Grant Career Center March 2013 News Grant Career Center is Recognized at Salute to Leaders Award Banquet Last week, Grant Career Center was recognized at the Clermont County Chamber of Commerce Salute to Leaders Banquet as the Tate Township award winner. Nominated by the Tate Township trustees, Grant was proud to be recognized by our neighbors for our outstanding contributions to the community. During the award dinner at the Holiday Inn Eastgate, many community leaders were recognized for their contributions this past year. It was great to see so many supporters of the career center in attendance and being saluted for their own achievements. In their nomination of Grant Career Center, the Tate Township Trustees said, Since 1976, Grant Career Center has focused on preparing youth and adults with skills for employment ensuring that students will be productive, capable citizens adding to the overall prosperity of our community. Grant Career Center has consistently reached out to the community to assess and evaluate what jobs are available, what skills are required, and then focus on training individuals to fill these needs. We will continue to do our best to serve the students and the adults in our district with the best possible career and technical training, as well as providing service to our community. Horticulture Department Visits DWF Wholesale Supply House Flowers and plant materials arrive on a regular basis by truck to the Horticulture department and the students have no idea where they come from! Instructor Gary Broadwell thought a field trip to DWF Wholesale supply house might be the answer to that dilemma. On Monday, March 18, the students traveled downtown to the floral district and were treated to a guided tour by Jerry Muennich, owner of DWF. The students saw the floral chain of life in action, coolers bigger than they ever imagined, and flowers and plant materials from all over the world. They saw hot trends in the corsage department just in time for prom season and shelves that were filled with supplies galore to create any type of floral decoration imaginable. Students were very impressed with the operation and learned much about shipping and transportation issues, supply and demand, inventory maintenance and the floral industry as a whole.
Ken Morrison Named OSBA Southwest Region Outstanding Superintendent of the Year Superintendent Ken Morrison was recently awarded the Ohio School Board Association Southwest Region Outstanding Superintendent of the Year Award for 2013! In a ceremony held at the Regional Spring Conference at Miami Valley Career Technology Center, Ken was recognized for his many years of dedicated and inspired service to Grant Career Center and the field of Career and Technical Education. Nominated by Bethel-Tate Superintendent Melissa Kircher and Public Relations Director Pam McKinney, Ken was called a visionary man who believes in people and empowers his staff to take ownership of their career center and do what is best for the students of the district. He is a great steward of the district s finances and strives to meet the needs of the community. He works diligently to improve the region s economic sustainability so that Grant Career Center graduates can lead successful lives in their own communities. He is committed to excellence and models that behavior for staff and students as he lives by the motto, It is never the wrong time to do the right thing. Sophomore Career Exploration Days Showcase New Career Pathways Sophomore students from the four home schools recently visited Grant Career Center for Sophomore Career Exploration Days and participated in activities in four career pathways. Students could be seen being arrested in Criminal Justice, cooking stir fry in Culinary Careers, creating corsages in Horticulture, and learning about college and career pathways in every program they visited. We also showcased two new programs during Sophomore Days that are being launched as career offerings next year, Biotechnology and Criminal Justice. The Biotechnology program will be offered as a satellite program at Bethel-Tate High School and had lots of students talking about high-tech science careers. Students worked in an experiment with solutions and pipettes and charted their research findings. Discussions followed about possible careers and college partnerships. Criminal Justice will be offered as a half-day program at Grant and was the hot spot to visit. Students worked a crime scene, walked the line mostly unsuccessfully were arrested, fingerprinted and booked, handled forensic evidence, and worked on their physical fitness regime. A shooting simulator rounded out their experience and students took pride in shooting the bad guys. Overall the Sophomore Career Exploration Days were a huge success! Sophomores had the chance to visit and learn in-depth material about four career pathways, staff and students planned great hands-on activities to keep the sophomores engaged, and the sophomores surveys said they had a great time and learned more about Grant than they ever knew before. It was a positive experience for all involved, and our current students really stepped up their teaching skills and presented their programs in the best light.
