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.