April 25, 2008

Happy Friday to you all—and another beautiful one it is! I know we’re all doing a lot of “extra duty” with the many evening and weekend events this time of year, and I’m sure we could all use a weekend.

Monday I attended the Rotary Excellence in Teaching Awards Luncheon. OHP received many thanks from Lou Vito, Master of Ceremonies, for assisting with the selection process, hosting the judging, and preparing the printed program. It was so gratifying to hear of the contributions our staff had made to this very worthwhile cause. Thanks to Nila Marquard, JoEtta Spain, Shane Haggerty, and Tom Carrig for their fine work and for bringing this positive recognition to our school!

On Wednesday, the Administrative Team held a luncheon for our office support staff in honor of Administrative Professionals Day. We gave them our best culinary efforts in preparing lunch and presented them with flower baskets. It was one very small way we could say a big “Thank you!” for all that they do to support us in our work and to serve our students. We’ve got a great team of office workers, and we’d be lost without them! Be sure to take a moment to express your thanks as well.

Wednesday evening was our Board Meeting, and I have to share with you comments that our board member from the Hardin Co. ESC, Larry Mouser, shared with Eric and me after the meeting. He told us how much he enjoyed the Student of the Month presentations and the way both the students and parents just beam with pride. He said, “I can see their faces, and you can just tell they’re so proud.” He also shared he’s particularly impressed with the comments the parents make expressing pride in their children and appreciation for OHP. I agree with Larry, this really is always a highlight of our Board Meetings!

On Wednesday, we hosted a luncheon for a large group (not sure of the group, but it had something to do with regional planning.) Our Culinary students prepared a wonderful lunch for the group. Bruce Evilsizor , City Administrator for the City of Urbana, e-mailed me the next day and shared, “I enjoyed the visit to Hi-Point today. It was a great lunch and it was good to see well behaved students getting ready for the real world.” That pretty much sums up our students, doesn’t it? Our community members really do recognize the pride and focus our students portray, and each of you play an important role in providing them with the educational experience that makes them the students they are!

You may be seeing a new face on campus these days. Mary Patton, Director of Career Management and Community Outreach with Clark State Community College, will be in the Clark State House (House #3) on Thursdays. She was here Thursday and I gave her a tour and introduced her to some of the staff she will be interacting with. She’s looking forward to working with both our high-school and adult learners and making educational options available to them through Clark State. She also had the highest praise for the cleanliness of the Clark State House and the condition of the entire campus! The work that our Facilities & Grounds staff does always makes me proud.

Darin Roinough, our Adult Education Public Safety Services instructor, e-mailed Darlene Chiles and me this week to share some feedback on an event he hosted this past Saturday:

Just thought I would let you know the annual Fire & EMS School was a success again this year on Saturday. Commissioner Bayliss spoke briefly in the morning to all and provided our invocation. Congressman Tony Core also thanked the group for all they do and for taking their Saturday to enhance their skills. Attendance was up this year with a total of 114 in five different classes.

What a great event! Thank you Darin, for bringing this even to OHP and for your work in providing training for our public safety services professionals. I agree with Rep. Core—there’s no more important work a public servant can provide!

Nila shared with me this week a project that our Cosmetology students have been working on for the Logan County Historical Society. They designed hairstyles depicting various historical eras for display at the Historical Society Museum (including hats!) Beth Marshall, Archivist with the Historical Society, shared:

We finally got photos of the hat exhibit that your students helped with. Thank you again for all your help -- we've had lots of good comments!

I’ve attached one of the photos to the right. What a great project! Thanks to our Cosmetology students and their instructors Judy Gratz and Cindy Harlan for providing this service to our local Historical Society!

One more good message from our community I have to share. I received a note in yesterday’s mail from Candy Camin with the Logan County Relay for Life. (I’ve filled in last names to give proper credit to the individuals she names!) She wrote:

Dear Kim,

We recently held our annual “Crop for a Cure” event for Relay for Live at the Career Center. I just wanted to share with you how wonderful your staff was with organizing and helping to make our event happen. Don (Jaunzemis) and Marilyn (Foos) were incredibly helpful and professional. Bonnie (Dooley) who was our contact on Saturday was awesome to all of us and checked on us to see what we needed throughout the day. You should be very proud of your staff. Thank you so much for letting us use your facility.

Well, Candy, I am very proud of our staff! And our facility is the community’s facility, so we’re happy to see it used for such a worthy cause.

Best wishes to all of our students who will be involved with competitive events this weekend, and many thanks to all the staff members who will be supporting them!

Have a great weekend!