Well, January has slipped away (where did it go?) and here comes February! And you may be reading this from home or at school on Monday if Friday’s weather pans out as forecast. But even with the crazy, roller-coaster weather we’ve had this week, I'm seeing signs of spring. The days are getting longer, and I saw two really fat robins outside my window this week.
Last week, several members of our administrative team, Shane Haggerty, and I attended the Ohio Association of Career-Technical Education Legislative Conference. We were able to meet with all six of our legislators and share with them the good news about Ohio Hi-Point. We also provided them with electronic decision-making machines (assembled by our Electronics Technology class) to help them with those tough decisions they make! While this is not a state budget year (that comes next year!), we know it’s important to stay in front of our legislators and build those relationships so that when we do need to lobby for continued funding and legislative support, they’re well aware of the value we add to public education in Ohio. Thanks to my administrators and Shane for representing us so well!
At our Board Meeting each month, we recognize both our male and female students of the month. We always give the student, parents, or students’ guests an opportunity to say anything they would like on behalf of the student. I was especially touched by the comments made by the parents at last week’s meeting. One thanked the staff and Board for allowing her daughter to “chase her dream.” The other spoke at length about the quality of instruction and dedication of our staff. I wish you all could have been there to hear them—you’re the ones who deserve the credit! But I certainly wanted to pass those comments along to you.
On Tuesday, we hosted our second “Straight-A Breakfast” for our students who maintained straight A’s for second quarter. What a treat it is for me to be able to spend some time with this group of enthusiastic, hard-working students! It’s sometimes hard to figure out what is the best reward for teenagers; but Nila, JoEtta, Shane, and I decided that food and time out of class is probably the ultimate reward! Thanks to these folks for their work in setting up such a nice event.
Many times I’ve shared with you comments that I’ve heard out in the community about our school. But I know I’m not the only one who hears those comments, and they’re heard in the most unlikely of places! JoAnn Ventresco, English teacher on Main Campus, shared the following with me just this week:
I had to share an experience I had yesterday. I was at the chiropractor, and I was actually lying on the table, waiting for my adjustment. Well, there was a boy on the other table next to me and they were working on him first. His mother was standing there asking him questions. She said, “Did you have a good day?” The boy replied, “Yeah, I went to Hi-Point!” Of course I said something about working there, so I asked him if he enjoyed his visit and he said, “Yes!” That was the extent of it so the doctor could continue working, but I thought it was pretty neat. He was very enthusiastic. He must have been on one of the 8th grade tours yesterday. I guess they are telling their parents about it so our mission is getting accomplished!
Thanks for sharing, JoAnn, and for conveying to this potential student your friendliness and interest in his visit! It will just add to the positive experience he obviously had during his visit.
I hope this storm prediction is all a terrible mistake and that we’re all here on Friday with sunny skies. But if not, enjoy your extended weekend and be careful if you have to go out!
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Friday, January 18, 2008
January 18, 2008
Here we are with another cold, snowy Friday—but we’ll take it! No matter the weather, the pace of activity never slows us down around here. (Well, except for maybe an ice storm that knocks out power for a week—but I won’t dredge up those memories!) Hope it’s been a great week for all of you.
On Monday I attended a second meeting with the Ohio Department of Development (ODOD), this one intended for educators. I joined several other career-technical superintendents as well as K-12 superintendents and representatives from the Buckeye Association of School Administrators (BASA) and the Ohio School Boards Association (OSBA). It was an open discussion during which we were invited to give the ODOD specific examples as to how tax-reduction incentives designed to attract and retain businesses impact schools negatively. (I’ve got a great example of the beauty of technology. I didn’t have a financial figure I needed, so I e-mailed Eric Adelsberger from my Blackberry and he had it back to me in seconds. How cool is that?!?) Anyway, I was really pleased with the support that representatives from BASA and OSBA voiced for career-tech. They clearly recognize the added value we bring to public education in Ohio and want to assure that our interests are protected. Yet we all realized the need to attract and retain business to strengthen our economy. The end result was a better understanding of how incentives impact schools, and assurance from ODOD that they will support a new funding structure in Ohio that rewards rather than penalizes schools in high-growth areas. We have a new biennium state budget coming up this year, so stay tuned!
