April 4, 2008

Welcome back to all of you who were on spring break last week! (I know some of our satellite locations had spring break either the week before or this week.) I hope everyone got or is getting some well-deserved rest and time doing what you enjoy most.

I took a couple of days off as Scott and I are moving to Marysville. Both my move to Bellefontaine five years ago and this move have taught me a valuable lesson about not becoming a slave to “stuff.” Purging is a very freeing experience. I’ve also learned that change—even for the better—is stressful! I’ve gotten most things carefully and thoughtfully put away, and now I can’t find anything! I’m wearing mostly whatever I can locate these days (please forgive me if you see the same outfit twice in one week). And I struggle with the simplest of changes, such as now keeping in a drawer what I used to keep in a cabinet. My first reaction is to think it can’t possibly work—then I remember to ask myself, “Why not?!?” Definitely some valuable life lessons in this experience.

Part of this “purging” involved giving some baking supplies I knew I wouldn’t use to our Culinary Arts Program. Donna Beale, Culinary instructor, shared with me what a great job her students did with some Andes peppermint baking chips I gave her:

I gave one bag to Dallas and Matt; it didn’t take long for them to use their creativity. They certainly make me proud. I am glad that you enjoyed the dessert.

The open bag was passed around the class and sampled. A few students did notice that there was a website on the package www.tootsie.com . It didn’t take long for them to explore the website. Most were amazed with the valuable information that was provided and the history. The culinary curriculum and goals for this week include food cost, inventory and sales. As the students searched the website they shared that Andes Candies was acquired by Tootsie Roll in 2000. One student noticed the annual report and mentioned that we should sell tootsie rolls for a profit, apparently total net sales were over four hundred twenty million dollars and the company produces more than 60 million Tootsie Rolls per day. Another shared with me a tootsie roll cheesecake recipe. We plan to make it on Thursday. Of course they thought it would be a great idea to visit the factory for a study trip. The students were amazed with the website. Although it was not on my agenda today, it certainly was related to the curriculum and goals and was a great learning experience. The students were clearly engaged. (Sometimes the best lessons are not planned).

Thank you for thinking of us! It was amazing to hear and watch the students excited and enthusiastic about peppermint chips and its website.

Donna

Now that’s a teachable moment! It’s great to hear of a student-driven learning experience using technology which was incorporated into the lab. Great job!

Spring brings so many activities to our campus, both school-related and community events. This increase in activity requires the coordination on the part of so many, and I’m always proud to hear about the fine work our staff does in this effort. JoEtta Spain and I recently received the following e-mail from the organizers of Logan Co. Relay for Life, which will be held on our campus this summer:

Good morning ladies,
We just wanted to send a quick note to thank you for allowing us to hold our Relay For Life team kick-off event at the Ohio Hi-Point Career Center last night. Everything went great and I think everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. We also have to say that your janitorial support team along with a gentleman named Don (I'm not sure of his title) did an excellent job. They are the most professional and courteous folks that you could ever ask to work with. Each one of them was very accommodating which made our job so much easier. Thanks again and we can't wait to hold our event here in June! Marilyn Angelo and Penny Higgins Event Chairs

My thanks also to all who made them feel so welcome! (The “Don” they’re speaking of, by the way, is Don Jaunzemis, our Business Operations Coordinator.)

I posted in my blog a couple of weeks ago that OHP had a team participating in the AAUW Trivia Bee here at OHP on March 19. I’m happy to report that Team Hi-Point took 10th place out of 39 teams that night! Congratulations!! JoEtta Spain suggested that we have both a student team and a staff team next year, which I think is a great idea—we can take the top two places! Thanks to everyone who participated for your hard work in preparing and for representing us so well.

For those of you who receive the Bellefontaine Examiner, I hope you saw the feature on Mary Jo and Mike Alstaetter who received the 2007 Farm Family of the Year Award. (Mary Jo is our ProjectSEARCH Instructor.) It was a great feature story about their decision to go into farming and the hard work that has gone into the success of their cattle farm. Congratulations to Mary Jo and Mike for this well-deserved recognition!

Last week was pretty quiet around here, but it enabled me to get a little bit caught up on paperwork. (I actually had an empty e-mail inbox for approximately 90 seconds! Hasn't been empty since.) I was also able to attend the quarterly policy meeting of the Ohio Workforce Coalition along with Darlene Chiles and heard presentations from several governmental agencies, including the Governor’s office, the Ohio Department of Development, Ohio Department of Job & Family Services, and the Ohio Board of Regents. The theme was consistent—we are at a point in Ohio where we must work together collaboratively in developing our workforce in order to remain competitive in today’s economy. The very fact that these meetings are happening is testimony to the fact that all parties feel a sense of urgency, and career-technical education is definitely included in the discussion. We also heard from Bill Spratley with Green Energy Ohio. He presented some amazing statistics about the potential of “green” energy development in Ohio. His quote that struck me most was “My vision is that we will build a country where alternative energies are second-nature to our children and where we won’t be sending our children off to war to fight for oil.” Whatever your political affiliations, in these days of nearly $4-per-gallon gasoline, I think you’ll agree we need to work to decrease our dependence on petroleum products.

Several administrators and I attended the ODE Regional Spring Update this past Tuesday and received finalized information on the local plan we will need to submit for the new Perkins IV legislation. Details will follow from your Directors, and we will be involving many of you as stakeholders. But suffice it to say that we will be very busy between now and June 1 when our plan is due to ODE! Thank you in advance for the insight you’ll provide.

We’re actually supposed to get some spring weather this weekend—so enjoy!