Ironically, today’s “surprise” snow day falls exactly one month after the last “surprise” one we had—Friday, February 26. I had really hoped we were finished with all of this—who knew?!? I guess I jinxed it when I bid winter good riddance last week.
So, have you been waiting for this Friday for a while? I know most of you will be getting some much-deserved time off next week. The timing is perfect—you’ll need to recharge your batteries as we get into the “end-of-the-year avalanche” that’s ahead!
With the exception of the weather today, this has been such a great week. I hope you’re following Shane’s news releases to keep up with the many events around our district and student successes.
This week started with the “grand opening” and dedication of our new paint booth in Auto Collision on Monday morning. We had a great turnout of program advisory committee members, local auto industry representatives, and contractors who worked on the project. And, of course, our Sloan Trustees, who made it all possible. Bob Newland, Auto Collision teacher, and his students did a terrific job of demonstrating the capabilities of this new booth—what a huge improvement over the old one! They’ve been very, very patient as we worked through the permitting, licensing, and construction process for this project (nothing’s ever easy in public schools!) But Bob told me Monday, “I’m at the top of my game now!” No doubt. A sign hangs on the side of the paint booth which reads, “To whom much is given, much is expected.” I’m going to assume it was Bob who put that up as a reminder to his students how grateful they should be for this technology and to remind them to take good care of it. What an appropriate message. I took a video of the students at work in the new booth, but the file was too large and I couldn’t get it transferred from my phone (still working on those technology skills!) But Shane’s coverage of the event and his photos/videos on our website are much better anyway—check them out.
Wednesday evening’s Board Meeting was just chock-full of recognition for students as well as programs. The posting on our website gives full coverage, but in addition to recognizing our Students of the Month, our Information Technology team presented their video on Dr. Earl Sloan as a “Local Hero” (this is the video they took to state competition), we presented Dave Duff, local building developer who partners with us on our Construction Trades teachers on the project house, with a proclamation from State Representative Dave Burke commending him for the construction of the Touchstone Energy Home last school year, and we heard from Donna Atkinson, Business Teacher at our Graham satellite, about the High School of Business Program, which gives our students incredible credit articulation opportunities. We also got an update on the latest competitive events winners in all of our Career-Tech Student Organizations—the list is growing as events take place! Be sure to follow the news releases and our website to see our winners and extend well-deserved congratulations!
Thursday I attended another Ohio School Funding Advisory Council. Not much new to report. The subcommittee working on CTE funding is still pretty much entrenched in learning about CTE and studying the history of CTE funding. It’s been good, though, to be in the room and answer questions as they come up, and even to cite specific programs, delivery models, and student opportunities. One member did commend us, though, for the data we have to show student achievement both while in our programs and after completion; and he asked why our model of contextualized learning isn’t used across all of education. Hmmm . . . good question!!
For those of you who are taking time off next week, have a wonderful spring break! Travel safely, rest up, and we’ll see you back here for the “home stretch”!
Friday, March 26, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
March 19, 2010
Today is the last day of winter—good riddance! Spring officially arrives tomorrow, and hasn’t it been a beautiful arrival? I think this spring will be one of the most welcome we’ve had in a long time—we’ve really earned it for making it through this challenging winter. I think I’ll celebrate this weekend by taking the scraper out of the car and putting the snow shovel away!
Thanks to all of you who attended the School Finance 101 session on Monday. The financial future for OHP and all schools I nothing less than uncertain these days. But, as I shared with the group who attended, Ohio Hi-Point has operated from a position of financial strength for 35+ years, and we’ll work hard to protect that financial strength. Will it involve some difficult decisions? Certainly. But in the end we’ll position ourselves to continue to offer those programs that benefit the most students--which is, after all, our mission. We will be posting the data that was shared during the session on our common drive so that you can view it if you were unable to attend—I’ll notify you as soon as that is available. And Eric and I welcome your questions.
Tuesday evening I attended the Ohio School Boards Association Southwest Region Spring Conference at Miami Valley CTC. Over 250 school board members, superintendents, and other school officials were in attendance. Congratulations to the Ohio Hi-Point Board of Education for receiving the Silver level of the Effective School Board Award! This award was based on a self-assessment of board effectiveness on 26 criteria. It’s a pleasure to work with a board that continually strives to get better, and this assessment helped us identify some areas to work on. Next year we’re going for the gold!