Wednesday evening we held our annual All Boards Banquet to recognize board members, superintendents, and treasurers from our 14 partner schools and 3 partner educational service centers during School Board Recognition Month. What a great evening—and possible only through a great team effort! We had four student ambassadors who conducted tours prior to dinner: Andrew Lemmon, Cory Calland, Brittany Godfrey, and Spencer Wolfe. They did a terrific job (as always) and made us so proud. Thanks to JoEtta Spain for arranging to have them help! Programs were printed by Printing and Graphic Arts and looked terrific—thanks to Tom Carrig and his students! And Cole Carpenter and his Professional Turf and Landscaping students had the planters in the Commons looking beautiful! Thanks also to my administrative team for being there and representing us well, and to Don Jaunzemis, Robert Walker and the Facilities & Grounds crews for having everything in tip-top shape. Finally, thanks to Shane Haggerty and Darryl Hanger for arranging dinner, taking RSVP’s, and making everyone feel welcome at registration. I had several compliments that evening (and several by e-mail since) thanking us for such a nice banquet and commenting on our wonderful facilities and students. In all ways, it was a job well done!
Dr. Robert Head, President of Urbana University, was our keynote speaker, and he encouraged us to “fly above the clouds” where the sun always shines when the going gets tough by remembering that we who work in education have a very special calling. Good advice—and I think we at OHP have weathered some tough transitional times but are breaking through the clouds to see the payoff—better student achievement, growth in enrollment, and expanded programs. We’ve got a lot to be proud of.
I wanted to share a communication that we received from the parent of a former Supply Chain Management Program student. This young man, Christopher Rittenhouse, secured employment at Wright Patterson Air Force Base while still in the program and is currently attending Clark State Community College in their Supply Chain Management Program:
Last Friday the DAU and Clark State Green Campus had a signing and Christopher had been invited to attend. I went with him and was able to meet a lot of them. They truly are great people, and I know their words of encouragement means a lot to Christopher. The president of Clark State was very impressed that Christopher was there. . . and she was able to witness the closeness and wonderful comments that the people of DAU were giving to him. I was also bursting with pride!
I thought I'd just let you know, he is still making a good example of how the Hi-Point/Urbana High/Clark State/Wright Patterson connections are working. The students in your class who are willing to take the leap of faith and continue to study and work hard there is a great future waiting for them. There are wonderful and encouraging people along the way that are willing and waiting to give a helping hand. I and the whole family are so pleased to see Christopher growing and gaining wonderful experiences under his belt, to make him an asset for any employer.
This made me think of how all of our students take a leap of faith to leave their high schools and enroll in our programs, or to be pioneers and enroll in our satellite programs in their schools, or to enroll in adult education programs later in life. And you are the “wonderful and encouraging people” that this parent speaks of who help these students along the way. I wish we could collect all stories such as this one—I know there are thousands!
It’s going to be really, really cold this weekend!! Stay warm, be careful if you have to be out, take care of your outdoor critters, and enjoy your extra day!
On Monday I attended a second meeting with the Ohio Department of Development (ODOD), this one intended for educators. I joined several other career-technical superintendents as well as K-12 superintendents and representatives from the Buckeye Association of School Administrators (BASA) and the Ohio School Boards Association (OSBA). It was an open discussion during which we were invited to give the ODOD specific examples as to how tax-reduction incentives designed to attract and retain businesses impact schools negatively. (I’ve got a great example of the beauty of technology. I didn’t have a financial figure I needed, so I e-mailed Eric Adelsberger from my Blackberry and he had it back to me in seconds. How cool is that?!?) Anyway, I was really pleased with the support that representatives from BASA and OSBA voiced for career-tech. They clearly recognize the added value we bring to public education in Ohio and want to assure that our interests are protected. Yet we all realized the need to attract and retain business to strengthen our economy. The end result was a better understanding of how incentives impact schools, and assurance from ODOD that they will support a new funding structure in Ohio that rewards rather than penalizes schools in high-growth areas. We have a new biennium state budget coming up this year, so stay tuned!
Wednesday evening we held our annual All Boards Banquet to recognize board members, superintendents, and treasurers from our 14 partner schools and 3 partner educational service centers during School Board Recognition Month. What a great evening—and possible only through a great team effort! We had four student ambassadors who conducted tours prior to dinner: Andrew Lemmon, Cory Calland, Brittany Godfrey, and Spencer Wolfe. They did a terrific job (as always) and made us so proud. Thanks to JoEtta Spain for arranging to have them help! Programs were printed by Printing and Graphic Arts and looked terrific—thanks to Tom Carrig and his students! And Cole Carpenter and his Professional Turf and Landscaping students had the planters in the Commons looking beautiful! Thanks also to my administrative team for being there and representing us well, and to Don Jaunzemis, Robert Walker and the Facilities & Grounds crews for having everything in tip-top shape. Finally, thanks to Shane Haggerty and Darryl Hanger for arranging dinner, taking RSVP’s, and making everyone feel welcome at registration. I had several compliments that evening (and several by e-mail since) thanking us for such a nice banquet and commenting on our wonderful facilities and students. In all ways, it was a job well done!
