of my Blackberry. That's my "technology challenge" for the coming week--I'll have it for you next week!
I slipped out of the meeting through the Culinary Arts kitchen where the students were busy at work preparing a wonderful lunch for the communicators group. (I also got some great photos of this group too, which I'll share next week!) The dessert was a wonderful baked-apple bread-pudding concoction which was almost too pretty to eat. But, of course, when asked to taste-test it, I felt I should. (It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it!) Yum! Donna Beale and her students always do a terrific job taking care of our guests!
Thursday I sat in on a training session for our United Way Captains. I want to personally thank JoEtta Spain for agreeing to captain our Main Campus, Earl LeVan for taking charge of Adult Education, and Sally Andrews for stepping up for Satellite Programs. Jack Reser and Ilene Heaton of United Way really helped to clarify the impact we can have as a staff if we each give just a little bit. Ilene also mentioned the five students we have involved with United Way Youth Allocations and said, “You’ve got great kids!” She didn’t get any argument from us on that! I hope you’ll all consider doing what you can to support United Way in these difficult economic times. When times get tough, community needs become even more critical. Together we really can make a difference.
I always like to share when I run into former OHP students in the community. I tried a new venture this year and ordered half a pig through a local meat processor. When I went to pick it up, the young man saw my nametag and told me he had gone to OHP in the Machine Trades Program. While he never worked in that career field, he shared that he felt he'd learned a lot through his time here about how to be a good employee. He must have, because he certainly provided great customer service! He was polite and thorough in assuring the order was filled correctly. (He also assured me the pig met its end quickly and painlessly--that meant a lot to me!) Just another example of how we prepare students not just for careers but for success in life.
Have a great weekend and enjoy the beautiful fall colors!
Friday, September 26, 2008
September 26, 2008
Well, we’re wrapping up another week and another month! Hard to believe we’re almost into October. This past week has been a busy one with a lot of excitement around OHP.
Tuesday we hosted our first Staff Breakfast for the year, and I want to thank all of you who attended and all of you who signed up to serve on OHP Congress Committees. These committees are the “backbone” of a lot of the improvement efforts in our district, and the time you commit to the work of these committees really makes a difference! I also want to thank all of you for your consideration of supporting United Way. Together we can make such an impact in helping those in need in our community, which ultimately helps us all.
Wednesday I heard State Senator Karen Gilmore speak and was happy to hear what an advocate she is for young people in our region. She stated her beliefs about the value of assuring that all students complete high school and move on to higher education, and she recognizes that “higher education” takes many forms. She commented to me that she has attended several community events in our facilities and has been very impressed. I told her I’d love to have her visit while our students are here and assured her she’d be even more impressed!
Thursday I attended a meeting of the Buckeye Association of School Administrators (BASA) Board of Regents Committee. I volunteered to serve on this committee in light of all that is happening with dual enrollment, CT2 articulated credits, and the transfer of Adult
Workforce Education to the Board of Regents. The committee is made up of several superintendents from both K-12 districts and career-technical districts. As the group talked about the importance of academic rigor, raising standardized test scores, and improving ACT and SAT scores in order to get students into college, I asked them not to lose sight of the fact that we want students to go on to college (which isn’t always a four-year college) for a reason. I think we in career-tech really have a handle on realizing that higher education is a means to an end and not an end in itself. Discussions such as this make me proud of the impact we have on students’ lives and the impact we have on economic development.
As I drove onto campus coming from a meeting Friday morning I saw a fire truck in our parking lot, which always makes me a little uneasy. But then I saw the preschoolers from our Early Childhood Education Program exploring the truck (with their teachers, of course!) What a great opportunity for them! It’s nice to see our community public safety services folks partnering with us to give these students the thrill of getting up close and personal with the “big red truck” and no doubt teaching them a lot in the process!
One of the added benefits of our student laptop program and student e-mail accounts is that I occasionally hear from our students. Friday (which happened to be the last day I could call myself “40-something”) a student e-mailed me:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! We share the same birthday. I thought it was cool that I share the same birthday with two of the OHP staff Members. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. I am sorry if I have inconvenienced you with this email. Thank you for your time.
I’m not sure what little birdie told him it was my birthday (sure hope age wasn't discussed!) And I’ll keep the “other staff member” anonymous. But what a nice gesture! I thanked this young man and told him I was not only not inconvenienced by his e-mail but was delighted to receive it.
This week Robin Curley, Animal Technology teacher, shared with me an e-mail she had received from the father of one of her students:
Ruth and I are very excited and proud about (our daughter’s) opportunity to attend college and truly appreciate all the efforts you personally and the rest of the Marysville and Ohio Hi-Point staff have spent in support of (her). Without everyone's dedication and belief in her, this wouldn't have been possible. We know college will be a struggle for (her) but believe the Marysville schools and Ohio Hi-Point have provided (her) the best education for her needs and provided her a strong base on which to continue her education. It is difficult to say, but starting next year it is up to (her) to finish the journey we all helped her start. Thank you very much for your continued support of (our daughter) and please pass along our thanks to everyone else that has supported (her) over the past 12 years.
This is a perfect example of how we "partner" with our partner schools to help students achieve success, and we rely on the foundation they give these young people. Thanks for sharing, Robin!
We also have a lot of satisfied customers as a result of the customer service many of our programs provide. Diana Payne, English teacher, shared with me an e-mail she had sent to Rodney Peterson and his Auto Technology class:
Just wanted to thank you and your students again for such a FANTASTIC job on my mom's car. My mom is now in a nursing home, but I had to take her out Friday evening to see her car - it looks brand new! That car hasn't looked that good in YEARS! She was tickled, and I am amazed at the job your students could do in such a short amount of time! Thank you again! You guys are great!
Rodney and students—you made someone’s day!
I’ll be away on vacation next week cycling in Vermont. Right now the weather forecast looks cool and potentially rainy, but I’m sure it will be beautiful even still. For those of you familiar with the Stephen Covey principles, I’ll be doing some serious “saw sharpening”! But I know I’m leaving our students and district in good hands. Have a great week!
Tuesday we hosted our first Staff Breakfast for the year, and I want to thank all of you who attended and all of you who signed up to serve on OHP Congress Committees. These committees are the “backbone” of a lot of the improvement efforts in our district, and the time you commit to the work of these committees really makes a difference! I also want to thank all of you for your consideration of supporting United Way. Together we can make such an impact in helping those in need in our community, which ultimately helps us all.
Wednesday I heard State Senator Karen Gilmore speak and was happy to hear what an advocate she is for young people in our region. She stated her beliefs about the value of assuring that all students complete high school and move on to higher education, and she recognizes that “higher education” takes many forms. She commented to me that she has attended several community events in our facilities and has been very impressed. I told her I’d love to have her visit while our students are here and assured her she’d be even more impressed!
Thursday I attended a meeting of the Buckeye Association of School Administrators (BASA) Board of Regents Committee. I volunteered to serve on this committee in light of all that is happening with dual enrollment, CT2 articulated credits, and the transfer of Adult
Workforce Education to the Board of Regents. The committee is made up of several superintendents from both K-12 districts and career-technical districts. As the group talked about the importance of academic rigor, raising standardized test scores, and improving ACT and SAT scores in order to get students into college, I asked them not to lose sight of the fact that we want students to go on to college (which isn’t always a four-year college) for a reason. I think we in career-tech really have a handle on realizing that higher education is a means to an end and not an end in itself. Discussions such as this make me proud of the impact we have on students’ lives and the impact we have on economic development.
As I drove onto campus coming from a meeting Friday morning I saw a fire truck in our parking lot, which always makes me a little uneasy. But then I saw the preschoolers from our Early Childhood Education Program exploring the truck (with their teachers, of course!) What a great opportunity for them! It’s nice to see our community public safety services folks partnering with us to give these students the thrill of getting up close and personal with the “big red truck” and no doubt teaching them a lot in the process!
One of the added benefits of our student laptop program and student e-mail accounts is that I occasionally hear from our students. Friday (which happened to be the last day I could call myself “40-something”) a student e-mailed me:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! We share the same birthday. I thought it was cool that I share the same birthday with two of the OHP staff Members. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. I am sorry if I have inconvenienced you with this email. Thank you for your time.
I’m not sure what little birdie told him it was my birthday (sure hope age wasn't discussed!) And I’ll keep the “other staff member” anonymous. But what a nice gesture! I thanked this young man and told him I was not only not inconvenienced by his e-mail but was delighted to receive it.
This week Robin Curley, Animal Technology teacher, shared with me an e-mail she had received from the father of one of her students:
Ruth and I are very excited and proud about (our daughter’s) opportunity to attend college and truly appreciate all the efforts you personally and the rest of the Marysville and Ohio Hi-Point staff have spent in support of (her). Without everyone's dedication and belief in her, this wouldn't have been possible. We know college will be a struggle for (her) but believe the Marysville schools and Ohio Hi-Point have provided (her) the best education for her needs and provided her a strong base on which to continue her education. It is difficult to say, but starting next year it is up to (her) to finish the journey we all helped her start. Thank you very much for your continued support of (our daughter) and please pass along our thanks to everyone else that has supported (her) over the past 12 years.
This is a perfect example of how we "partner" with our partner schools to help students achieve success, and we rely on the foundation they give these young people. Thanks for sharing, Robin!
We also have a lot of satisfied customers as a result of the customer service many of our programs provide. Diana Payne, English teacher, shared with me an e-mail she had sent to Rodney Peterson and his Auto Technology class:
Just wanted to thank you and your students again for such a FANTASTIC job on my mom's car. My mom is now in a nursing home, but I had to take her out Friday evening to see her car - it looks brand new! That car hasn't looked that good in YEARS! She was tickled, and I am amazed at the job your students could do in such a short amount of time! Thank you again! You guys are great!
Rodney and students—you made someone’s day!
I’ll be away on vacation next week cycling in Vermont. Right now the weather forecast looks cool and potentially rainy, but I’m sure it will be beautiful even still. For those of you familiar with the Stephen Covey principles, I’ll be doing some serious “saw sharpening”! But I know I’m leaving our students and district in good hands. Have a great week!
Thursday, September 18, 2008
September 19, 2008
As we’ve listened to the news around the state and nation this week, I can’t help but think how fortunate we are. As those crazy winds blew through on Sunday, I kept wondering if it was as bad as it was in Ohio hundreds of miles away from where Ike made landfall, what must it have been like in Texas?!? Really makes me feel for what those people went through (and are still going through). And as I hear many surrounding schools continuing to remain closed due to the power outage, I’m grateful we only had to miss one day. I suspect we’ll be glad we still have days left when January and February come along!
Speaking of Monday, that day was a perfect example of the teamwork our OHP staff shows when the going gets tough. I was on the phone most of the day (from a home with power, thankfully!) staying in touch with Robert Walker regarding conditions on campus and speculating when we might get power back. He and his crew kept a close eye on our electronic systems, powered several items down so that there wouldn’t be a damaging surge when the power came back on, and they got a head start on cleaning up the debris on our campus. John Case continued to check the status of our network and made a trip to campus late Monday afternoon after the power came on to assure that everything would be up and running for Tuesday morning. Don Jaunzemis monitored the status of our cooler and freezer to make sure the food was kept at safe temperatures, and he had even identified a location to move the food to preserve it should our power not have come back on by Tuesday. I so appreciate that our staff just sees what needs to be done in an emergency situation, steps up to do it, keeps everyone necessary informed, and gives me the information I need to make good decisions. Way to go team!
Even though our schedule interruptions (due to water and power outages) have been somewhat disruptive, I can at least say our students have been grateful! One young man shared with me in the cafeteria line that he really enjoyed Monday (even though his mom made him clean up the yard) and he appreciated that it came on a Monday so the weekend was longer. I told him I was glad we could oblige!
