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!