Dr. Robert Head, President of Urbana University, was our keynote speaker, and he encouraged us to “fly above the clouds” where the sun always shines when the going gets tough by remembering that we who work in education have a very special calling. Good advice—and I think we at OHP have weathered some tough transitional times but are breaking through the clouds to see the payoff—better student achievement, growth in enrollment, and expanded programs. We’ve got a lot to be proud of.
I wanted to share a communication that we received from the parent of a former Supply Chain Management Program student. This young man, Christopher Rittenhouse, secured employment at Wright Patterson Air Force Base while still in the program and is currently attending Clark State Community College in their Supply Chain Management Program:
Last Friday the DAU and Clark State Green Campus had a signing and Christopher had been invited to attend. I went with him and was able to meet a lot of them. They truly are great people, and I know their words of encouragement means a lot to Christopher. The president of Clark State was very impressed that Christopher was there. . . and she was able to witness the closeness and wonderful comments that the people of DAU were giving to him. I was also bursting with pride!
I thought I'd just let you know, he is still making a good example of how the Hi-Point/Urbana High/Clark State/Wright Patterson connections are working. The students in your class who are willing to take the leap of faith and continue to study and work hard there is a great future waiting for them. There are wonderful and encouraging people along the way that are willing and waiting to give a helping hand. I and the whole family are so pleased to see Christopher growing and gaining wonderful experiences under his belt, to make him an asset for any employer.
This made me think of how all of our students take a leap of faith to leave their high schools and enroll in our programs, or to be pioneers and enroll in our satellite programs in their schools, or to enroll in adult education programs later in life. And you are the “wonderful and encouraging people” that this parent speaks of who help these students along the way. I wish we could collect all stories such as this one—I know there are thousands!
It’s going to be really, really cold this weekend!! Stay warm, be careful if you have to be out, take care of your outdoor critters, and enjoy your extra day!
Friday, January 11, 2008
January 11, 2008
Good Friday to you all, and Happy New Year! It’s been great to see everyone back; I hope you all had a restful and enjoyable holiday season. And I hope your first full week of 2008 was a good one. (And I hope you’ve all come out of mourning after that “unfortunate incident” on Monday evening!)
As you might expect, it was pretty quiet around here over break, and that was OK—I got quite a bit of work done! But we did have some “happenings” that I want to share.
First, on January 2, we had Clark State Community College officials on campus to sign the formal lease for their new space on our campus (in House #3 out front—I hope you’ve noticed the sign!) Anne Reames, our Board President, and I were happy to welcome them. It was a cold, windy, snowy day to have our picture taken by the building, but it was a great occasion! Clark State’s presence will allow them to expand their general education course offerings (in addition to the healthcare pathway courses they’ve been offering), leading to multiple associate degree options and transferrable to any public college or university in Ohio. We also have an exchange-of-services agreement with them that will give our staff a 1/3 tuition scholarship. We anticipate this partnership bringing many benefits to adults and high-school students alike, and we welcome Clark State to Ohio Hi-Point!
We held our Board of Education Organizational Meeting on Saturday, January 5. Anne Reames from Bellefontaine was re-elected President, and Bill Ramsey from Benjamin Logan was re-elected Vice President. Scott Johnson from Marysville will continue as our Legislative Liaison with the Ohio School Board’s Association. We also welcomed four new Board Members: Pat Wagner representing Graham, Steve Lapp returning to represent West Liberty-Salem, Kim Boswell returning to represent Indian Lake, and Dean McCullough representing Ridgemont. We thank these Board Members and all the others for their continued leadership and dedication to our District!
We also have three new faces on our Main Campus! Don Jaunzemis has replaced Denny Livingston (retired) as Business Operations Coordinator, Rene Mejia is our new Spanish teacher, and Stacy Colwell is a new aide in Early Childhood Education (replacing Barb Culp who has moved to ProjectSEARCH). Please take a moment to welcome these new staff members—it’s great to have them on board!
Wednesday evening, Shane Haggerty hosted a meeting of the Steering Committee for the newly forming “Ohio Hi-Point Alumni and Friends Association.” We are working through the details of the membership and mission for this organization. But stay tuned—we’re confident we’ll be building a dynamic group of supporters of OHP and thinking of ways to benefit our current and future students. And we’ll be seeking your input!