The week was unexpectedly shortened for us all and my week has consisted mostly of meetings and paperwork: but there have been some new developments. On Wednesday, we had two visitors from Bowling Green State University, as well as the Mayor of Bellefontaine, pay a visit to tour our campus and discuss possibilities for bringing bachelor’s degree programs to Logan County which would build on associate’s degrees that are earned through our community college partners. They were very familiar with our College Tech Prep programs and were impressed with the many articulation agreements we have in place. Local officials are very eager to bring new postsecondary partners to Logan County to improve the educational level of our workforce and to help retain our young talent. We discussed several areas of most need including healthcare degrees, teacher education programs (particularly in secondary math, science, and special education), and graduate-level coursework for educators needing to renew or upgrade licenses. While having no higher-education institution in Logan County has been a disadvantage, it has resulted in several schools seeking to provide services locally, which can only benefit our high-school students and adults. I expect to see new partners joining our campus soon!
A few of you asked for the answers to the questions posed in my blog in honor of Google’s 10th birthday, and here they are! The population of Uzbekistan is 27.8 million, the state bird of Maine is the blackcap chickadee, and Napoleon Bonaparte was 5 feet 7 inches tall. There you go—remember those tidbits—they may help you win “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” someday!
Fall officially starts Monday—it’s really here! And the Columbus Dispatch reports that today is “Talk Like a Pirate Day.” I’ll let you do with that what you will!
Have a great weekend and enjoy this beautiful weather!
Speaking of Monday, that day was a perfect example of the teamwork our OHP staff shows when the going gets tough. I was on the phone most of the day (from a home with power, thankfully!) staying in touch with Robert Walker regarding conditions on campus and speculating when we might get power back. He and his crew kept a close eye on our electronic systems, powered several items down so that there wouldn’t be a damaging surge when the power came back on, and they got a head start on cleaning up the debris on our campus. John Case continued to check the status of our network and made a trip to campus late Monday afternoon after the power came on to assure that everything would be up and running for Tuesday morning. Don Jaunzemis monitored the status of our cooler and freezer to make sure the food was kept at safe temperatures, and he had even identified a location to move the food to preserve it should our power not have come back on by Tuesday. I so appreciate that our staff just sees what needs to be done in an emergency situation, steps up to do it, keeps everyone necessary informed, and gives me the information I need to make good decisions. Way to go team!
Even though our schedule interruptions (due to water and power outages) have been somewhat disruptive, I can at least say our students have been grateful! One young man shared with me in the cafeteria line that he really enjoyed Monday (even though his mom made him clean up the yard) and he appreciated that it came on a Monday so the weekend was longer. I told him I was glad we could oblige!
The week was unexpectedly shortened for us all and my week has consisted mostly of meetings and paperwork: but there have been some new developments. On Wednesday, we had two visitors from Bowling Green State University, as well as the Mayor of Bellefontaine, pay a visit to tour our campus and discuss possibilities for bringing bachelor’s degree programs to Logan County which would build on associate’s degrees that are earned through our community college partners. They were very familiar with our College Tech Prep programs and were impressed with the many articulation agreements we have in place. Local officials are very eager to bring new postsecondary partners to Logan County to improve the educational level of our workforce and to help retain our young talent. We discussed several areas of most need including healthcare degrees, teacher education programs (particularly in secondary math, science, and special education), and graduate-level coursework for educators needing to renew or upgrade licenses. While having no higher-education institution in Logan County has been a disadvantage, it has resulted in several schools seeking to provide services locally, which can only benefit our high-school students and adults. I expect to see new partners joining our campus soon!
A few of you asked for the answers to the questions posed in my blog in honor of Google’s 10th birthday, and here they are! The population of Uzbekistan is 27.8 million, the state bird of Maine is the blackcap chickadee, and Napoleon Bonaparte was 5 feet 7 inches tall. There you go—remember those tidbits—they may help you win “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” someday!
Fall officially starts Monday—it’s really here! And the Columbus Dispatch reports that today is “Talk Like a Pirate Day.” I’ll let you do with that what you will!
Have a great weekend and enjoy this beautiful weather!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
September 12, 2008
As we wrap up another week, it’s finally feeling like fall and fall activities are ramping up. We really don’t get a period of time to “ease into” the school year anymore or “wind down”—it’s just full steam ahead from start to finish!
Ohio Hi-Point is recognized as a valuable asset to the community and a partner to other organizations in so many ways. A great example is a visit we hosted last Friday evening for Dr. Stephen Jones, the new President of Urbana University, and his wife Judy. I had the pleasure of giving them a tour of our campus (they were impressed, as most are!) Having moved here recently from Alaska, they were not familiar with the career-technical system in Ohio and were amazed at the comprehensive program offerings and opportunities for students to earn college credits. After the tour, we were joined by other Logan Co. folks who serve in some board capacity at Urbana University (I serve on the Foundation Board) for a reception in the Urbana University house on our campus. Dr. Jones shared with us his vision for the University, and he referenced OHP several times as an organization he wants to partner with to bring more college options to Logan Co. We’ve already set a follow-up meeting, and I expect our partnership with UU to expand greatly in the near future!
Monday I attended a meeting of the Ohio Association of Career-Technical Superintendents to begin to draft a response paper to Board of Regents Chancellor Eric Fingerhut’s 10-year Strategic Plan for Higher Education. As I’ve shared with you over the past several months, the new University System of Ohio will encompass Adult Career-Technical Education (including ABLE) officially on January 1, 2009. Our group wants to assure that Chancellor Fingerhut clearly understands the assets and value-added that both Adult and Secondary Career-Technical Education bring to the University System and that we are given equal footing with community colleges and four-year colleges as to funding and ability to delivery training which can lead to college credit. The devil is in the details, and those are yet to be worked out, but I’ll keep you posted!
Tuesday morning we hosted the annual Logan County School/Family Court Meeting as we have for several years. I’m always struck at these meetings the magnitude of issues that our young people face these days, and how important our work is in helping them to succeed. The reality is, we can’t save them all. But I think all of you at OHP do a darn good job of taking kids from where they are, teaching them critical career skills and life skills to help them taste success, and give them a hand-up to the next step in their careers and education. You should all be proud!
I stepped in during the orientation for our new Practical Nursing classes on Wednesday morning—what a big group! These students will be in our daytime and evening courses on Main Campus as well as at our Marysville and Urbana satellite sites. It was fun to see the anticipation on their faces (and maybe a little fear) and to imagine them at their graduation as were the students at the PN graduation last week. It’s going to be hard work, but they’ve got great futures ahead of them! Thanks to Amy Main, Nursing Program Coordinator, for the invitation.
We had our annual Sloan Reception Thursday afternoon to honor Dr. Earl Sloan’s birthday and to thank our Sloan Trustees for their generous support of our programs. We give our students, both high-school and adult, an opportunity to thank the Trustees personally for the impact the equipment purchased with Sloan funds has had on their training. I have to tell you, these students bring me to tears every year (I know—it doesn’t take much. But I saw some of you other staff members getting a little weepy-eyed too!) The Trustees seem to be more overwhelmed by the expressions of gratitude every year. I looked at the photo of Dr. Sloan on the wall and wondered if he could ever have imagined the impact his generosity would have on so many lives. He’d be proud. Thanks to our staff for such a great turnout—it means so much to the trustees and the students!
Robert Walker, Facilities & Grounds Supervisor, shared with me earlier this week that Roy Angle, his long-time mentor and local engineer, passed away. Robert represented the District at the funeral, and he shared with me that the minister commented that Roy was instrumental in securing the site for Ohio Hi-Point Career Center which has since served thousands of young people for their futures. In addition, he noted that the Career Center which Roy was instrumental in getting started has been such a benefit to this community and all the surrounding areas as well. What a touching tribute! Many thanks to Roy for all he did to make our existence possible.
I’ve often said that the many talents of our staff never fail to amaze me! Bob Newland, Auto Collision Teacher, shared with me some of his handy-work. Take a look at the website www.purpleharley.com. Bob painted the red and white Bike of the Month in the center of the page. Beautiful job, Bob! Do you do bicycles?
I’m sure you’ve all heard or read in the media that Governor Strickland has enacted $540 million in budget cuts for the 2008-2009 budget year. (Yep, that’s this year!) The press releases state that several areas, including foundation funding (our per-pupil funding) and career-technical “enhancements” are exempted from the cuts. We have received word from Kathy Shibley, Director of ODE’s Office of Career-Technical Education, that although she has not received specific direction regarding the cuts, it appears that the reference to career-technical “enhancements” includes High Schools That Work, OCIS, part of the Tech Prep Expanded Grant, Correctional Institutions Tech Prep, and the Agriculture 5th quarter program. This is reassuring, since we are involved in most of these programs. Shane Haggerty, Communications Coordinator, and I are preparing a press release to inform our stakeholders how we expect these budget cuts to impact us and what we’re doing to prepare. Keep an eye on our website for that to come out!
There’s going to be some water falling from the sky this weekend. Don’t panic—for those of you who can’t remember the last time you saw such a thing—that’s rain! Have a great weekend!
Ohio Hi-Point is recognized as a valuable asset to the community and a partner to other organizations in so many ways. A great example is a visit we hosted last Friday evening for Dr. Stephen Jones, the new President of Urbana University, and his wife Judy. I had the pleasure of giving them a tour of our campus (they were impressed, as most are!) Having moved here recently from Alaska, they were not familiar with the career-technical system in Ohio and were amazed at the comprehensive program offerings and opportunities for students to earn college credits. After the tour, we were joined by other Logan Co. folks who serve in some board capacity at Urbana University (I serve on the Foundation Board) for a reception in the Urbana University house on our campus. Dr. Jones shared with us his vision for the University, and he referenced OHP several times as an organization he wants to partner with to bring more college options to Logan Co. We’ve already set a follow-up meeting, and I expect our partnership with UU to expand greatly in the near future!
Monday I attended a meeting of the Ohio Association of Career-Technical Superintendents to begin to draft a response paper to Board of Regents Chancellor Eric Fingerhut’s 10-year Strategic Plan for Higher Education. As I’ve shared with you over the past several months, the new University System of Ohio will encompass Adult Career-Technical Education (including ABLE) officially on January 1, 2009. Our group wants to assure that Chancellor Fingerhut clearly understands the assets and value-added that both Adult and Secondary Career-Technical Education bring to the University System and that we are given equal footing with community colleges and four-year colleges as to funding and ability to delivery training which can lead to college credit. The devil is in the details, and those are yet to be worked out, but I’ll keep you posted!
Tuesday morning we hosted the annual Logan County School/Family Court Meeting as we have for several years. I’m always struck at these meetings the magnitude of issues that our young people face these days, and how important our work is in helping them to succeed. The reality is, we can’t save them all. But I think all of you at OHP do a darn good job of taking kids from where they are, teaching them critical career skills and life skills to help them taste success, and give them a hand-up to the next step in their careers and education. You should all be proud!
I stepped in during the orientation for our new Practical Nursing classes on Wednesday morning—what a big group! These students will be in our daytime and evening courses on Main Campus as well as at our Marysville and Urbana satellite sites. It was fun to see the anticipation on their faces (and maybe a little fear) and to imagine them at their graduation as were the students at the PN graduation last week. It’s going to be hard work, but they’ve got great futures ahead of them! Thanks to Amy Main, Nursing Program Coordinator, for the invitation.
We had our annual Sloan Reception Thursday afternoon to honor Dr. Earl Sloan’s birthday and to thank our Sloan Trustees for their generous support of our programs. We give our students, both high-school and adult, an opportunity to thank the Trustees personally for the impact the equipment purchased with Sloan funds has had on their training. I have to tell you, these students bring me to tears every year (I know—it doesn’t take much. But I saw some of you other staff members getting a little weepy-eyed too!) The Trustees seem to be more overwhelmed by the expressions of gratitude every year. I looked at the photo of Dr. Sloan on the wall and wondered if he could ever have imagined the impact his generosity would have on so many lives. He’d be proud. Thanks to our staff for such a great turnout—it means so much to the trustees and the students!
