8 minute read
ESC OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
Lisa Ishee -External Affairs Director & Kenneth Clarke - Executive Director
daily basis. Our reach goes beyond the county.” The 2022 Woofstock Presenting Sponsor is AQUA DOC, and Top Dog Sponsors are DogWatch Hidden Fences, Solon Manufacturing Co., and the Wenk Family Charitable Foundation.
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In addition to its financial donors, Rescue Village relies on its foster volunteers to keep up the good work. Pre-pandemic, volunteers averaged over 600, but now numbers are down to about 200. Clarke emphasizes the need. “The majority of those are our foster volunteers, who are so crucial to this work. We absolutely need that network of very generous people to take on that heavy lift to help us with our animals. We learned that even more so during the pandemic that not all the animals thrive here, as you can imagine. Getting them out of the shelter gives them a respite from the stress and the noise of the shelter, and we learn so much about them when they’re in foster care.”
When Clarke mentions a particular pitbull pup named Fern, it begs the question, who comes up with names like Pickle for a cat? “They get named by everybody and anybody,” Ishee says. “Honey had puppies and then every puppy was named in homage to mom, like ‘Comb’ and ‘Beehive.” Or maybe what somebody had for lunch that day, but not a lot of names reserved for humans.” (Except the canine Jim I met, apparently). “Typically, adoptee names will change, but sometimes people are drawn to them because of the name, or maybe it reminds them of someone.” Indeed I know a shelter cat named Puddin, and a black cub of a dog named Bear, whose names never needed changing.
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We’re part of an engaging eight-campus system with two locations in Burton and Twinsburg, offering more than 20 associate and bachelor’s degrees. Many of our programs will prepare graduates for in-demand jobs in the area.
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Lessons in Teamwork
ESC of the Western Reserve
Benjamin Franklin said that an investment in knowledge always pays the best interest. Ohio’s Educational Service Centers reach 1.5 million students in over 60 ESC’s that support students, families, and communities across Ohio. The ESC of the Western Reserve (ESCWR) is committed to providing innovative programming and quality services to support and promote student achievement in all aspects of our educational communities within our region and state. In 2020, Lake and Geauga counties consolidated to better serve school districts, which are categorized as city (big), exempted village (medium) and local (small). (Geauga County’s six schools are classified as local school districts, which means the students number under 2,500.) A publicly elected board of nine (five from Lake county and four from Geauga) governs the ESCWR to guide educational programs and services for students and communities.
Broadly, ESCWR provides vocational training for students across multiple counties, and runs intensive special needs programs, operates transportation for those who need access, arranges for food services, and even runs a store in Lake county called Unique Like Me, which is fully supported by students and local businesses. A big focus of ESCWR’s mission is to connect its students with the local business community through career development services and onthe-job training, as well as through the Business Advisory Councils in Geauga and Lake Counties.
ESCWR Superintendent Jennifer Felker has a formidable track record. Before ESCWR adopted its new name in 2020, Felker had already been working as Superintendent for both Lake and Geauga’s separate ESCs. Prior to 2016, Felker had been the State Associate Superintendent for 2 years under former Governor Kasich, which followed a decade of service at Cuyahoga’s ESC. (She even has teaching experience.) Some may have been surprised by her decision to take the Geauga position since it was the smallest ESC in the state at the time, but Felker was inspired. “It doesn’t matter whether you’re large or small; I knew I could grow the county office,” she says. When the Lake board asked if she’d be open to taking on the dual role, Felker embraced the opportunity: “I’m so glad they had the confidence in me to take on another county.”
Early on in 2016, Felker partnered with the like-minded non-profit, Geauga
Growth Partnership (GGP) to create a business advisory council to foster relationships between local businesses and schools county-wide. The two organizations have collaborated on numerous initiatives like Northeast Ohio Education Association (NEOEA) Day, a national day for professional development for teachers. The relationship proved invaluable when the newly formed ESCWR got right to work in January 2020, and by March pandemic lockdowns began. Even though in-person recruitment or training wasn’t an option, area businesses rallied to make videos to talk about what they’re looking for in an employee, from soft skills (like interview prep) to technical skills. “We’ve been really creative,” Felker says with pride. “Without the GGP partnership, we would not be as strong in those initiatives. Together we are able to provide the services that were previously unavailable to our county. It’s very interesting to see how that close knit community feeling grew out of having GGP as a really strong partner of the schools.”
“Together we are able Employees have been to provide the services in high demand since that were previously the pandemic, and unavailable to our county.” employers have to be more competitive than - Jennifer Felker, Superintendent ever before to retain them, whether that means paying a higher wage, or negotiating benefits packages that include health insurance, and the option for remote work or flexible scheduling. Felker has observed that there’s been a cultural shift away from students having a rigid focus on a long term career plan, to the idea that one might not stay in the same field over the course of their lives. After two years of disruption and uncertainty, trends in education are emerging, too, and new data collected by state universities will be released this fall to answer the question of how things have changed. “Many juniors and seniors have not returned to programs at two- and four-year schools during the pandemic. A lot of that has to do with this turnover, especially in manufacturing, which is the leading industry within both counties,” Felker says. “A lot of students that were looking at college degrees are now going straight into the workforce, and a lot of those jobs are paying higher wages, sometimes more than to someone with a degree. There are significant opportunities for our high school students coming back to stay in the area.” When it comes to keeping up with where student interests lie, ESCWR has programming partners across the country. Last year, Felker was inspired by an educational initiative in Florida called the Rock on the Road Academy, which implements a recording studio to teach high school students about audio production. She put out a call to area schools this spring, and received an enthusiastic reply from a team of administrators and a key teacher leader in Painesville. The studio will be up and running next year. Once complete, those students will be able to connect nationwide with others who have gone through the program.
“We’ve got to do things for students with that interest, especially for high level students in music and the arts,” Felker says. “Our schools and Auburn Career Center offer a great deal of programs, services and support for students to help them self identify the best path for them.”
No matter which path a student decides to follow, the schools are in a great position to connect them with those opportunities. Felker advises them to engage with their teachers and counselors to find the right fit, whether that means college, a specialty school, or going right into the workforce, or some combination thereof.
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