Future Educators Demonstrate Skills at State Leadership Conference Members of Grant Career Center s Teacher Academy had the privilege to attend the Ohio Future Educators Association State Conference held at the University of Findlay on Friday, March 8, 2013. The students joined nearly 800 high school and middle school students from over 50 statewide chapters at the annual conference featuring leadership sessions, competitions, and personal development activities. Accompanying the students on their trip to the leadership conference were instructor Julie Crozier and staff member Connie Monahan. Students entered several competitions and were rewarded with state honors in two categories. Bringing home a first-place award for the Impromptu Speaking contest was Taylor McKinnon. Taylor presented a speech comparing virtual education and traditional education. The Ethical Dilemma Team of consisting of Brittany Hahn, Taylor Robinson and Tonya Sheets were given a classroom scenario of the timely topic of cyber bullying and presented their findings and were rewarded with a third place award. SkillsUSA Members Find Success at Regional Competition Students from the Grant Chapter of SkillsUSA brought back 11 state-qualifying medals from the South Central Regional Skill Championships held in early March at the Scioto County Career Center, Columbus State Community College, and the Columbus Sheet Metal Workers Local #24 Apprenticeship Training Hall. Bringing back a first place gold medal for Prepared Speech was Jodi Seale, a junior Allied Health Science student from Felicity-Franklin. Silver Medal winners include Allyson Klump, Basic Health Care Skills, (New Richmond); Michael Vornhagen, Automotive Service, (Williamsburg); Jeremy Lewis, Carpentry, (New Richmond); and Nick Marshall, Related Technical Math, (Bethel-Tate). Students winning Bronze Medals include Mackenzie Rinehart, Extemporaneous Speech, (Bethel- Tate); Brooke Corbin, Job Skill Demo A, (Felicity- Franklin); Ashley Noe, Medical Math, (Bethel- Tate); Bradlee Prather, Medical Terminology, (Felicity- Franklin); Brian Adams, Collision Repair, (New Richmond); and Austin Kinnard, Technical Drafting, (Bethel-Tate). All students winning gold, silver, or bronze medals have the opportunity to represent Grant Career Center at the state level competition in late April. Other students competing in events at the regional level include: Brook Arwine, Job Interview, (Bethel-Tate); Melissa Radcliff, Nurse Assisting, (New Richmond); the Health Knowledge Bowl Team o f S a r a h H o l m a n, (Williamsburg) and Mikayla Cooper, Kaitlyn Demaris, Mariah Canter (all Bethel Tate); Sierra Durham, Cosmetology, (Williamsburg); Esteven Peacock, Welding, (New Richmond); Kyle Puckett, Automotive Refinishing, (Bethel- Tate); and Shannon Bullock, Nail Care, (Williamsburg). Assisting in the Nail Care demonstration was Autumn Seal, (New Richmond), the Job Skill Demo model was Peyton Davis, (New Richmond), and serving as a Health Knowledge Bowl judge for the team was Ashley Gettes, (Bethel-Tate).
National Technical Honor Society Inducts 29 New Members Grant Career Center inducted 29 new members into the Elizabeth Abbott Chapter of the National Technical Honor Society on March 1, 2013. The following students were selected for membership in the Elizabeth Abbott Chapter of the National Technical Honor Society for 2013: Morgan Calhoun, senior Allied Health Science, Beth- -Tate; Mikayla Cooper, senior Allied Health Science, Bethel-Tate; Shawn Davin, senior Engineering Design, Bethel-Tate; Coralena Emmons, senior Horticulture, Williamsburg; Brittany Hahn, senior Teacher Academy, Felicity-Franklin; Craig Hoagland, senior Teacher Academy, New Richmond; Sarah Holman, junior Allied Health Science, Williamsburg; Shane Jeffers, senior Carpentry, Williamsburg; Erica Jones, senior Teacher Academy, Bethel-Tate; Allyson Klump, senior Allied Health Science, New Richmond; Jeremy Lewis, senior Carpentry, New Richmond; Alex Lilly, senior Business and Finance, Bethel-Tate; Jessica Marsh, junior Automotive Service Technology, Williamsburg; Taylor McKinnon, senior Teacher Academy, Bethel- Tate; Ciara Mills, senior Medical Information Tech, New Richmond; Kelsey Mitchell, senior Allied Health Science, Felicity-Franklin; Alexandra Nissel, junior Cosmetology, Bethel-Tate; Ashley Noe, senior Allied Health Science, Bethel-Tate; Danielle Peters, senior Allied Health Science, Felicity-Franklin; Bradlee Prather, senior Allied Health Science, Felicity-Franklin; Kyle Puckett, senior Auto Collision, Bethel-Tate; Angelo Quiles, senior Carpentry, Felicity-Franklin; Clare Schaljo, senior Allied Health Technology, Bethel-Tate; Jodi Seale, junior Allied Health