Robert Walker, Facilities & Grounds Supervisor, shared with me earlier this week that Roy Angle, his long-time mentor and local engineer, passed away. Robert represented the District at the funeral, and he shared with me that the minister commented that Roy was instrumental in securing the site for Ohio Hi-Point Career Center which has since served thousands of young people for their futures. In addition, he noted that the Career Center which Roy was instrumental in getting started has been such a benefit to this community and all the surrounding areas as well. What a touching tribute! Many thanks to Roy for all he did to make our existence possible.
I’ve often said that the many talents of our staff never fail to amaze me! Bob Newland, Auto Collision Teacher, shared with me some of his handy-work. Take a look at the website www.purpleharley.com. Bob painted the red and white Bike of the Month in the center of the page. Beautiful job, Bob! Do you do bicycles?
I’m sure you’ve all heard or read in the media that Governor Strickland has enacted $540 million in budget cuts for the 2008-2009 budget year. (Yep, that’s this year!) The press releases state that several areas, including foundation funding (our per-pupil funding) and career-technical “enhancements” are exempted from the cuts. We have received word from Kathy Shibley, Director of ODE’s Office of Career-Technical Education, that although she has not received specific direction regarding the cuts, it appears that the reference to career-technical “enhancements” includes High Schools That Work, OCIS, part of the Tech Prep Expanded Grant, Correctional Institutions Tech Prep, and the Agriculture 5th quarter program. This is reassuring, since we are involved in most of these programs. Shane Haggerty, Communications Coordinator, and I are preparing a press release to inform our stakeholders how we expect these budget cuts to impact us and what we’re doing to prepare. Keep an eye on our website for that to come out!
There’s going to be some water falling from the sky this weekend. Don’t panic—for those of you who can’t remember the last time you saw such a thing—that’s rain! Have a great weekend!
Thursday, September 4, 2008
September 5, 2008
Boy, these four-day work weeks go fast! Here we are at Friday again. I hope you all had a terrific Labor Day weekend.
I had an e-mail late last week from a young lady (19 years old) who had dropped out of school before the 9th grade and realized she needed to return to school to complete her education. She was initially interested in one of our high-school programs, and I explained she needed to get her eight high-school credits first. I told her if that wasn’t possible through her home school, she should certainly contact our Adult Basic Literacy Education (ABLE) program to get started on her GED preparation. I congratulated her on recognizing the value of continuing her education and wished her the very best. The fact that she contacted us first made me think of our vision . . . “To be the premiere choice to prepare a world-class workforce for new and renewed careers.” The great thing about education is there is no wrong time to get started, and I’m proud that OHP has offerings to assist people at all stages of their lives.
Wednesday at the Logan County Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors meeting, I was able to present a letter of thanks to the Chamber for their very generous donation to our Scholarship Fund as a result of hosting the “Rally at the Peak” (formerly Honda Homecoming) Vendor Fair on our campus in July. I assured them it will help many of our students to continue their studies and to contribute to a strong and healthy economy in the region as high-skilled employees. Because the contract we have entered into for our House Bill 264 energy-saving loan fund does not allow our property to be used for profit-making activities, we will no longer be able to host the Vendor Fair. But I have offered the new organizers (Honda will no longer be involved) the use of our campus for other activities related to the event. My sincere thanks to the many students and staff who volunteered to assisted with the event over the past two years (and to JoEtta Spain for organizing them all!) Your willingness to help has clearly brought benefit to our students!
At Kiwanis on Thursday, our guest speaker was State Supreme Court Justice Evelyn Stratton. Contrary to what I might have expected, she did not give a re-election speech (even though she is running for re-election) and did not give us a rundown of the mundane aspects of her position. Instead, she focused on how she has been blessed through her work to be able to advocate for adopted children and the mentally ill. She ended with a story about her missionary parents, a stranger who helped them in time of need, and how that assistance has come full circle in her life. It’s a wonderful story with an amazing twist at the end that illustrates how we never know the impact of even our smallest acts of kindness. If you Google “Violet Moon Story,” it will take you right to a U-Tube video of Judge Stratton telling the story. It’s well worth 7 ½ minutes of your time!
Speaking of Google, the Columbus Dispatch reports that September 7 is the 10th anniversary of the founding of Google . . . “before which finding the population of Uzbekistan, the state bird of Maine, and the height of Napoleon Bonaparte might have taken us more than 60 seconds.” (Know the answers to those?) How did we ever live without Google?!?
Thursday evening was the 25th annual Adult Education Graduation Ceremony for the Nancy J. Knight School of Nursing. This is always such a touching ceremony, and this year’s was no exception. At the beginning of the ceremony, I saw what appeared to be a brother and sister, probably about four and six years old respectively, squeezed into one chair in the front row of the Seminar Center. I have to say they looked bored to death during the typical introductions and speech-making (particularly mine) that started the evening off. But when their mother walked across that stage to receive her diploma, they gazed up with huge smiles in absolute awe and admiration for her. What a proud moment for that family, and what a great example she set for them as a lifelong learner!
We had a smaller group of PN graduates than usual this year (21 graduates) because it was just our daytime PN class. But next year, with combined daytime and evening classes from Main Campus and our satellites in Marysville and Urbana, we’re anticipating over 80 graduates! Think about the impact the many hundreds of graduates from this program have had on the healthcare industry in our communities over the past 25 years. Our PN staff has to be proud of that—I sure am!
It looks like we’re finally going to get some rain this weekend! I’m grateful mostly for the sake of the farmers, then for those of us who like to garden, and finally just for all of us who have lawns that look like straw mats. The cooler weather will be welcome as well. Enjoy your weekend!
I had an e-mail late last week from a young lady (19 years old) who had dropped out of school before the 9th grade and realized she needed to return to school to complete her education. She was initially interested in one of our high-school programs, and I explained she needed to get her eight high-school credits first. I told her if that wasn’t possible through her home school, she should certainly contact our Adult Basic Literacy Education (ABLE) program to get started on her GED preparation. I congratulated her on recognizing the value of continuing her education and wished her the very best. The fact that she contacted us first made me think of our vision . . . “To be the premiere choice to prepare a world-class workforce for new and renewed careers.” The great thing about education is there is no wrong time to get started, and I’m proud that OHP has offerings to assist people at all stages of their lives.
Wednesday at the Logan County Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors meeting, I was able to present a letter of thanks to the Chamber for their very generous donation to our Scholarship Fund as a result of hosting the “Rally at the Peak” (formerly Honda Homecoming) Vendor Fair on our campus in July. I assured them it will help many of our students to continue their studies and to contribute to a strong and healthy economy in the region as high-skilled employees. Because the contract we have entered into for our House Bill 264 energy-saving loan fund does not allow our property to be used for profit-making activities, we will no longer be able to host the Vendor Fair. But I have offered the new organizers (Honda will no longer be involved) the use of our campus for other activities related to the event. My sincere thanks to the many students and staff who volunteered to assisted with the event over the past two years (and to JoEtta Spain for organizing them all!) Your willingness to help has clearly brought benefit to our students!
At Kiwanis on Thursday, our guest speaker was State Supreme Court Justice Evelyn Stratton. Contrary to what I might have expected, she did not give a re-election speech (even though she is running for re-election) and did not give us a rundown of the mundane aspects of her position. Instead, she focused on how she has been blessed through her work to be able to advocate for adopted children and the mentally ill. She ended with a story about her missionary parents, a stranger who helped them in time of need, and how that assistance has come full circle in her life. It’s a wonderful story with an amazing twist at the end that illustrates how we never know the impact of even our smallest acts of kindness. If you Google “Violet Moon Story,” it will take you right to a U-Tube video of Judge Stratton telling the story. It’s well worth 7 ½ minutes of your time!
Speaking of Google, the Columbus Dispatch reports that September 7 is the 10th anniversary of the founding of Google . . . “before which finding the population of Uzbekistan, the state bird of Maine, and the height of Napoleon Bonaparte might have taken us more than 60 seconds.” (Know the answers to those?) How did we ever live without Google?!?
Thursday evening was the 25th annual Adult Education Graduation Ceremony for the Nancy J. Knight School of Nursing. This is always such a touching ceremony, and this year’s was no exception. At the beginning of the ceremony, I saw what appeared to be a brother and sister, probably about four and six years old respectively, squeezed into one chair in the front row of the Seminar Center. I have to say they looked bored to death during the typical introductions and speech-making (particularly mine) that started the evening off. But when their mother walked across that stage to receive her diploma, they gazed up with huge smiles in absolute awe and admiration for her. What a proud moment for that family, and what a great example she set for them as a lifelong learner!
We had a smaller group of PN graduates than usual this year (21 graduates) because it was just our daytime PN class. But next year, with combined daytime and evening classes from Main Campus and our satellites in Marysville and Urbana, we’re anticipating over 80 graduates! Think about the impact the many hundreds of graduates from this program have had on the healthcare industry in our communities over the past 25 years. Our PN staff has to be proud of that—I sure am!
It looks like we’re finally going to get some rain this weekend! I’m grateful mostly for the sake of the farmers, then for those of us who like to garden, and finally just for all of us who have lawns that look like straw mats. The cooler weather will be welcome as well. Enjoy your weekend!
Thursday, August 28, 2008
August 29, 2008
Well, we’re off and running with a brand new school year! It was great to welcome our new staff last Monday and our entire staff back last Tuesday. And it’s always great to have our high-school students back both on our Main Campus and in our Satellite programs. We’re glad to have a breather during the summer to get caught up on work and prepare for the coming school year, but it’s great to have the hallways filled with the smiles and voices of our students again.
Of course, our adult education students are with us year-round, with start-ups and graduations at various points in the year. With new programs being started here on Main Campus and out in our communities all the time, it’s tough for me to keep track of (I know the adult ed. staff probably tire of my asking and re-asking when classes are starting, who’s teaching where, and when classes finish!) One big event that’s coming up for adult education is our Practical Nursing graduation which will take place on Thursday, September 7, at 7 p.m. in the Seminar Center. Join us if you can—it’s a very moving ceremony as these adults of all ages embark on their nursing careers!
I’ve had a chance to be in our Main Building and interact with students a little bit over the past week, which is always a treat. Somehow I’ve managed to hit the lunch line three days in a row at the same time and have had lunch with Megan from Professional Turf and Landscaping. She’s been so good to sit and talk with me on those days, and I’ve learned a lot from this young lady. One thing I learned is that the idea of putting a penny in your hanging flower baskets to keep bugs off is a myth. So don’t waste your pennies! Thanks for clearing that up, Megan. I also talked with Brittany from Early Childhood Education II in the lunch line one day. When I asked her how her program as going, she said, “I love this program. It’s my life!” She has big plans for winning at state competition this year; and judging by her determination, I think Brittany will make that happen!
On Wednesday, Doug Limes presented me with a copy of a drawing (framed and all) that one of his students, Robert, had done titled “Battle for High Point.” This young man is quite an artist and likes to sketch various historical battles. He created this one depicting a battle to defend our campus, and it’s really amazing. You’re all invited to stop up and see it. Thank you Robert for the drawing, and thank you Doug for sharing!
