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VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1
IN THIS ISSUE CONNECTING INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM E N A B L I N G H I G H - I M PA C T W O R K F O R C E P R E PA R AT I O N SERVICE LEARNING AND STEWARDSHIP BLACK KNIGHT KNOW-HOW: STUDENTS PRODUCING, SELLING BRANDED GOODS BY THE NUMBERS
CONNECTING INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM A canvas of Hancock County school districts shows high schoolers engaging in more career preparation activities than ever before. Students in some districts are obtaining industry certifications, giving them a marketable advantage. Liberty-Benton, for example, offers the National Career Readiness Certificate, West Central Ohio Manufacturing Consortium Basic Manufacturing Credential, Rhodes State College Integrated Systems Certification, and OSHA 10-Hour Certificate. Cory-Rawson offers Rhodes’ Mobile Lab FANUC Robotics Credential, officiating certifications, and hunter safety licensure. Ohio’s new work-based learning (WBL) mandates are ensuring that schools provide authentic, in-depth, engagement for high schoolers enrolled in state-approved career tech programs. In multiple districts, students with jobs have the opportunity to leave during the school day to go to work and earn high school credit. Other readiness methods are also being used for job preparation. Vanlue, for instance, has a 12th-grade Career Exploration and Employability Skills course that includes facility tours and apprenticeship information. Students have visited businesses such as GROB and Whirlpool. McDonald’s Corporation offered a classroom presentation.
Arcadia and McComb students visited RPM Carbide to see precision machining in action. McComb has a Student Leadership class in which all 10th grade students focus on public speaking, job shadowing/ interviewing, community service, and collaboration. Cory-Rawson alumni and businesses are showcasing careers, and “Several [students] have received apprenticeships and received jobs based off these visits,” said Principal Brianna Gerten. Students from Liberty-Benton attended a “Fridays at Findlay” presentation featuring MediView. This experience allowed students to “hear about cutting-edge healthcare technology… while networking” with business, government, and University representatives.
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SERVICE LEARNING AND STEWARDSHIP Students at Riverdale and Cory-Rawson high schools are acquiring valuable skills to use in their future careers by learning about and aiding their community and the environment.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Riverdale High School’s Team Leadership Core (TLC) operates a food bank from the basement of the district’s former high school building. TLC members receive food donations from the FindlayHancock County YMCA, along with food and monetary donations from the community. Students organize food received, create “Falcon Packs” and disburse them to disadvantaged students and their families in the community.
Career Expo: Healthcare M AY 1 1 , 2 0 2 3
High school students will tour workplaces, engage with employees, and learn about training for unique careers in the healthcare industry.
Emily Shaw, Riverdale High School guidance counselor, points out that this service-learning endeavor teaches marketing, communication, leadership, logistical and organizational skills along with instilling a sense of compassion. Cory-Rawson High School’s Environmental Science course, taught by Justin “Bud” Parkins, relies on the Great Outdoors for lessons. Participants use the district’s land lab, which includes a creek, two wooded acres and trail cameras for students to learn about plants and animals. Students are also responsible for lab care by clearing brush and maintaining trails.
www.raisethebarhancock.org/ careerexpos
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Environmental Science students also have the option of completing a hunter safety course. Jaron Beck from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources teaches students how to process a deer correctly and how to fillet fish.
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Looking for employees to share their use of algebra concepts: 1. Factoring Polynomials 2. Graphing Quadratics 3. Exponential Functions O F F E R W O R K- B A S E D LEARNING
Millstream Career Center must ensure all students get hours in the workplace. Contact kwatts@ findlaycityschools.org to learn about employer expectations and existing models to adopt.
To showcase what they’ve learned, students have attended an Ohio School Boards Association meeting with Parkins and presented.
BLACK KNIGHT KNOW-HOW: STUDENTS PRODUCING, SELLING BRANDED GOODS Strong school spirit is a Van Buren High School hallmark, in part because of a successful student-led entrepreneurial adventure that incorporates hands-on design and business concepts. The Armory, located in the high school cafeteria and now in its second year of operation, sells branded Van Buren school merchandise created by students in Michael Daniels’ Graphic Arts course. Three days per week and during school events, customers can buy Black Knights items such as T-shirts, tote bags, outdoor Jenga sets, and wall hangings made from the school’s old gym floor.