Some of our board members were also recognized at the conference for years of service: Susie Bline, Mechanicsburg (15 years) and Joe McKirahan, Logan Co. ESC (10 years). That’s a lot of years of service to our public schools, and we are very grateful to Susie and Joe for giving so generously of their time, energy, and commitment to students!
Wednesday evening five of our best and brightest participated in the American Association of University Women’s Trivia Bee, a fundraiser for local scholarships. “Team Hi-Point” consisted of Caleb Lang (Social Studies teacher), Melissa Sizemore (Math teacher), Benji Billman (Math teacher), JoAnn Ventresco (Language Arts teacher), and Doug Limes (Building Maintenance teacher). A photo of this stellar team is at right. Our team finished 7th out of 28 teams from Logan County. Congratulations Team Hi-Point for an outstanding finish! And thanks for putting in the extra time and effort to support a great cause.
Thursday I attended the National School Public Relations Ohio Spring Conference and had the privilege of speaking on a panel around the topic of social networking in schools. (Thanks to Shane Haggerty for the invitation!) I’m really proud of OHP for being out in front using social networking both for marketing and to allow our students to publish for a “global audience.” I should say I’m really proud of our staff for being forward-thinking enough to support this effort. I always say I’m a “late-comer” to these technologies. I was one of the last people to use e-mail, to get cable TV, to get a cell phone, to blog, etc. Personally, I have to see an assured benefit for the cost. And while I’m still not active with social networking, many of you have demonstrated the usefulness of these tools to reach our students and allow them to express themselves. And you’ve done it while setting high standards of behavior and holding students accountable. What a valuable lesson for them to learn before they enter the workplace or higher education. Thank you for being champions of what can be and not letting "later-comers" like me hold you back!
Enjoy your weekend, celebrate springtime, and get some well-deserved R&R!
Thanks to all of you who attended the School Finance 101 session on Monday. The financial future for OHP and all schools I nothing less than uncertain these days. But, as I shared with the group who attended, Ohio Hi-Point has operated from a position of financial strength for 35+ years, and we’ll work hard to protect that financial strength. Will it involve some difficult decisions? Certainly. But in the end we’ll position ourselves to continue to offer those programs that benefit the most students--which is, after all, our mission. We will be posting the data that was shared during the session on our common drive so that you can view it if you were unable to attend—I’ll notify you as soon as that is available. And Eric and I welcome your questions.
Tuesday evening I attended the Ohio School Boards Association Southwest Region Spring Conference at Miami Valley CTC. Over 250 school board members, superintendents, and other school officials were in attendance. Congratulations to the Ohio Hi-Point Board of Education for receiving the Silver level of the Effective School Board Award! This award was based on a self-assessment of board effectiveness on 26 criteria. It’s a pleasure to work with a board that continually strives to get better, and this assessment helped us identify some areas to work on. Next year we’re going for the gold!
Some of our board members were also recognized at the conference for years of service: Susie Bline, Mechanicsburg (15 years) and Joe McKirahan, Logan Co. ESC (10 years). That’s a lot of years of service to our public schools, and we are very grateful to Susie and Joe for giving so generously of their time, energy, and commitment to students!
Wednesday evening five of our best and brightest participated in the American Association of University Women’s Trivia Bee, a fundraiser for local scholarships. “Team Hi-Point” consisted of Caleb Lang (Social Studies teacher), Melissa Sizemore (Math teacher), Benji Billman (Math teacher), JoAnn Ventresco (Language Arts teacher), and Doug Limes (Building Maintenance teacher). A photo of this stellar team is at right. Our team finished 7th out of 28 teams from Logan County. Congratulations Team Hi-Point for an outstanding finish! And thanks for putting in the extra time and effort to support a great cause.
Thursday I attended the National School Public Relations Ohio Spring Conference and had the privilege of speaking on a panel around the topic of social networking in schools. (Thanks to Shane Haggerty for the invitation!) I’m really proud of OHP for being out in front using social networking both for marketing and to allow our students to publish for a “global audience.” I should say I’m really proud of our staff for being forward-thinking enough to support this effort. I always say I’m a “late-comer” to these technologies. I was one of the last people to use e-mail, to get cable TV, to get a cell phone, to blog, etc. Personally, I have to see an assured benefit for the cost. And while I’m still not active with social networking, many of you have demonstrated the usefulness of these tools to reach our students and allow them to express themselves. And you’ve done it while setting high standards of behavior and holding students accountable. What a valuable lesson for them to learn before they enter the workplace or higher education. Thank you for being champions of what can be and not letting "later-comers" like me hold you back!