I’m a little late in passing this along, but I wanted to share with you that I received a letter in mid-December from Harold Marker, one of our Sloan Trustees, congratulating us on our excellent performance on our performance measures. Harold wrote:
Congratulations to you as well as to all the administrators, faculty, students, and staff members at Ohio Hi-Point Career Center! Being ranked tenth in the State of Ohio on the list of the top career and technical schools is a huge accomplishment! The speed with which the rise in rank occurred is very impressive!
Harold is one of our biggest cheerleaders and supporters, and we appreciate his acknowledgement of this accomplishment!
I have to share kind of a cute story. One of our vendors was on campus this week, and she was with me in the lobby of the Main Building carrying a fairly big load. One of our students passed by and, without hesitation, asked if he could assist her. She declined, and he went right on his way. I wish I had gotten his name, but he seemed in a hurry to get to class. The visitor said, “Wow, I’ve never had that happen in a school before!” She seemed kind of taken back that a student would be so forthcoming with an offer for assistance. I told her I wasn’t surprised at all—our students are just like that!
For the first time, I’ve had a response from someone outside our District who read my blog. I wasn’t sure that would ever happen! But it’s nice to know someone has happened upon the blog and learned of some of the great things happening at OHP! I hope that “global audience” will grow, and I encourage you all to keep “feeding up” the good news so that I can share!
Have a great weekend!
As you might expect, it was pretty quiet around here over break, and that was OK—I got quite a bit of work done! But we did have some “happenings” that I want to share.
First, on January 2, we had Clark State Community College officials on campus to sign the formal lease for their new space on our campus (in House #3 out front—I hope you’ve noticed the sign!) Anne Reames, our Board President, and I were happy to welcome them. It was a cold, windy, snowy day to have our picture taken by the building, but it was a great occasion! Clark State’s presence will allow them to expand their general education course offerings (in addition to the healthcare pathway courses they’ve been offering), leading to multiple associate degree options and transferrable to any public college or university in Ohio. We also have an exchange-of-services agreement with them that will give our staff a 1/3 tuition scholarship. We anticipate this partnership bringing many benefits to adults and high-school students alike, and we welcome Clark State to Ohio Hi-Point!
We held our Board of Education Organizational Meeting on Saturday, January 5. Anne Reames from Bellefontaine was re-elected President, and Bill Ramsey from Benjamin Logan was re-elected Vice President. Scott Johnson from Marysville will continue as our Legislative Liaison with the Ohio School Board’s Association. We also welcomed four new Board Members: Pat Wagner representing Graham, Steve Lapp returning to represent West Liberty-Salem, Kim Boswell returning to represent Indian Lake, and Dean McCullough representing Ridgemont. We thank these Board Members and all the others for their continued leadership and dedication to our District!
We also have three new faces on our Main Campus! Don Jaunzemis has replaced Denny Livingston (retired) as Business Operations Coordinator, Rene Mejia is our new Spanish teacher, and Stacy Colwell is a new aide in Early Childhood Education (replacing Barb Culp who has moved to ProjectSEARCH). Please take a moment to welcome these new staff members—it’s great to have them on board!
Wednesday evening, Shane Haggerty hosted a meeting of the Steering Committee for the newly forming “Ohio Hi-Point Alumni and Friends Association.” We are working through the details of the membership and mission for this organization. But stay tuned—we’re confident we’ll be building a dynamic group of supporters of OHP and thinking of ways to benefit our current and future students. And we’ll be seeking your input!
I’m a little late in passing this along, but I wanted to share with you that I received a letter in mid-December from Harold Marker, one of our Sloan Trustees, congratulating us on our excellent performance on our performance measures. Harold wrote:
Congratulations to you as well as to all the administrators, faculty, students, and staff members at Ohio Hi-Point Career Center! Being ranked tenth in the State of Ohio on the list of the top career and technical schools is a huge accomplishment! The speed with which the rise in rank occurred is very impressive!
Harold is one of our biggest cheerleaders and supporters, and we appreciate his acknowledgement of this accomplishment!
I have to share kind of a cute story. One of our vendors was on campus this week, and she was with me in the lobby of the Main Building carrying a fairly big load. One of our students passed by and, without hesitation, asked if he could assist her. She declined, and he went right on his way. I wish I had gotten his name, but he seemed in a hurry to get to class. The visitor said, “Wow, I’ve never had that happen in a school before!” She seemed kind of taken back that a student would be so forthcoming with an offer for assistance. I told her I wasn’t surprised at all—our students are just like that!
For the first time, I’ve had a response from someone outside our District who read my blog. I wasn’t sure that would ever happen! But it’s nice to know someone has happened upon the blog and learned of some of the great things happening at OHP! I hope that “global audience” will grow, and I encourage you all to keep “feeding up” the good news so that I can share!
Have a great weekend!
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