“This class truly teaches the students all about the environment we live in, how to protect it, how to benefit from it, and how to respect it,” said Cory-Rawson High School Principal Brianna Gerten.
BY THE NUMBERS
A pop-up shop operates after school hours at auditorium events and outdoor sporting events. Custom products are also sold to Hancock County and regional businesses.
How do you budget for a vacation? What are the basics of saving for retirement? How do interest rates impact the real estate market? Years ago, most high school graduates were on their own when it came to navigating such adult responsibilities. Today, however, students at Findlay, Vanlue and McComb are afforded financial literacy opportunities that better prepare them for personal and professional success.
More than 40 students produce items, which involves activities such as screen printing, embroidery, and glass etching. Daniels focuses on incorporating computerized tools so that students develop career-ready technical skills while meeting the learning targets of school curricula.
Findlay High School math teacher Jordan Nugeness has been using the Dave Ramsey “Foundations” course to encourage responsibility and planning for students with their personal finances. Vanlue is also offering the course to its senior consumer math students. Lessons are based on concepts honed by financial expert Dave Ramsey. The goal is to ensure students gain the skills and confidence necessary to make some of their most important life decisions.
Eric Heitkamp’s Applied Business course students are responsible for the sales component of products. Co-CEOs Summer Siefer and Aliyah Van Scyoc, along with their finance, HR, operations, and marketing teams, organize the store’s products, help develop new products, employ effective marketing, and meet consumers’ needs. Additionally, students work through a business education curriculum to help them develop applicable post-graduation skills. The Armory offers them the option of collaborating with graphic arts students. “The Van Buren community has been very supportive of this manufacturing and business venture,” said Brian Bratt, Van Buren High School’s career advisor. “Students look forward to continuing to work with their current customers, but they also welcome the opportunity to learn from other professionals who have knowledge to share.”
“The course has been around for several years but has been adapted to include more projects that are able to impact them right now versus solely just focusing on their future finances,” Nugeness said. Some of the topics covered include consumer awareness, career readiness, insurance basics, and taxes. Nugeness incorporates hands-on activities into her classes that have students build a household budget, manage bank accounts, calculate tips and discounts, complete tax forms, and study paycheck stubs for deductions and other costs, among other lessons. “The kids seem receptive to the course,” said Nugeness. “It is vastly different from any other math course they have taken during their time at Findlay High School. They seem to appreciate that it is applicable to their current and future self and that it is a mix of traditional learning (i.e. direct instruction) and projects with hands-on applications.” McComb High School twelfth grade students can also take a financial algebra course that focuses on similar topics such as money management, balancing a checkbook and real-life monetary situations.
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ENABLING HIGH-IMPACT WORKFORCE PREPARATION Funding awarded in Hancock County is setting students up for workforce success. At Liberty-Benton High School, a college-level career exploration course continues to be offered thanks to a grant from 2016. Manufacturing Concepts, a Rhodes State College course structured to introduce students to in-demand careers in the manufacturing industry, provides a pipeline of qualified applicants to local manufacturers, and reinforces employability skills. Students in the course engage with Career Network Coordinator Susan Allen, who arranges trips to local manufacturing facilities. Students are able to see the variety of businesses represented in the community and have the opportunity to network with professionals in many different fields. In addition, special education students throughout Hancock
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County are benefiting from additional resources to help them prepare for the workforce and find area jobs. Thanks to a collaboration between the Hancock County Educational Service Center (ESC) and Raise the Bar, nearly $21,000 in grant funding was recently awarded to pay for Pathful Explore. Through the grant, the ESC acquired 350 transferable Pathful Explore student licenses for two years. The school districts participating along with the ESC include Arcadia, Arlington, Cory-Rawson, McComb, Riverdale, Van Buren and Vanlue. As part of their career preparation curriculum, the interactive software helps students make more insightful, informed career choices. “Making appropriate career choices will allow them to obtain and maintain employment as adults, becoming independent, contributing citizens.” Angie Toland, ESC transition coordinator, said the ESC also purchased an iPad Pro and a Padcaster starter kit to create and highlight local businesses and agency videos that will be uploaded to the Pathful Explore platform and to the ESC’s website.