If you’ve been on campus I’m sure you’ve noticed the many facilities improvements we’ve made this past summer. Summer is always a real rush to get these projects started and completed at least to the point where we can function within such a short time. The new flooring and furnishings have made a huge improvement, and our Facilities & Grounds staff pulled off a miracle moving all of that lab equipment in and out during the project. I appreciate everyone's patience as we put the finishing touches on some of the work and wait for some back-ordered items to come in. In the end, it’s well worth it and ultimately benefits our students. As we’ve worked in phases over the past several years to upgrade our campus, I’ve been so pleased with the gratitude our students have expressed for the improvements and for their maturity in taking care of the new items. Just goes to show, I think, that if you expect great behavior out of students you usually get it.
I’m on a mailing list with the Ohio State University Learning Center, and about once a month I receive an e-mail called “Leadership Moments.” This week I got one that reminded me so much of all of you and the excellence you demonstrate every day:
The opportunities for excellence are all around us. They come in many different forms: emails requesting help, demands for an unexpected report, a fellow employee facing a problem with new software, a customer calling with a billing problem, a guest showing up early and in desperate need of a room, a new deadline for a proposal, a leaking faucet, a hysterical patient in need of medical help, or a lost person seeking directions. All around us are people who need and seek our help. They are a burden if we choose to see them as such; alternatively, they are also opportunities to create masterpieces. It is up to us to choose how to view and to respond to them.
We do not need to wait for tragic events, once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, or legendary occurrences. Every new day brings opportunities to transform tedious mechanical work to fine art in a moment of Daily Choice. Rather than planning to do excellence one day in the future, or waiting for opportunity to knock on the door, we need to discover excellence in everything we do. The opportunities are numerous as the people we meet and communicate with every day. The people who are impacted by the results of our work are our opportunities for excellence.
Reference: Arussy, L., (2008). Excellence every day: make the daily choice – inspire your employees and amaze your customers. Medford, NJ: Information Today, Inc.
I see examples of excellence every day in our district in the way you serve our students, deal with the public, take care of our facilities, and work collaboratively to be the best career-technical school we can be. We’re off to the start of another great year, and I look forward to celebrating excellence even more than ever.
As summer starts to near its end, the nights get cooler, and the crickets get louder, I’m trying to take advantage of as much great summer food as I can. I think the sweet corn this summer has been absolutely out of this world! I was reading an article about “corn on the cob facts” (I know, I need to expand my reading repertoire), and I learned that each ear of corn has about 600 kernels, and there is one strand of silk for each kernel. Who knew?
As much as I’d like to say enjoy the beautiful weather we’re going to have this weekend, we could really use rain instead! But enjoy the warmth and sunshine—before we know it the snow will be flying. Have a great weekend!
Of course, our adult education students are with us year-round, with start-ups and graduations at various points in the year. With new programs being started here on Main Campus and out in our communities all the time, it’s tough for me to keep track of (I know the adult ed. staff probably tire of my asking and re-asking when classes are starting, who’s teaching where, and when classes finish!) One big event that’s coming up for adult education is our Practical Nursing graduation which will take place on Thursday, September 7, at 7 p.m. in the Seminar Center. Join us if you can—it’s a very moving ceremony as these adults of all ages embark on their nursing careers!
I’ve had a chance to be in our Main Building and interact with students a little bit over the past week, which is always a treat. Somehow I’ve managed to hit the lunch line three days in a row at the same time and have had lunch with Megan from Professional Turf and Landscaping. She’s been so good to sit and talk with me on those days, and I’ve learned a lot from this young lady. One thing I learned is that the idea of putting a penny in your hanging flower baskets to keep bugs off is a myth. So don’t waste your pennies! Thanks for clearing that up, Megan. I also talked with Brittany from Early Childhood Education II in the lunch line one day. When I asked her how her program as going, she said, “I love this program. It’s my life!” She has big plans for winning at state competition this year; and judging by her determination, I think Brittany will make that happen!
On Wednesday, Doug Limes presented me with a copy of a drawing (framed and all) that one of his students, Robert, had done titled “Battle for High Point.” This young man is quite an artist and likes to sketch various historical battles. He created this one depicting a battle to defend our campus, and it’s really amazing. You’re all invited to stop up and see it. Thank you Robert for the drawing, and thank you Doug for sharing!
If you’ve been on campus I’m sure you’ve noticed the many facilities improvements we’ve made this past summer. Summer is always a real rush to get these projects started and completed at least to the point where we can function within such a short time. The new flooring and furnishings have made a huge improvement, and our Facilities & Grounds staff pulled off a miracle moving all of that lab equipment in and out during the project. I appreciate everyone's patience as we put the finishing touches on some of the work and wait for some back-ordered items to come in. In the end, it’s well worth it and ultimately benefits our students. As we’ve worked in phases over the past several years to upgrade our campus, I’ve been so pleased with the gratitude our students have expressed for the improvements and for their maturity in taking care of the new items. Just goes to show, I think, that if you expect great behavior out of students you usually get it.
I’m on a mailing list with the Ohio State University Learning Center, and about once a month I receive an e-mail called “Leadership Moments.” This week I got one that reminded me so much of all of you and the excellence you demonstrate every day:
The opportunities for excellence are all around us. They come in many different forms: emails requesting help, demands for an unexpected report, a fellow employee facing a problem with new software, a customer calling with a billing problem, a guest showing up early and in desperate need of a room, a new deadline for a proposal, a leaking faucet, a hysterical patient in need of medical help, or a lost person seeking directions. All around us are people who need and seek our help. They are a burden if we choose to see them as such; alternatively, they are also opportunities to create masterpieces. It is up to us to choose how to view and to respond to them.
We do not need to wait for tragic events, once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, or legendary occurrences. Every new day brings opportunities to transform tedious mechanical work to fine art in a moment of Daily Choice. Rather than planning to do excellence one day in the future, or waiting for opportunity to knock on the door, we need to discover excellence in everything we do. The opportunities are numerous as the people we meet and communicate with every day. The people who are impacted by the results of our work are our opportunities for excellence.
Reference: Arussy, L., (2008). Excellence every day: make the daily choice – inspire your employees and amaze your customers. Medford, NJ: Information Today, Inc.
I see examples of excellence every day in our district in the way you serve our students, deal with the public, take care of our facilities, and work collaboratively to be the best career-technical school we can be. We’re off to the start of another great year, and I look forward to celebrating excellence even more than ever.
As summer starts to near its end, the nights get cooler, and the crickets get louder, I’m trying to take advantage of as much great summer food as I can. I think the sweet corn this summer has been absolutely out of this world! I was reading an article about “corn on the cob facts” (I know, I need to expand my reading repertoire), and I learned that each ear of corn has about 600 kernels, and there is one strand of silk for each kernel. Who knew?
As much as I’d like to say enjoy the beautiful weather we’re going to have this weekend, we could really use rain instead! But enjoy the warmth and sunshine—before we know it the snow will be flying. Have a great weekend!
Friday, May 30, 2008
It occurred to me as I started this message that in last Friday’s TGIF posting I said last week was the last Friday in May. Oops! That would be today! (Surprised no one corrected me on that—you must all be as dazed and confused as I am at this hectic time of year!) But this really is the last Friday in May and it wraps up an absolutely wonderful week at Ohio Hi-Point.
The highlight of the week was Wednesday with our Senior Awards Breakfast and our Convocation. These are two great events that really wrap up the high-school year and put a nice bow on it, reminding us of why we come to work every day—student achievement! It was kind of hard to focus in my office during the middle of the day as the Seniors went through Convocation rehearsal up on the hill—I could sense the anticipation and I was really excited for them. And, while I know I’m just a little biased, I really believe our Convocation ceremony gets more beautiful and more touching every year! I’m not the only one who was impressed; here are some comments I received by e-mail from others:
To each of you and the faculty, I'd like to commend you for an excellent Convocation last evening. It appeared to be the biggest I can remember. What a beautiful setting and evening! The graduates, the faculty, the families and friends, and the press made it a memorable evening. We have a great deal to be proud of and are grateful for each of you as board members. Thank you for all your efforts and leadership. Please pass along.
Anne Reames, OHP Board President (Bellefontaine)
The Convocation last night was again a replica of the top-notch dedication the staff and administration has to provide a setting for the students and parents that they will remember for a lifetime. The program was excellent and the facilities looked great. Please pass along my appreciation for their efforts.
Bill Ramsey, OHP Board Vice President (Benjamin Logan)
What a wonderful ceremony last night!!! I heard some of your staff say it was the best one yet! I am so sorry I haven't attended before now, and I am so glad I went last night. Great job!
Nancy Wood-Allison, Superintendent (Upper Scioto Valley)
I’ve included a photo of the procession from the Peak of Ohio at the right. To see the other great photos from the event, visit our website at www.ohiohipoint.com. I can’t begin to thank all the individuals who had a hand in making this Convocation so lovely; but please know that I realize it takes a tremendous team effort; and you can take satisfaction knowing that your work means a great deal to me, our Board, our community, and most importantly our students!
I also received some high praise late last week from partner school staff for three of our staff members who went above and beyond to help one of our students reach success:
I would like to let you know how much help 3 of your employees were to our school. We had a student who did not pass the Social Studies OGT. Through the process of informing students of scores and checking to see if (this student) qualified under the alternative pathway for graduation, three of your employees were very helpful. These are Shelly Swaney (Instructional Supervisor), Lynne Hall (Guidance Counselor), and Darlene Roll (Intervention Aide). I would like you to know how much these ladies did to help us out.
Thank you,
Craig M. Hurley, Principal (Upper Scioto Valley)
I appreciate Craig sharing, and I hope these three ladies realize the impact they’ve had on this student’s life. Thank you!
Sometimes our students don’t reach success along the path we would like, but I firmly believe we “plant a seed” for success within every student we serve! One perfect example was shared with me by Dave Marsteller, our Carpentry Teacher. He received this e-mail from one of his former students. (Note: I've omitted the student’s name and have not corrected for spelling or grammar!)
Hey Mr. Marsteller, well I lied on your voice mail im writing you now. But that's cool I hope. Anyways like I said I never knew you sent me a letter. Right now I'm on a 3 day home visit and I'm helping my mom clean and I found your letter. I was totally shocked. Thank you for writing me. Well I was in JDC for 4 months then they decided to send me to Xenia- Miami Valley Juvenile Rehabilitation Center. I've been there since January 25th. I've got 40 some days left and ill be done. I've gotten the opportunity to graduate. I had to double up on my school work, but now i get my diploma in 9 days!!!! Well yesterday on my way home i passed the house. Man you guys are doing a GREAT job on that house. I love the brick it looks awesome. But hey i want you to know I'm not giving up on my dream to become a carpenter! Im 18 now and I'm going to be a graduate soon and I'm going to talk to the superintendent and hopefully he will let me come to do night classes with you! I'm DETERMINED!!! Its my dream and I'm going to fulfill it. So hopefully you could put in a good word with him if he happens to ask about me. I'm sorry i basically bailed on you. I made a really big mistake but im not letting that hold me back. So i just wanted to tell you thank you so much for writing me and you may write me were im at if you would like.
Dave has to feel good about the impact he had on this young man, and I think the fact that this student reached out to communicate with Dave reflects the respect he has for Dave as a teacher and mentor. Dave, I think this young man is going to make it! Thanks for the crucial role you played in his life.
While I’m on the topic of achievement, I have another staff achievement to share! I received this e-mail from Susie Knox, Practical Nursing Instructor and our resident running coach:
I did not know if you were aware that Mary Jo Alstaetter (ProjectSEARCH Teacher) walked the Cleveland Rock and Roll Half Marathon this past Sunday (13.1 miles). I think she should be acknowledged for this accomplishment. Mary Jo is pumped up and signing up for two more! I am trying to encourage other staff to follow in her footsteps, particularly two of my Get Fit for Life team members that have done a super job moving toward a healthier weight. Our team is leading the weight loss challenge going into the final weigh-in; we had lost a total of 71 pounds between us with our Monday weigh-in. We were never mentioned early on as we did it slow and steady, but we have persisted.