Enjoy your weekend, celebrate springtime, and get some well-deserved R&R!
Friday, March 12, 2010
March 12, 2010
Wow, did this week fly by! So many activities this time of year—and many more to come.
Monday I was invited to present to the State Board of Education about the challenges facing career-technical education and the support we need from them. Of course, funding was at the top of the list. I shared several stories about our students’ successes, the variety of students we serve, and their many pathways to careers. I asked the State Board to assure funding for CTE that will allow us to continue to provide quality programming. You may have heard or read that Ohio is a finalist for the federal Race to the Top funding for educational innovation. Unfortunately, career-technical centers were not eligible for this funding as a separate educational entity. However, if Ohio is a winner, the State Board will have discretion over a portion of the funds. So I also asked them to consider us as they determine how those discretionary funds will be allocated. After I presented, we had about a 30-minute discussion—and I wish you all could have been there to hear the many positive comments they had about our career-technical education system in Ohio. They clearly recognize the asset that we are—one Board Member referred to us as the “crown jewel” of career-technical education in the nation—and they were pleased to hear that we are sending more and more of our students to technical schools, colleges, apprenticeship programs, and other post-secondary training. They were also very impressed with the number of college credits our students can earn through articulation and hours they can earn toward apprenticeships. I was very proud on behalf of all of you! Our next step is to have each career center invite the State Board Member from their district to visit the facility and see for themselves. We’ll be extending an invitation to our Board Member, Ann Jacobs from Lima, to visit us soon—I know she’ll be amazed!
Monday evening I attended the Bellefontaine Rotary Honors Dessert where eight of our students were recognized for maintaining a 3.5 GPA throughout high school. Those students were Heather Burk, Daniel McCully, Breanna Schrader, Ashley Kuch, Robert Smayda, Katie King, Mark Salmons and David Thatcher. (See photo of Heather, Daniel, Breanna, and Ashley at right.) It’s neat that our students are recognized both by their home schools and by OHP for their accomplishments—they put our school’s name “in the news” in such a positive way! Congratulations to all these students for this tremendous accomplishment.
Tuesday morning I attended the Logan County RTC Appreciation Breakfast. We were recognized as a business partner for providing a site for job “tryouts” for adults with disabilities and also for providing work for those who work in the adult workshop. (This organization does all of our bulk shredding.) We’re proud to partner with such an organization that provides such great opportunities for these adults!
Wednesday morning, Leadership Logan County held its monthly session on our campus. This group has held its “Education Day” at OHP for several years now, and we’re always glad to educate them about our programs and send them out as ambassadors within the community to spread the good word. Our students provided tours and demonstrated skills—no doubt they left impressed! Thanks to those of you who welcomed them into your labs.
Wednesday evening was our Annual Appreciation Banquet for our advisory committees and other community supporters. I counted them up—we have 52 advisory committees among our main campus, satellite, and adult education programs! We had over 260 in attendance—that’s a lot of expertise dedicated to bettering our programs! Daniel Meeks of our OHP/Kenton FFA chapter was our keynote speaker, and he did an outstanding job of outlining the benefits of career-tech and thanking our supporters. And we also made several award presentations—be sure to check out our website for photos!
Thursday I attended a Report Card Task Force organized through the Ohio Department of Education and the Buckeye Association of School Administrators. Actually, I sat in on the high-school subcommittee as the career-tech representative. A superintendent from a K-12 district commented at length that he feels we owe it to our students to take accountability for their success after high school, not just up to the point where we hand them a diploma. I thought to myself, “Hmmm. We do that in CTE.” I did have an opportunity to share with them our performance measures (including follow-up!) and how we might integrate those measures into the local report card as it is redesigned. We’ll see. This committee will continue to meet next school year, and probably I’ll have another member of the Career-Tech Superintendents organization sit in. But I’ll keep you posted on their work!
I noticed one sign of spring has arrived—worms all over the sidewalk! Another sign of spring arrives this weekend with the arrival of daylight savings. Don’t forget to set your clocks up one hour this Saturday night—and enjoy that extra daylight in the evening. Have a great weekend!