Science, Felicity-Franklin; Shawnta Sweet, senior Medical Information Tech, Bethel-Tate; Spencer Taylor, senior Culinary Careers, Bethel-Tate; Coty Thompson, junior Automotive Service Technology, New Richmond; Michael Vornhagen, senior Automotive Service Technology, Williamsburg; and Marissa Walls, junior Allied Health Science, Williamsburg. Quarter Auction to Benefit the Caseltine Family When one of our own family members is hurting, the Grant staff tend to take action to help out. Teresa Caseltine, a Grant graduate and cafeteria cook since 1994 has been struggling since fall with a devastating family illness. Her husband Gary, also a Grant graduate, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and together they have been fighting the disease. The staff decided that we could ease their financial burden by hosting a quarter auction. Committees met and created a plan, selected a date and made contacts with area businesses and organizations. The gifts started to trickle in slowly and then as the deadline approached, the pile began to grow quickly. By the time the auction began, over 125 gifts had been donated for the sale. The power of social media was evident as a Facebook post about the event went viral with over 6,000 views in one weekend. We knew we would have a great crowd because of the cause and all the family connections in the county. The event was a great success as people flooded into the cafeteria and purchased paddles and a delicious dinner and bake sale items. The auction brought in huge buckets of quarters that eventually totaled to a $6,208.50 profit for the Caseltine Family. God bless everyone that helped support this family.
Business Professionals of America Find Success At State Competition and are Heading to Orlando, Florida In mid-march, the Grant Career Center chapter of the Business Professionals of America proved that they were ready to Uncover the Magic at the national competition by competing in the State Skill Competition and Leadership Conference in Columbus and bringing back numerous awards. Eleven BPA members traveled to Columbus for two days of testing and competitive events. During their stay, the students participated in social events and a variety of activities at the Columbus Convention Center. Students were competing with Business Professionals of America members from all across the state of Ohio. Grant Career Center students who were recognized for their outstanding achievements by placing in the top ten at the state level include Tara Bradley, a junior from Bethel-Tate, Interview Skills; Kayla Taulbee, a senior from New Richmond, Basic Office Systems and Procedures; Ciara Mills, a senior from New Richmond, Advanced Office Systems and Procedures; and Brianna Jackson, a senior from Bethel-Tate, Advanced Word Processing. One student earned the opportunity to represent Grant Career Center at the National Leadership Conference in Orlando, Florida, May 8-12, 2013. Bringing home a first place trophy for Advanced Office Systems and Procedures was Mariah Norris, a New Richmond senior in the Medical Information Tech program. Mariah will join approximately 6,000 conference delegates from across the nation as they participate in national-level business skill competitions, workshops, certification testing, general sessions, and the national officer elections as well as having the opportunity to visit historical sites and places of interest in the Orlando, Florida area. UC College of Allied Health Science Doctorate Program in Physical Therapy Share Skills with Allied Health Physical therapy doctoral students from the University of Cincinnati College of Allied Health Science recently visited the Allied Health Science program as a part of their course of study. An important part of the physical therapy program is the ability to communicate and teach healthcare providers how to help patients in their care. The physical therapist candidates work with students from all different cultures and backgrounds in an effort to perfect their communication skills before entering the workforce. During their visit to Grant, the UC students demonstrated to the junior students the proper way to train a paraplegic patient how to take a fall from the wheelchair and right themselves again. The students took turns practicing the skill and understanding the necessity of training people with physical impairments to handle the unexpected in their daily routines. The UC students also shared with the students about the field of physical and occupational therapies and the requirements for those professions. Many of the Allied Health Science students pursue careers in physical or occupation therapy and found the information most helpful for their career planning.