Mary Jo agreed to let me share this so long as I encouraged others to get active too. Thanks, Mary Jo, for being such an inspiration—and best wishes in the other events you’ll be walking in!
I also want to congratulate all of you who have participated in our “Biggest Loser” contest. Winning is great; but whether you were the “biggest” loser or not, if you reached a goal or are off to a good start, that’s what counts. Keep it up!
This will be my last TGIF for the year, as most of our staff will be off enjoying their summers, participating in professional development, taking classes, or just recharging batteries! My heartfelt thanks to all of our staff for another wonderful year and for all you do for our students! Have a wonderful summer, be safe traveling, and I’ll see you back here in the fall!
The highlight of the week was Wednesday with our Senior Awards Breakfast and our Convocation. These are two great events that really wrap up the high-school year and put a nice bow on it, reminding us of why we come to work every day—student achievement! It was kind of hard to focus in my office during the middle of the day as the Seniors went through Convocation rehearsal up on the hill—I could sense the anticipation and I was really excited for them. And, while I know I’m just a little biased, I really believe our Convocation ceremony gets more beautiful and more touching every year! I’m not the only one who was impressed; here are some comments I received by e-mail from others:
To each of you and the faculty, I'd like to commend you for an excellent Convocation last evening. It appeared to be the biggest I can remember. What a beautiful setting and evening! The graduates, the faculty, the families and friends, and the press made it a memorable evening. We have a great deal to be proud of and are grateful for each of you as board members. Thank you for all your efforts and leadership. Please pass along.
Anne Reames, OHP Board President (Bellefontaine)
The Convocation last night was again a replica of the top-notch dedication the staff and administration has to provide a setting for the students and parents that they will remember for a lifetime. The program was excellent and the facilities looked great. Please pass along my appreciation for their efforts.
Bill Ramsey, OHP Board Vice President (Benjamin Logan)
What a wonderful ceremony last night!!! I heard some of your staff say it was the best one yet! I am so sorry I haven't attended before now, and I am so glad I went last night. Great job!
Nancy Wood-Allison, Superintendent (Upper Scioto Valley)
I’ve included a photo of the procession from the Peak of Ohio at the right. To see the other great photos from the event, visit our website at www.ohiohipoint.com. I can’t begin to thank all the individuals who had a hand in making this Convocation so lovely; but please know that I realize it takes a tremendous team effort; and you can take satisfaction knowing that your work means a great deal to me, our Board, our community, and most importantly our students!
I also received some high praise late last week from partner school staff for three of our staff members who went above and beyond to help one of our students reach success:
I would like to let you know how much help 3 of your employees were to our school. We had a student who did not pass the Social Studies OGT. Through the process of informing students of scores and checking to see if (this student) qualified under the alternative pathway for graduation, three of your employees were very helpful. These are Shelly Swaney (Instructional Supervisor), Lynne Hall (Guidance Counselor), and Darlene Roll (Intervention Aide). I would like you to know how much these ladies did to help us out.
Thank you,
Craig M. Hurley, Principal (Upper Scioto Valley)
I appreciate Craig sharing, and I hope these three ladies realize the impact they’ve had on this student’s life. Thank you!
Sometimes our students don’t reach success along the path we would like, but I firmly believe we “plant a seed” for success within every student we serve! One perfect example was shared with me by Dave Marsteller, our Carpentry Teacher. He received this e-mail from one of his former students. (Note: I've omitted the student’s name and have not corrected for spelling or grammar!)
Hey Mr. Marsteller, well I lied on your voice mail im writing you now. But that's cool I hope. Anyways like I said I never knew you sent me a letter. Right now I'm on a 3 day home visit and I'm helping my mom clean and I found your letter. I was totally shocked. Thank you for writing me. Well I was in JDC for 4 months then they decided to send me to Xenia- Miami Valley Juvenile Rehabilitation Center. I've been there since January 25th. I've got 40 some days left and ill be done. I've gotten the opportunity to graduate. I had to double up on my school work, but now i get my diploma in 9 days!!!! Well yesterday on my way home i passed the house. Man you guys are doing a GREAT job on that house. I love the brick it looks awesome. But hey i want you to know I'm not giving up on my dream to become a carpenter! Im 18 now and I'm going to be a graduate soon and I'm going to talk to the superintendent and hopefully he will let me come to do night classes with you! I'm DETERMINED!!! Its my dream and I'm going to fulfill it. So hopefully you could put in a good word with him if he happens to ask about me. I'm sorry i basically bailed on you. I made a really big mistake but im not letting that hold me back. So i just wanted to tell you thank you so much for writing me and you may write me were im at if you would like.
Dave has to feel good about the impact he had on this young man, and I think the fact that this student reached out to communicate with Dave reflects the respect he has for Dave as a teacher and mentor. Dave, I think this young man is going to make it! Thanks for the crucial role you played in his life.
While I’m on the topic of achievement, I have another staff achievement to share! I received this e-mail from Susie Knox, Practical Nursing Instructor and our resident running coach:
I did not know if you were aware that Mary Jo Alstaetter (ProjectSEARCH Teacher) walked the Cleveland Rock and Roll Half Marathon this past Sunday (13.1 miles). I think she should be acknowledged for this accomplishment. Mary Jo is pumped up and signing up for two more! I am trying to encourage other staff to follow in her footsteps, particularly two of my Get Fit for Life team members that have done a super job moving toward a healthier weight. Our team is leading the weight loss challenge going into the final weigh-in; we had lost a total of 71 pounds between us with our Monday weigh-in. We were never mentioned early on as we did it slow and steady, but we have persisted.
Mary Jo agreed to let me share this so long as I encouraged others to get active too. Thanks, Mary Jo, for being such an inspiration—and best wishes in the other events you’ll be walking in!
I also want to congratulate all of you who have participated in our “Biggest Loser” contest. Winning is great; but whether you were the “biggest” loser or not, if you reached a goal or are off to a good start, that’s what counts. Keep it up!
This will be my last TGIF for the year, as most of our staff will be off enjoying their summers, participating in professional development, taking classes, or just recharging batteries! My heartfelt thanks to all of our staff for another wonderful year and for all you do for our students! Have a wonderful summer, be safe traveling, and I’ll see you back here in the fall!
Friday, May 23, 2008
May 23, 2008
Happy TGIF on this last Friday in May (yikes)! I apologize I didn’t get this out prior to the end of the school day; just too much going on! But I know I don’t have to tell all of you that.
This is that time of year I get my favorite case of writer’s cramp signing all the certificates of award for our students (and wishing I had prettier handwriting!) It starts about mid-May with all of our high-school honors and continues right through GED graduation in June and Practical Nursing graduation in September. This is the real “payoff time” for our students as they achieve their goals here and move on to the next step in their career pathways. As I signed the high school Certificates of Completion this week, I recognized several familiar last names. We should be proud of the fact that we serve so many students whose siblings have attended OHP. For a parent to allow us to serve two or more children is a real show of confidence in our fine programs! I also recognized a couple of last names that matched those of our staff and, as I’ve said in the past, allowing us to serve a child is the ultimate compliment from a staff member!
Our programs provide customer service to our communities in more ways than I can name, and I often receive compliments on the fine work our students do. This week I received a letter from Jennifer Wanamaker, PTO President at Fairbanks Elementary, about such fine work. Jennifer wrote:
The Printing & Graphics Program under the supervision of Tom Carrig is top notch! Our PTO was in need of notepads and staff tee shirts for Teacher/Staff Appreciation Week. In addition, we needed a design to be printed on tee shirts for our Spring Fairbanks FUN’d Walk. Through the efforts of Angie Walls coordinating with Tom Carrig, our need was filled and expectations exceeded! The Printing & Graphics Programs designed and made over 70 notepads, 182 tee shirts for our walk, and 46 tee shirts for our elementary staff. The staff raved over the original design and high quality of their new shirts. It was the highlight of their week! . . . I understand that one student in particular worked extra hard on this project. Please acknowledge the efforts of Jennifer Grube. Her vision and ability are incredible!
I happened to visit the Printing & Graphics lab while this project was underway, and I agree with Jennifer! The tee shirts were adorable. Thank you to Mr. Carrig and Mrs. Walls for giving our students this opportunity to shine!
I also received a letter from Marysville Middle School this week applauding the efforts of another of our staff members. (It’s been a fun week to open the mail!) Janet Dunn, Marysville Middle School Career and Consumer Science Teacher, wrote:
On behalf of the students, staff, and administration of Marysville Middle School, I wish to thank you and the Ohio Hi-Point Career Center for making presentations about Ohio Hi-Point Career Center possible for our eighth-grade students during the 2007-08 school year. JoEtta Spain and the student ambassadors provided very informative and engaging talks for our middle school students. Eighth grade students are very excited to plan their high school and career futures. Learning about the opportunities that await at Ohio Hi-Point are important facts to add to their pool of choices. . . . It is my hope that many Marysville students will exercise the opportunity to visit your campus during their freshman and sophomore years to gain an even deeper awareness of the wonderful opportunities that are available through Ohio Hi-Point. I hope that Marysville Schools will continue to enroll quality students in your programs and that our students will use their skills to become positive and productive members of our community.
What a tribute to JoEtta and our student ambassadors! Thanks for the fine work you do in representing us to Marysville and our other partner schools.
As you know, we’re all about accountability in career-technical education, and that applies to all of our programs which serve all age levels. We received word this week that our ABLE (Adult Basic Literacy Education) Program received a Superior rating from the Ohio Department of Education for the 2006/2007 school year. This rating is based on a review of several areas including student achievement, enrollment, retention, cost per student, student standardized test scores, and administrative requirements. Congratulations to Sharon Halter, ABLE/GED Coordinator and her talented, dedicated staff for the fine work they do in serving our adult population. And speaking of our GED program, I strongly encourage you to attend our GED graduation on June 5 at 7 p.m. in the Seminar Center. This is one of the most touching ceremonies I have the privilege of attending every year, and it’s a reminder to us all that achievement comes at all ages and through many forms of motivation. I promise you you’ll be inspired!
As for events for the week, I’ve had some interesting ones! Monday I had a visit from Ed Roberts, a legislative aide in the office of U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown. He had heard about Ohio Hi-Point Career Center in workforce development discussions with both the Logan and Champaign County Chambers of Commerce (good for us!) So he called to set up a meeting to see what we’re all about. I talked with Mr. Roberts about our many high-school and adult education programs and the value we bring to workforce development training. Then I gave him a tour of our campus. Unfortunately, our students had left for the day, but several of our staff members were in their labs. Whenever I get the chance, I’ve learned it’s best to be quiet and let our staff tell their story; and they did a fantastic job! Mr. Roberts was, as so many are, amazed at what we offer and the high level of academic and technical education that our students receive. My thanks to Craig Bales, Art Spragen, Deb Purcell, and Tammy Heitmeyer for doing us all so proud!
Thursday afternoon I, along with several other staff members, stopped by the Construction Trades Academy Project House Open House. Once again, our Construction Trades Programs have outdone themselves in constructing a beautiful home for developer Dave Duff. It doesn’t get much more “authentic” than this as far as putting technical skills to work in the real world! The students obviously took a great deal of pride in their work, and the many parents and friends who visited also beamed with pride. Congratulations to Mr. Hedges, Mr. Lawrence, Mr. Limes, and Mr. Marsteller for another successful year! And I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag, but stay tuned for some really neat innovative technology on next year’s project house.