Monday I was invited to present to the State Board of Education about the challenges facing career-technical education and the support we need from them. Of course, funding was at the top of the list. I shared several stories about our students’ successes, the variety of students we serve, and their many pathways to careers. I asked the State Board to assure funding for CTE that will allow us to continue to provide quality programming. You may have heard or read that Ohio is a finalist for the federal Race to the Top funding for educational innovation. Unfortunately, career-technical centers were not eligible for this funding as a separate educational entity. However, if Ohio is a winner, the State Board will have discretion over a portion of the funds. So I also asked them to consider us as they determine how those discretionary funds will be allocated. After I presented, we had about a 30-minute discussion—and I wish you all could have been there to hear the many positive comments they had about our career-technical education system in Ohio. They clearly recognize the asset that we are—one Board Member referred to us as the “crown jewel” of career-technical education in the nation—and they were pleased to hear that we are sending more and more of our students to technical schools, colleges, apprenticeship programs, and other post-secondary training. They were also very impressed with the number of college credits our students can earn through articulation and hours they can earn toward apprenticeships. I was very proud on behalf of all of you! Our next step is to have each career center invite the State Board Member from their district to visit the facility and see for themselves. We’ll be extending an invitation to our Board Member, Ann Jacobs from Lima, to visit us soon—I know she’ll be amazed!
Monday evening I attended the Bellefontaine Rotary Honors Dessert where eight of our students were recognized for maintaining a 3.5 GPA throughout high school. Those students were Heather Burk, Daniel McCully, Breanna Schrader, Ashley Kuch, Robert Smayda, Katie King, Mark Salmons and David Thatcher. (See photo of Heather, Daniel, Breanna, and Ashley at right.) It’s neat that our students are recognized both by their home schools and by OHP for their accomplishments—they put our school’s name “in the news” in such a positive way! Congratulations to all these students for this tremendous accomplishment.
Tuesday morning I attended the Logan County RTC Appreciation Breakfast. We were recognized as a business partner for providing a site for job “tryouts” for adults with disabilities and also for providing work for those who work in the adult workshop. (This organization does all of our bulk shredding.) We’re proud to partner with such an organization that provides such great opportunities for these adults!
Wednesday morning, Leadership Logan County held its monthly session on our campus. This group has held its “Education Day” at OHP for several years now, and we’re always glad to educate them about our programs and send them out as ambassadors within the community to spread the good word. Our students provided tours and demonstrated skills—no doubt they left impressed! Thanks to those of you who welcomed them into your labs.
Wednesday evening was our Annual Appreciation Banquet for our advisory committees and other community supporters. I counted them up—we have 52 advisory committees among our main campus, satellite, and adult education programs! We had over 260 in attendance—that’s a lot of expertise dedicated to bettering our programs! Daniel Meeks of our OHP/Kenton FFA chapter was our keynote speaker, and he did an outstanding job of outlining the benefits of career-tech and thanking our supporters. And we also made several award presentations—be sure to check out our website for photos!
Thursday I attended a Report Card Task Force organized through the Ohio Department of Education and the Buckeye Association of School Administrators. Actually, I sat in on the high-school subcommittee as the career-tech representative. A superintendent from a K-12 district commented at length that he feels we owe it to our students to take accountability for their success after high school, not just up to the point where we hand them a diploma. I thought to myself, “Hmmm. We do that in CTE.” I did have an opportunity to share with them our performance measures (including follow-up!) and how we might integrate those measures into the local report card as it is redesigned. We’ll see. This committee will continue to meet next school year, and probably I’ll have another member of the Career-Tech Superintendents organization sit in. But I’ll keep you posted on their work!
I noticed one sign of spring has arrived—worms all over the sidewalk! Another sign of spring arrives this weekend with the arrival of daylight savings. Don’t forget to set your clocks up one hour this Saturday night—and enjoy that extra daylight in the evening. Have a great weekend!
Friday, March 5, 2010
March 5, 2010
Sunlight after 6 p.m.—how great is that! I think the sunshine this week has done us all a world of good. (A landscaper told me today the Farmer’s Almanac is calling for 30 inches of snow in March, but I’m going to assume he’s talking about North Dakota!)
I’m going to rush spring a little bit and say we’re already well into it with all of our spring banquets, competitive events, and awards programs. There will be lots of news to share regarding these events in coming weeks!
