January 23, 2009

I hope you all enjoyed your extended weekend last weekend and that you’ve been able to get caught up on the days we missed. I know it’s a busy time of year for all of you and even more difficult when trying to play catch up!

Tuesday evening Robert Walker and I attended a Champaign Advocates for Renewable Energy (CARE) symposium at Urbana University at which various renewable energy product vendors were asked to exhibit. Ohio Hi-Point was asked to be there to showcase the renewable energy projects we’ve implemented on our campus. It was an interesting mix of exhibitors, and it was nice to have an opportunity to learn from them and share our experiences. Upper Valley Career Center was also there exhibiting an adult-education program they’re launching in renewable energies. We were proud to be the one school there that has taken steps district-wide to reduce energy consumption, save energy dollars, and provide our students with learning opportunities in renewable energies!

Along the lines of environmental responsibility, I want to share that we are in discussions with the Solid Waste District of Logan Co. to allow them build a recycling center on our property on the east side of Sloan Boulevard (across from the entrance to our Land Lab). Our Board has given the preliminary nod, and I expect to have a finalized contract to take to them in February (we’re working out a few details regarding the construction process, access from Sloan Boulevard, etc.) We feel it’s an exciting partnership which will give citizens on the east side of the County (and us!) an opportunity to “do the right thing” and recycle as much as possible.

Wednesday evening I attended a School Funding Roundtable at Urbana University, which was organized by UU, OHP, Urbana City Schools, and the Ohio School Boards Association. Clearly school funding is at the top of all our lists these days, and the meeting was attended by several school board members, superintendents, and other interested individuals. We certainly didn’t solve Ohio’s school funding problems in 90 minutes! But we came away with a plan to organize locally so that we can respond quickly and in a unified way to school funding proposals from the Governor and ODE. We should all know more about the Governor’s plans after next week; he will be delivering his State-of-the-State Address next Wednesday at noon and we’re also anticipating some specifics on his proposed budget.

OHP has recently grown! (Geographically, that is.) We recently received final documentation that a parcel of land (approximately 9.5 acres) that was taken by the State in the early 1970’s for construction of the Rt. 68 bypass (which never happened) has been returned to us. This land, along Rt. 33, will be added to our Land Lab for student use. Many thanks to Robert Walker who worked closely with the Ohio Department of Transportation to see this process through!

Thursday morning I represented Ohio Hi-Point Career Center at a Logan County Family & Children First Council Community Planning Meeting, which works in partnership with Logan County Family Court. Francie Ross, GRADS teacher, represents us on the Family & Children First Council, and I appreciate her continued involvement. Past planning meetings had gathered information regarding the most crucial needs in serving families and children in Logan Co., and at this meeting we learned that the most critical issue identified is child abuse with a focus on sexual abuse. What a sad reality. The statistics were staggering, and they likely don’t represent the whole picture because many cases of child abuse and sexual abuse go unreported. Sometimes we don’t think of our 11th and 12th graders as “children,” but they are still susceptible to many types of abuse. I applaud the work all of you do every day to serve the “whole child” and to be watchful for any of our students who might be in need assistance.

Several of our staff members who regularly interact with the community have participated in various county leadership programs. I appreciate their willingness to commit to the time demands of these programs, to seek networking opportunities, and to spread awareness of OHP. Joel Staudter, Instructional Supervisor, is currently participating in Leadership Logan County, and he shared the following with me today:

At this month’s Logan County Leadership meeting I was approached by two individuals that verbally praised Ohio Hi-Point Career Center. First, Pam McBrien of Mary Rutan Hospital praised Deb Purcell and our Health Technology students. Pam and Deb work collaboratively to provide volunteering opportunities for Ohio Hi-Point Health Technology students. Throughout our conversation Pam praised students on their positive attitude, professionalism, and enthusiasm. She loves having Ohio Hi-Point’s students volunteer!

In a second conversation with Carly Schaub of Fast Track Signs I learned that she and Shane Haggerty discussed social networking and other various marketing strategies. With much enthusiasm she emphasized how awesome it was to speak to Shane, aka “The Guru of Social Marketing.” Shane provided some unique insight that was very beneficial to Carly and her husband’s business.

I feel these are two powerful testimonials worth celebrating. Congratulations to our Health Technology Teachers and Shane for having a positive impact on our surrounding communities.

I know we all echo Joel’s congratulations to these staff members.

I’ll also share more praise we received for students going “above and beyond” over the Christmas Holiday. JoEtta Spain organized a group of our Student Ambassadors to assist with the downtown Bellefontaine holiday festivities (on their own time, mind you!) Susan Froebe, Executive Director of the Bellefontaine Downtown Partnership, e-mailed me about another matter this week and tacked on the following:

I wanted to share with you how wonderful it was to have Joetta Spain and her student volunteers help with “The Night at the North Pole.” Actually, they more than helped! They created the most magnificent experience at Canterbury Coffee I have ever witnessed. We only asked for students to assist with the photo ops and “build a buckeye” table, but they were so much more than that! They provided a “WOW” factor!

The students were amazingly engaged in the event and made it a memorable experience for the children! They made the photo op so much fun! I don’t know the names of the students, but these young ladies at the photo op location could get the shyest child on top of the reindeer for a picture…it was very cute! I even thought the students were great fun when I stopped in periodically. They didn’t know me and they were welcoming me to Canterbury…something the business owner should be eternally grateful for. And to top it all off Joetta stayed for the entire event and welcomed every person that came through the door. I’ve never been to Canterbury when it has been so welcoming!

Once again, our students have made us proud and a staff member has supported them in making it happen. Thanks to JoEtta and her Student Ambassadors—job well done!

Enjoy the warmer weather (while we've got it) and have a great weekend!