Thursday evening I attended the Mad River Region Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame Awards in Springfield (I serve on the Logan County Junior Achievement Board). Jerry Shiffer was honored posthumously as a Hall of Fame Laureate; many of you will remember that Jerry was the visionary behind our Aviation Occupations Program. Congressman Dave Hobson was also honored. I sat next to former U.S. Congressman Clarence Brown who lives in Urbana and was pleased to learn that he is very familiar with Ohio Hi-Point and our programs. He was especially complimentary of our efforts to provide satellite programs in Champaign County to better serve that area with both high-school and adult programs. I don’t know when I’ll quit being surprised that we’re as well known as we are—we really have done a commendable job of getting the word out about what we do!
Well, it looks as if it’s finally going to start feeling like spring (maybe even summer!) this weekend. I hope you have (or had) a wonderful extended weekend and that you took time to remember those who have served our country as well as those whom you’ve lost who are dear to you.
This is that time of year I get my favorite case of writer’s cramp signing all the certificates of award for our students (and wishing I had prettier handwriting!) It starts about mid-May with all of our high-school honors and continues right through GED graduation in June and Practical Nursing graduation in September. This is the real “payoff time” for our students as they achieve their goals here and move on to the next step in their career pathways. As I signed the high school Certificates of Completion this week, I recognized several familiar last names. We should be proud of the fact that we serve so many students whose siblings have attended OHP. For a parent to allow us to serve two or more children is a real show of confidence in our fine programs! I also recognized a couple of last names that matched those of our staff and, as I’ve said in the past, allowing us to serve a child is the ultimate compliment from a staff member!
Our programs provide customer service to our communities in more ways than I can name, and I often receive compliments on the fine work our students do. This week I received a letter from Jennifer Wanamaker, PTO President at Fairbanks Elementary, about such fine work. Jennifer wrote:
The Printing & Graphics Program under the supervision of Tom Carrig is top notch! Our PTO was in need of notepads and staff tee shirts for Teacher/Staff Appreciation Week. In addition, we needed a design to be printed on tee shirts for our Spring Fairbanks FUN’d Walk. Through the efforts of Angie Walls coordinating with Tom Carrig, our need was filled and expectations exceeded! The Printing & Graphics Programs designed and made over 70 notepads, 182 tee shirts for our walk, and 46 tee shirts for our elementary staff. The staff raved over the original design and high quality of their new shirts. It was the highlight of their week! . . . I understand that one student in particular worked extra hard on this project. Please acknowledge the efforts of Jennifer Grube. Her vision and ability are incredible!
I happened to visit the Printing & Graphics lab while this project was underway, and I agree with Jennifer! The tee shirts were adorable. Thank you to Mr. Carrig and Mrs. Walls for giving our students this opportunity to shine!
I also received a letter from Marysville Middle School this week applauding the efforts of another of our staff members. (It’s been a fun week to open the mail!) Janet Dunn, Marysville Middle School Career and Consumer Science Teacher, wrote:
On behalf of the students, staff, and administration of Marysville Middle School, I wish to thank you and the Ohio Hi-Point Career Center for making presentations about Ohio Hi-Point Career Center possible for our eighth-grade students during the 2007-08 school year. JoEtta Spain and the student ambassadors provided very informative and engaging talks for our middle school students. Eighth grade students are very excited to plan their high school and career futures. Learning about the opportunities that await at Ohio Hi-Point are important facts to add to their pool of choices. . . . It is my hope that many Marysville students will exercise the opportunity to visit your campus during their freshman and sophomore years to gain an even deeper awareness of the wonderful opportunities that are available through Ohio Hi-Point. I hope that Marysville Schools will continue to enroll quality students in your programs and that our students will use their skills to become positive and productive members of our community.
What a tribute to JoEtta and our student ambassadors! Thanks for the fine work you do in representing us to Marysville and our other partner schools.
As you know, we’re all about accountability in career-technical education, and that applies to all of our programs which serve all age levels. We received word this week that our ABLE (Adult Basic Literacy Education) Program received a Superior rating from the Ohio Department of Education for the 2006/2007 school year. This rating is based on a review of several areas including student achievement, enrollment, retention, cost per student, student standardized test scores, and administrative requirements. Congratulations to Sharon Halter, ABLE/GED Coordinator and her talented, dedicated staff for the fine work they do in serving our adult population. And speaking of our GED program, I strongly encourage you to attend our GED graduation on June 5 at 7 p.m. in the Seminar Center. This is one of the most touching ceremonies I have the privilege of attending every year, and it’s a reminder to us all that achievement comes at all ages and through many forms of motivation. I promise you you’ll be inspired!
As for events for the week, I’ve had some interesting ones! Monday I had a visit from Ed Roberts, a legislative aide in the office of U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown. He had heard about Ohio Hi-Point Career Center in workforce development discussions with both the Logan and Champaign County Chambers of Commerce (good for us!) So he called to set up a meeting to see what we’re all about. I talked with Mr. Roberts about our many high-school and adult education programs and the value we bring to workforce development training. Then I gave him a tour of our campus. Unfortunately, our students had left for the day, but several of our staff members were in their labs. Whenever I get the chance, I’ve learned it’s best to be quiet and let our staff tell their story; and they did a fantastic job! Mr. Roberts was, as so many are, amazed at what we offer and the high level of academic and technical education that our students receive. My thanks to Craig Bales, Art Spragen, Deb Purcell, and Tammy Heitmeyer for doing us all so proud!
Thursday afternoon I, along with several other staff members, stopped by the Construction Trades Academy Project House Open House. Once again, our Construction Trades Programs have outdone themselves in constructing a beautiful home for developer Dave Duff. It doesn’t get much more “authentic” than this as far as putting technical skills to work in the real world! The students obviously took a great deal of pride in their work, and the many parents and friends who visited also beamed with pride. Congratulations to Mr. Hedges, Mr. Lawrence, Mr. Limes, and Mr. Marsteller for another successful year! And I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag, but stay tuned for some really neat innovative technology on next year’s project house.
Thursday evening I attended the Mad River Region Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame Awards in Springfield (I serve on the Logan County Junior Achievement Board). Jerry Shiffer was honored posthumously as a Hall of Fame Laureate; many of you will remember that Jerry was the visionary behind our Aviation Occupations Program. Congressman Dave Hobson was also honored. I sat next to former U.S. Congressman Clarence Brown who lives in Urbana and was pleased to learn that he is very familiar with Ohio Hi-Point and our programs. He was especially complimentary of our efforts to provide satellite programs in Champaign County to better serve that area with both high-school and adult programs. I don’t know when I’ll quit being surprised that we’re as well known as we are—we really have done a commendable job of getting the word out about what we do!
Well, it looks as if it’s finally going to start feeling like spring (maybe even summer!) this weekend. I hope you have (or had) a wonderful extended weekend and that you took time to remember those who have served our country as well as those whom you’ve lost who are dear to you.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
May 16, 2008
Can it possibly be Friday again? These weeks are going by way too fast (we all have too much to do at this time of year!) But all of your efforts are paying off in such neat ways.
This past Saturday, we held our 4th annual Top of Ohio 5K Run/Walk. What a great event! The weather was perfect—we had a beautiful day sandwiched in between two cold, rainy days. We also had a record turnout—103 runners/walkers last I heard. I couldn’t run because I had to be the starter and give medals at the finish (oh darn), but it was really fun to see so many of our staff and community members come across the finish line. I even had an Urbana City Schools staff member stop me as she came across the finish line to tell me how great our programs are for her students! This event is a fundraiser for our scholarship fund; and while I haven’t heard the final tally yet, I know the amount raised will top previous years and assist many of our students in pursuing higher education. Thanks to Shane Haggerty for heading up the organization of the event, and thanks to the many staff members (and adult education students!) who volunteered or participated to help make it a success!
Tuesday morning I attended the ProjectSEARCH Recognition Breakfast at Logan Acres. This is one of the most gratifying events I attend all year. These young adults with disabilities spend a year polishing their employability skills and learning valuable job skills, and it was a delight to hear each of them share what they had learned, what their strengths are, and what their plans are for the future. This program is a partnership among several community partners, and the commitment was very apparent as evidenced by those in attendance from Logan Co. MRDD, BVR, Logan Co. Commissioners, Logan Acres, our partner schools, our own staff, and of course parents and other supporters. Many thanks to Mary Jo Alstaetter who is the passion behind this program, and Barb Culp, her committed and enthusiastic aide. The young folks completing this program will no doubt become a valuable asset in our communities.
Wednesday evening our Animal Technology and Professional Turf and Landscaping Programs held their annual honors banquet. It’s always a nice evening, and the scope of awards presented never fails to impress me. The students “run the show” at this banquet and do a terrific job! Many thanks to the students and their instructors, Robin Curley and Cole Carpenter, for such a great event and for your work with these great students all year!
I serve on the Board of Directors for the Graham Digital Academy, and Thursday evening I attended their Annual Honors Ceremony. These are students who, for whatever reason, choose an alternative form of education. The GDA serves students in grades K-12, and they’re an amazing group of students. I was especially proud to hear that two of their graduating seniors have completed one of our programs—one in Aviation Occupations and one in Biotechnology. This is a perfect example of collaboration to serve the unique needs of students, and I appreciate the partnership with GDA. Thanks to Frank Drain, Aviation teacher, and Cheryl Hess, Biotechnology teacher, for your support of these students and for bringing their dreams to life!
I’m tempted to whine a little about the weather not being as warm and sunny as I’d like for mid-May; but when I consider the suffering of those around the world who are enduring hurricanes, earthquakes, tornados, and wildfires, I realize how very fortunate we are. Enjoy your cool, cloudy weekend!
This past Saturday, we held our 4th annual Top of Ohio 5K Run/Walk. What a great event! The weather was perfect—we had a beautiful day sandwiched in between two cold, rainy days. We also had a record turnout—103 runners/walkers last I heard. I couldn’t run because I had to be the starter and give medals at the finish (oh darn), but it was really fun to see so many of our staff and community members come across the finish line. I even had an Urbana City Schools staff member stop me as she came across the finish line to tell me how great our programs are for her students! This event is a fundraiser for our scholarship fund; and while I haven’t heard the final tally yet, I know the amount raised will top previous years and assist many of our students in pursuing higher education. Thanks to Shane Haggerty for heading up the organization of the event, and thanks to the many staff members (and adult education students!) who volunteered or participated to help make it a success!
Tuesday morning I attended the ProjectSEARCH Recognition Breakfast at Logan Acres. This is one of the most gratifying events I attend all year. These young adults with disabilities spend a year polishing their employability skills and learning valuable job skills, and it was a delight to hear each of them share what they had learned, what their strengths are, and what their plans are for the future. This program is a partnership among several community partners, and the commitment was very apparent as evidenced by those in attendance from Logan Co. MRDD, BVR, Logan Co. Commissioners, Logan Acres, our partner schools, our own staff, and of course parents and other supporters. Many thanks to Mary Jo Alstaetter who is the passion behind this program, and Barb Culp, her committed and enthusiastic aide. The young folks completing this program will no doubt become a valuable asset in our communities.
Wednesday evening our Animal Technology and Professional Turf and Landscaping Programs held their annual honors banquet. It’s always a nice evening, and the scope of awards presented never fails to impress me. The students “run the show” at this banquet and do a terrific job! Many thanks to the students and their instructors, Robin Curley and Cole Carpenter, for such a great event and for your work with these great students all year!
I serve on the Board of Directors for the Graham Digital Academy, and Thursday evening I attended their Annual Honors Ceremony. These are students who, for whatever reason, choose an alternative form of education. The GDA serves students in grades K-12, and they’re an amazing group of students. I was especially proud to hear that two of their graduating seniors have completed one of our programs—one in Aviation Occupations and one in Biotechnology. This is a perfect example of collaboration to serve the unique needs of students, and I appreciate the partnership with GDA. Thanks to Frank Drain, Aviation teacher, and Cheryl Hess, Biotechnology teacher, for your support of these students and for bringing their dreams to life!
