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!