March 8, 2009

Well, my TGIF posting turned out to be a TGIS (Sunday) this week. I hope you were able to get out and enjoy the gorgeous weather we had yesterday! And I hope you remembered to move your clocks up one hour—otherwise it’s later than you think.

March brings the promise of spring, and it’s also Women’s History Month! (Somehow I’ve missed that up until now.) I’m not sure if there’s a Men’s History Month—sorry guys! I was reading an article written in honor of this month and learned of several inventions which are credited to women: the windshield wiper, the dishwasher, Scotchgard, the curling iron, and Liquid Paper. Who knew? I won’t give away which women invented these—those who are curious can do some research on your own.

March 9 (tomorrow) is also Barbie’s Doll’s 50th birthday! She was named after Miss Barbie Millicent Roberts from Willows, Wisconsin. I think most girls around my age owned one or more throughout our childhoods. (Barbie and I are the same age, but she’s holding up much better!) My oldest sister had one of the original 1959 models which would probably be worth a fortune today if it were in good shape. But that poor Barbie endured too many haircuts and make-up jobs with markers to hold her value.

Over the past week and a half or so, I’ve had the opportunity to visit several of our satellite programs (I try to get out to each of them at least once a year—which is getting tougher as the number grows!) What great, neat things are happening! Just as here on our Bellefontaine Campus, students are engaged and excited about their career paths and are doing amazing work through applied learning. They also promote such a positive image of Ohio Hi-Point, which helps us all! Thanks to all of our satellite teachers “afar” for the fine work you do with these young people.

Tuesday evening we tried a new venture, Power Up Your Future Night, to promote our Construction and Automotive Programs. Those in attendance got great information about careers from Dave Duff, a local construction contractor; and they got to visit labs and talk with instructors and college representatives. The ice cream and popcorn were also a hit! Thanks to Glenn Smith and his instructors (Dave Marsteller, Bob Lawrence, Doug Limes, Terry Hedges, Rodney Peterson, Bob Newland, John Wilson, and Dave Lindsey) for putting together such a great evening. Thanks also to JoEtta Spain and our Lead Ambassadors, Amy McCarthy, and Brandie Roberts for assisting (and my apologies to anyone I’m forgetting!) As the words gets out in future years, we look forward to having the event grow.

Meetings regarding the upcoming State Budget are requiring a lot of time these days, but it’s time well spent to make sure our position as career-technical centers is understood and supported. On Thursday, several career-technical superintendents met with our Legislative Liaison (sounds better than Lobbyist!) But lobby is exactly what we need to do. We have some serious concerns about unintended consequences of the Governor’s proposed budget plan. The plan eliminates per-pupil funding for the K-12 districts and funds them rather on a teacher/student ratio. The plan further states that the JVSD’s will be dealt with in the next biennium budget. That’s all well and good, except that our funding is based on per-pupil funding flowing from our associate school districts to us, including the satellite programs we house in their buildings. So the Governor’s plan essentially leaves us with no basis for determining funding for any of our programs. That won’t work!

In addition, the 1.9 percent increase for career-tech included in the Governor’s Plan is not clearly attached to any particular number, other than last year’s funding for CTE overall. So there’s no provision for increased funding with increased enrollment. In addition, the $4.5 million study that is to be conducted to evaluate career-tech funding will be charged back to our state budget line-item, which more than zeros out the proposed increase. Ouch! We’ve put together our list of concerns and will be communicating these to the Education Chairs of the House and Senate through formal testimony and personal meetings. This budget bill is likely to go right down to the wire (June 30), but we’ll stay at the table until we’re assured of continued support and funding for our programs.

Friday morning I attended the Logan Co. MRDD annual breakfast in honor of MRDD Awareness Month. It’s always a great gathering of people who support services for individuals with disabilities. We always hear from the State Director of MRDD and local legislators. As we moved through the line for breakfast, I noticed there were several quotes posted throughout the building. One was from “Kate,” whom I figured out to be a graduate of our Project SEARCH Program. She said how much she enjoys helping the residents at Logan Acres through her job there. That’s the real pay-off for those of us in career-tech—seeing our graduates go on to success and satisfaction with their careers and their lives!

I hope you had a great weekend and got rested up for another busy week!