I’m tempted to whine a little about the weather not being as warm and sunny as I’d like for mid-May; but when I consider the suffering of those around the world who are enduring hurricanes, earthquakes, tornados, and wildfires, I realize how very fortunate we are. Enjoy your cool, cloudy weekend!
Friday, May 9, 2008
May 9, 2008
Happy Friday to you all! Thanks for another great week of supporting our students and helping them achieve and celebrate success.
I want to thank all of our OHP Congress Committee chairs who reported out at our Staff Breakfast on Tuesday morning. When you hear all of those reports at one time, it really hits home how busy the committees are all year and how much they accomplish. These are voluntary, staff-driven committees, and you do a terrific job of making our district a great place to work. Thanks so much!
Wednesday, after the Logan Co. Chamber Board of Directors meeting that was held at the Honda East Liberty plant, I had the opportunity to tour the plant for the first time. Having recently bought a CRV, it was fascinating to see so many of them rolling off the production line! (I believe it’s 950 a day!!) It was also reassuring to see all the quality-control measures that go into making those cars. I made a good choice! (OK, end of my Honda commercial.) But during the tour, our tour guide Cathy mentioned to the group that they expect a very large number of retirees over the next five years and she is excited about a partnership with Ohio Hi-Point to help encourage more people to consider a manufacturing maintenance pathway. Now, she didn’t know me from Adam and her comments were totally unsolicited. How neat!! (Of course, I introduced myself after that and told her we are excited about the partnership, too!)
Thursday we held our annual scholarship selection luncheon, which is always a pleasure. I can’t let the cat out of the bag about selections (scholarships will be announced at the Senior Breakfast on May 28). But I can say that we had a terrible problem—we had so many high-achieving and deserving students that the selection was really very difficult. What a great problem to have—and I think it’s only going to get harder! Thanks to our committee--Harold Marker (Sloan Trustee), Anne Reames (OHP Board President), Lynne Hall, Lynda Arehart, Nila Marquard, Deb Baker, Nikki Smith, and Eric Adelsberger--for your assistance in making these selections. It’s a very gratifying experience!
Thursday evening, I attended our first annual Honored Educators Recognition Banquet as part of our National Teacher Appreciation Week activities. What a delightful evening! Our top 15 students academically selected the educator who they feel has had the most impact on them and presented them with a framed letter of appreciation and photo to commemorate the honor. It was such a pleasure to see both our “cream of the crop” students honored and to see the pride in the honored educators’ eyes in being selected. The students read their letters and they brought tears to my eyes (doesn’t take much, I know!) But I noticed there weren’t many dry eyes in the whole crowd! The event got great front-page coverage on WPKO’s website (www.peakofohio.com) --check it out! Thanks to all who worked so hard to make this inaugural event such a success, and I look forward to this being a long-standing tradition.
I received an e-mail from one of the honored educators, our very own Caleb Lang (Social Studies). I think it really captures the essence of why we chose education as a career:
Dear All,
Thanks so much for your hard work in organizing the banquet last night. I think everyone who attended was touched by the words of the students. I am not sure I deserved the kind words that were spoken but it definitely confirmed that I am doing the right thing with my life. I just wanted to let you know that your work in putting this event together was very much appreciated!
Thanks!
I also had an e-mail from Shannon Donnelly, Intervention Specialist, on another topic and wanted to share part of that with you along the same lines:
Hi Point has been the most rewarding experience I have had as an educator, and I am so thankful that you offered me the opportunity to stay next year. The staff and students are the best and I am so grateful to be a part of the OHP team.
Our staff and students are the best, Shannon; thank you for sharing your thoughts!
I had a chance this morning to hear Senior Project presentations by our Information Technology Program, and all I can say is that I was absolutely in awe. While I couldn’t follow much at all of the content (way over my head!), it was obvious the students knew exactly what they were talking about! High-level critical problem solving was integrated into each project, and it made me realize how far we have come in challenging our students to apply their learning. Thanks to Amanda Blackburn, IT Instructor, for the invitation. I know there were many other Senior Project presentations going on over these final weeks, and I truly wish I could hear them all. Thanks to all of our academic and career-tech instructors who have assisted our students in this very worthwhile endeavor.
The brochure for the 2008 Logan County Home & Garden Tour has been released, and Stop #1 with the featured speaker is our very own Ohio Hi-Point Career Center! Cole Carpenter, Professional Turf and Landscaping teacher, and his students will be landscaping Campbell Hill for this event and I can’t wait to see the end result. The tour is June 8 from 1-6 p.m.; contact the Logan County Chamber if you’re interested. (And, of course, you can walk up to Campbell Hill any time you’d like to see the progress!) Thanks, Cole, for taking on this very worthwhile project with your students.
In closing, I’d like to wish all of our mothers a very happy Mothers Day! Whatever your situation, take time this Sunday to enjoy and appreciate being a mother, having a mother, or remembering a mother. Have a great weekend!
I want to thank all of our OHP Congress Committee chairs who reported out at our Staff Breakfast on Tuesday morning. When you hear all of those reports at one time, it really hits home how busy the committees are all year and how much they accomplish. These are voluntary, staff-driven committees, and you do a terrific job of making our district a great place to work. Thanks so much!
Wednesday, after the Logan Co. Chamber Board of Directors meeting that was held at the Honda East Liberty plant, I had the opportunity to tour the plant for the first time. Having recently bought a CRV, it was fascinating to see so many of them rolling off the production line! (I believe it’s 950 a day!!) It was also reassuring to see all the quality-control measures that go into making those cars. I made a good choice! (OK, end of my Honda commercial.) But during the tour, our tour guide Cathy mentioned to the group that they expect a very large number of retirees over the next five years and she is excited about a partnership with Ohio Hi-Point to help encourage more people to consider a manufacturing maintenance pathway. Now, she didn’t know me from Adam and her comments were totally unsolicited. How neat!! (Of course, I introduced myself after that and told her we are excited about the partnership, too!)
Thursday we held our annual scholarship selection luncheon, which is always a pleasure. I can’t let the cat out of the bag about selections (scholarships will be announced at the Senior Breakfast on May 28). But I can say that we had a terrible problem—we had so many high-achieving and deserving students that the selection was really very difficult. What a great problem to have—and I think it’s only going to get harder! Thanks to our committee--Harold Marker (Sloan Trustee), Anne Reames (OHP Board President), Lynne Hall, Lynda Arehart, Nila Marquard, Deb Baker, Nikki Smith, and Eric Adelsberger--for your assistance in making these selections. It’s a very gratifying experience!
Thursday evening, I attended our first annual Honored Educators Recognition Banquet as part of our National Teacher Appreciation Week activities. What a delightful evening! Our top 15 students academically selected the educator who they feel has had the most impact on them and presented them with a framed letter of appreciation and photo to commemorate the honor. It was such a pleasure to see both our “cream of the crop” students honored and to see the pride in the honored educators’ eyes in being selected. The students read their letters and they brought tears to my eyes (doesn’t take much, I know!) But I noticed there weren’t many dry eyes in the whole crowd! The event got great front-page coverage on WPKO’s website (www.peakofohio.com) --check it out! Thanks to all who worked so hard to make this inaugural event such a success, and I look forward to this being a long-standing tradition.
I received an e-mail from one of the honored educators, our very own Caleb Lang (Social Studies). I think it really captures the essence of why we chose education as a career:
Dear All,
Thanks so much for your hard work in organizing the banquet last night. I think everyone who attended was touched by the words of the students. I am not sure I deserved the kind words that were spoken but it definitely confirmed that I am doing the right thing with my life. I just wanted to let you know that your work in putting this event together was very much appreciated!
Thanks!
I also had an e-mail from Shannon Donnelly, Intervention Specialist, on another topic and wanted to share part of that with you along the same lines:
Hi Point has been the most rewarding experience I have had as an educator, and I am so thankful that you offered me the opportunity to stay next year. The staff and students are the best and I am so grateful to be a part of the OHP team.
Our staff and students are the best, Shannon; thank you for sharing your thoughts!
I had a chance this morning to hear Senior Project presentations by our Information Technology Program, and all I can say is that I was absolutely in awe. While I couldn’t follow much at all of the content (way over my head!), it was obvious the students knew exactly what they were talking about! High-level critical problem solving was integrated into each project, and it made me realize how far we have come in challenging our students to apply their learning. Thanks to Amanda Blackburn, IT Instructor, for the invitation. I know there were many other Senior Project presentations going on over these final weeks, and I truly wish I could hear them all. Thanks to all of our academic and career-tech instructors who have assisted our students in this very worthwhile endeavor.
The brochure for the 2008 Logan County Home & Garden Tour has been released, and Stop #1 with the featured speaker is our very own Ohio Hi-Point Career Center! Cole Carpenter, Professional Turf and Landscaping teacher, and his students will be landscaping Campbell Hill for this event and I can’t wait to see the end result. The tour is June 8 from 1-6 p.m.; contact the Logan County Chamber if you’re interested. (And, of course, you can walk up to Campbell Hill any time you’d like to see the progress!) Thanks, Cole, for taking on this very worthwhile project with your students.
In closing, I’d like to wish all of our mothers a very happy Mothers Day! Whatever your situation, take time this Sunday to enjoy and appreciate being a mother, having a mother, or remembering a mother. Have a great weekend!
Friday, May 2, 2008
May 2, 2008
Looks like we’re going to end this week on a cloudy, rainy note. But we actually can use the rain, so can’t complain.
This morning I saw a group of students loading into a van to undoubtedly head out to another event of some sort, and I know we’re still in that “sprint to the end” of the school year with almost too much going on to keep track of! But it’s important to take time to fully appreciate all the great happenings in our programs.
I serve on the Urbana University Foundation Board of Trustees, and Tuesday evening I had an opportunity to meet and speak with one of the candidates for the presidency at the University. While I’m not at liberty to discuss anything related to him personally, I can say that he and his wife are very familiar with career-technical education in Ohio and value the partnerships that have been forged with higher education in recent years. Whether he is ultimately selected for the position or not, it’s gratifying to know that CTE is very naturally a part of the conversation with candidates for a position such as this. We’re definitely putting ourselves on the “map” of educational pathways!
On Wednesday morning, Logan County TechStart hosted a meeting here on our campus. This is the parent agency for initiatives such as TechColumbus, a technology industry incubator which you might have been reading about in the Dispatch. One of the presenters mentioned a partnership between a technology start-up and the local career center in producing a prototype of a new product. I spoke with him afterward and he shared how very impressed he was with our facilities and asked for an opportunity to learn more about our programs. Of course we’ll give him that opportunity! I can think of a multitude of ways our students could be a valuable resource to entrepreneurs in our area, as well as becoming the entrepreneurs of the future! I look forward to this partnership developing.
Wednesday evening I attended the West Central Ohio Tech Prep Consortium awards dinner along with several other staff members and students. Two of our students (Katie Hoying from Indian Lake in Health Technologies and Dustin Roosa from Urbana in Auto Technologies ) received Rhodes State Scholarships, and Shelly Swaney presented Terri Nichols and Doug Weeks from Honda with a Distinguished Business Partner Award. How great to see Ohio Hi-Point’s outstanding student performance and business partnership initiatives recognized! I know we were all very proud.
Thursday I was able to stop in briefly to hear some of the staff presentations during our early release. It was really gratifying to hear the level of discussion and implementation that our teachers have reached with our High Schools That Work program. And it’s especially exciting to hear how this work is impacting student learning! In the short time I was there, I heard about:
· Academic students taking pride in displaying their work
· Aligning instruction with content standards (tedious but important work!)