Last Tuesday I attended the Hardin County Chamber & Business Alliance Annual Dinner and had the privilege of seeing our Ridgemont board member, Robert White, receive the Citizen of the Year Award for his work in securing passage of a levy for the County Extension Office and for his support of 4-H programs. Bob told me he was just in the right place at the right time; I told him he was also doing the right things! Congratulations, Bob—we’re proud to have you serve on our board!
This past Monday I had the real treat of sharing a tour of Benny’s Pizza in Marysville (and lunch!) with our Culinary Arts students. I originally had to decline the offer due to my schedule; but when the lunch was rescheduled due to weather they invited me again, and I was able to stop in on my way to a meeting in Columbus. I’ve always been amazed with the customer service at this local favorite, and the tour was really an eye opener. They crank out a lot of great food from very small space in an old building! The kids were great—they were well behaved (of course), asked great questions, ate heartily, and made me feel like an honored guest. Thanks, CUA, for a great experience!
Wednesday I visited our Marysville site and our South Campus and met our Practical Nursing students in those facilities. At Marysville, we have one group about three months away from graduation, and they’re clearly very proud and very excited! Another class there has just begun, and those students seem very determined to take on the challenge and work for a better future. At South Campus we’ve started our very first PN class, and they seem so appreciative of the opportunity. I so admire these adults who embark on such a challenging course of study, and I know the payoff will be huge for them when they graduate. I encouraged them to “keep their eye on the prize” and hang in there when things get tough. I look forward to seeing those same smiling faces at their graduation!
Wednesday we had Chinese students from Urbana University visit our campus. I wasn’t able to be here when they were on campus, but Associate Director Shelly Swaney tells me they were intrigued and amazed by the choices our students have in career-technical training. In their country, their career pathway is decided for them at a fairly young age. As she shared with me their comments, it made me wonder if our students realize how very fortunate they are to have the choices they do. This kind of interaction is so rich for our students—and we look forward to hosting visiting students again!
As the week draws to a close, wasn't it great to have five full days of school? Maybe exhausting, too. I hope you have a wonderful weekend and that you have an opportunity to get out and enjoy the sunshine and warmer temperatures!
I’m going to rush spring a little bit and say we’re already well into it with all of our spring banquets, competitive events, and awards programs. There will be lots of news to share regarding these events in coming weeks!
Last Tuesday I attended the Hardin County Chamber & Business Alliance Annual Dinner and had the privilege of seeing our Ridgemont board member, Robert White, receive the Citizen of the Year Award for his work in securing passage of a levy for the County Extension Office and for his support of 4-H programs. Bob told me he was just in the right place at the right time; I told him he was also doing the right things! Congratulations, Bob—we’re proud to have you serve on our board!
This past Monday I had the real treat of sharing a tour of Benny’s Pizza in Marysville (and lunch!) with our Culinary Arts students. I originally had to decline the offer due to my schedule; but when the lunch was rescheduled due to weather they invited me again, and I was able to stop in on my way to a meeting in Columbus. I’ve always been amazed with the customer service at this local favorite, and the tour was really an eye opener. They crank out a lot of great food from very small space in an old building! The kids were great—they were well behaved (of course), asked great questions, ate heartily, and made me feel like an honored guest. Thanks, CUA, for a great experience!
Wednesday I visited our Marysville site and our South Campus and met our Practical Nursing students in those facilities. At Marysville, we have one group about three months away from graduation, and they’re clearly very proud and very excited! Another class there has just begun, and those students seem very determined to take on the challenge and work for a better future. At South Campus we’ve started our very first PN class, and they seem so appreciative of the opportunity. I so admire these adults who embark on such a challenging course of study, and I know the payoff will be huge for them when they graduate. I encouraged them to “keep their eye on the prize” and hang in there when things get tough. I look forward to seeing those same smiling faces at their graduation!
Wednesday we had Chinese students from Urbana University visit our campus. I wasn’t able to be here when they were on campus, but Associate Director Shelly Swaney tells me they were intrigued and amazed by the choices our students have in career-technical training. In their country, their career pathway is decided for them at a fairly young age. As she shared with me their comments, it made me wonder if our students realize how very fortunate they are to have the choices they do. This kind of interaction is so rich for our students—and we look forward to hosting visiting students again!
As the week draws to a close, wasn't it great to have five full days of school? Maybe exhausting, too. I hope you have a wonderful weekend and that you have an opportunity to get out and enjoy the sunshine and warmer temperatures!
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