· Closing the gap for our students in preparing them for college-level expectations
· Providing duel-enrollment courses
· Collecting data around concerns so that solutions can be targeted and effective
On the technology side, I also heard and saw:
· Second Life application in Printing & Graphics
· A Professional Learning Community related to our TOOLS program focusing on technology integration, the value of technology, and having all students reach technology literacy
· Student podcasting projects and their pride in putting their work out there “for the whole world to see”
· Using graphing calculators to allow students to visualize math concepts.
· E-mailing our daily announcements and the “value added” of including educational information and trivia
· Training for all students on cybersafety, cyberethics, and intellectual property laws (has curriculum changed over the years or what?!?)
What a rich sharing experience for our staff, and I thank all those who participated!
Thursday evening I “graduated” from the Union County Leadership Institute. This was my fourth (and final!) county leadership program since I’ve been in this position. While these programs have required considerable time away from the district and playing “catch-up” upon return, they have also been a tremendously valuable networking and learning experience for me. The biggest benefit I have seen is in these programs is the chance to share the great news about Ohio Hi-Point Career Center throughout our counties and to make connections for our staff and students. The common thread has been the eagerness of businesses and community groups to work with us, which I know is entirely due to the professionalism our students and staff show when they interact within our communities. Thank you!
This TGIF message is a little late today because I’ve had a very busy day with some really great activities. This morning, we hosted a breakfast for the first meeting of our OHP Alumni & Friends Association, a group which has formed to further the “cause” of Ohio Hi-Point in our communities, build a network for alumni and supporters, and strengthen support for our students. We had a wonderful turnout of folks truly committed to these goals. The leadership will be turned over the group at this time, but certainly we will be called upon as staff to assist them in many ways—so stay tuned! Many thanks to Shane Haggerty for conceiving of such a group and organizing this kickoff event.
After that meeting, I met with Bill Russell from the Ohio Board of Regents regarding the transfer of our Adult Education programs to the Board of Regents. Mr. Russell is visiting all 49 career centers in Ohio, and we’re number 36! He took great interest in the variety and scope of programs we offer to adults and was particularly impressed with our industry and higher-education partnerships. He commented that it was like driving onto a college campus to come to OHP, and he noted both the beautiful facilities and the fact that three colleges are housed on our campus. I shared with him concerns we have about the assurance of funding and reasonable credentialing for instructors; but overall we’re very positive about this move. He assured me that he and Chancellor Fingerhut have become keenly aware of the value that our adult workforce programs at career centers bring to Ohio, and their intent it to leverage that network to reach the goal of increasing enrollment in Ohio’s colleges by over 230,000.
After handing Mr. Russell off to Darlene Chiles (thanks, Darlene!) I attended the National Technical Honor Society induction luncheon in the Inn. What a wonderful ceremony! It’s such a pleasure to honor those of our students who have achieved “at the top of the pack” and met very rigorous induction criteria. It was especially nice to see so many parents, grandparents, and other supporters of the students there to share in the celebration with them. Thank you to Mrs. Beale and her students for a delicious lunch, and many thanks to Serena Neer and Melissa Rofe for serving as advisors to NTHS and organizing such a wonderful ceremony!
I’ve said many times that we have an amazing staff and I never cease to be amazed at the talents they exhibit outside of their jobs. One such talent is that if Suzie Knox, an avid runner who has organized a running club among our staff. Suzie recently ran her second Boston Marathon and gave me permission to share her experience stating that it’s one of her proudest personal achievements (no doubt!)
Boston is certainly a tough course with all its hills, but it is the most amazing experience with the hundreds of thousands of spectators cheering you on along the entire course. In my typical running fashion, I looked in awe at my fellow runners and saw how they come in all ages, shapes, cultures/races/nationalities, abilities, and sizes. I looked around and even in the late miles I was running side by side with people with obvious physical handicaps, and people way older than my 48 years. Of course I was running with the best of the best in Boston since you have to meet a rather challenging qualifying time based on age and sex; with the exception of several thousand charity and invited runners, but even if the runners I mentioned previously were in that category – they were running with me, and many probably faster. My purpose for relaying this is not to necessarily to get you to think about running 26.2 miles, but to encourage and inspire and remind that some things take time and dedication. Six years ago when I started running, I never imagined I could run a marathon, let alone 10 – with two Boston qualifiers and two Boston Marathons. My mantra this year was “believe and you shall achieve” and of course the Adidas “impossible is nothing” :-)
Suzie, you’re an inspiration to us all—thanks for sharing!
Another staff note: Next Wednesday is National School Nurse Appreciation Day. While we have one “official” school nurse (Amy McCarthy, our Health & Safety Coordinator), we are blessed to have many nurses on our staff as instructors and administrators. I don’t know about you, but I’ve always had a sense of assurance knowing I’m surrounded by so many medical professionals! Please take a moment to express your appreciation to Amy and the others for the expertise and care they bring to us and to our students.
It’s FRIDAY!!! Have a wonderful, restful weekend.
This morning I saw a group of students loading into a van to undoubtedly head out to another event of some sort, and I know we’re still in that “sprint to the end” of the school year with almost too much going on to keep track of! But it’s important to take time to fully appreciate all the great happenings in our programs.
I serve on the Urbana University Foundation Board of Trustees, and Tuesday evening I had an opportunity to meet and speak with one of the candidates for the presidency at the University. While I’m not at liberty to discuss anything related to him personally, I can say that he and his wife are very familiar with career-technical education in Ohio and value the partnerships that have been forged with higher education in recent years. Whether he is ultimately selected for the position or not, it’s gratifying to know that CTE is very naturally a part of the conversation with candidates for a position such as this. We’re definitely putting ourselves on the “map” of educational pathways!
On Wednesday morning, Logan County TechStart hosted a meeting here on our campus. This is the parent agency for initiatives such as TechColumbus, a technology industry incubator which you might have been reading about in the Dispatch. One of the presenters mentioned a partnership between a technology start-up and the local career center in producing a prototype of a new product. I spoke with him afterward and he shared how very impressed he was with our facilities and asked for an opportunity to learn more about our programs. Of course we’ll give him that opportunity! I can think of a multitude of ways our students could be a valuable resource to entrepreneurs in our area, as well as becoming the entrepreneurs of the future! I look forward to this partnership developing.
Wednesday evening I attended the West Central Ohio Tech Prep Consortium awards dinner along with several other staff members and students. Two of our students (Katie Hoying from Indian Lake in Health Technologies and Dustin Roosa from Urbana in Auto Technologies ) received Rhodes State Scholarships, and Shelly Swaney presented Terri Nichols and Doug Weeks from Honda with a Distinguished Business Partner Award. How great to see Ohio Hi-Point’s outstanding student performance and business partnership initiatives recognized! I know we were all very proud.
Thursday I was able to stop in briefly to hear some of the staff presentations during our early release. It was really gratifying to hear the level of discussion and implementation that our teachers have reached with our High Schools That Work program. And it’s especially exciting to hear how this work is impacting student learning! In the short time I was there, I heard about:
· Academic students taking pride in displaying their work
· Aligning instruction with content standards (tedious but important work!)
· Closing the gap for our students in preparing them for college-level expectations
· Providing duel-enrollment courses
· Collecting data around concerns so that solutions can be targeted and effective
On the technology side, I also heard and saw:
· Second Life application in Printing & Graphics
· A Professional Learning Community related to our TOOLS program focusing on technology integration, the value of technology, and having all students reach technology literacy
· Student podcasting projects and their pride in putting their work out there “for the whole world to see”
· Using graphing calculators to allow students to visualize math concepts.
· E-mailing our daily announcements and the “value added” of including educational information and trivia
· Training for all students on cybersafety, cyberethics, and intellectual property laws (has curriculum changed over the years or what?!?)
What a rich sharing experience for our staff, and I thank all those who participated!
Thursday evening I “graduated” from the Union County Leadership Institute. This was my fourth (and final!) county leadership program since I’ve been in this position. While these programs have required considerable time away from the district and playing “catch-up” upon return, they have also been a tremendously valuable networking and learning experience for me. The biggest benefit I have seen is in these programs is the chance to share the great news about Ohio Hi-Point Career Center throughout our counties and to make connections for our staff and students. The common thread has been the eagerness of businesses and community groups to work with us, which I know is entirely due to the professionalism our students and staff show when they interact within our communities. Thank you!
This TGIF message is a little late today because I’ve had a very busy day with some really great activities. This morning, we hosted a breakfast for the first meeting of our OHP Alumni & Friends Association, a group which has formed to further the “cause” of Ohio Hi-Point in our communities, build a network for alumni and supporters, and strengthen support for our students. We had a wonderful turnout of folks truly committed to these goals. The leadership will be turned over the group at this time, but certainly we will be called upon as staff to assist them in many ways—so stay tuned! Many thanks to Shane Haggerty for conceiving of such a group and organizing this kickoff event.
After that meeting, I met with Bill Russell from the Ohio Board of Regents regarding the transfer of our Adult Education programs to the Board of Regents. Mr. Russell is visiting all 49 career centers in Ohio, and we’re number 36! He took great interest in the variety and scope of programs we offer to adults and was particularly impressed with our industry and higher-education partnerships. He commented that it was like driving onto a college campus to come to OHP, and he noted both the beautiful facilities and the fact that three colleges are housed on our campus. I shared with him concerns we have about the assurance of funding and reasonable credentialing for instructors; but overall we’re very positive about this move. He assured me that he and Chancellor Fingerhut have become keenly aware of the value that our adult workforce programs at career centers bring to Ohio, and their intent it to leverage that network to reach the goal of increasing enrollment in Ohio’s colleges by over 230,000.
After handing Mr. Russell off to Darlene Chiles (thanks, Darlene!) I attended the National Technical Honor Society induction luncheon in the Inn. What a wonderful ceremony! It’s such a pleasure to honor those of our students who have achieved “at the top of the pack” and met very rigorous induction criteria. It was especially nice to see so many parents, grandparents, and other supporters of the students there to share in the celebration with them. Thank you to Mrs. Beale and her students for a delicious lunch, and many thanks to Serena Neer and Melissa Rofe for serving as advisors to NTHS and organizing such a wonderful ceremony!
I’ve said many times that we have an amazing staff and I never cease to be amazed at the talents they exhibit outside of their jobs. One such talent is that if Suzie Knox, an avid runner who has organized a running club among our staff. Suzie recently ran her second Boston Marathon and gave me permission to share her experience stating that it’s one of her proudest personal achievements (no doubt!)
Boston is certainly a tough course with all its hills, but it is the most amazing experience with the hundreds of thousands of spectators cheering you on along the entire course. In my typical running fashion, I looked in awe at my fellow runners and saw how they come in all ages, shapes, cultures/races/nationalities, abilities, and sizes. I looked around and even in the late miles I was running side by side with people with obvious physical handicaps, and people way older than my 48 years. Of course I was running with the best of the best in Boston since you have to meet a rather challenging qualifying time based on age and sex; with the exception of several thousand charity and invited runners, but even if the runners I mentioned previously were in that category – they were running with me, and many probably faster. My purpose for relaying this is not to necessarily to get you to think about running 26.2 miles, but to encourage and inspire and remind that some things take time and dedication. Six years ago when I started running, I never imagined I could run a marathon, let alone 10 – with two Boston qualifiers and two Boston Marathons. My mantra this year was “believe and you shall achieve” and of course the Adidas “impossible is nothing” :-)
Suzie, you’re an inspiration to us all—thanks for sharing!
Another staff note: Next Wednesday is National School Nurse Appreciation Day. While we have one “official” school nurse (Amy McCarthy, our Health & Safety Coordinator), we are blessed to have many nurses on our staff as instructors and administrators. I don’t know about you, but I’ve always had a sense of assurance knowing I’m surrounded by so many medical professionals! Please take a moment to express your appreciation to Amy and the others for the expertise and care they bring to us and to our students.
It’s FRIDAY!!! Have a wonderful, restful weekend.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
