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President-Elect David Myers announced: -Rotary District 6630 will be having upcoming Grant Management Seminars. Each club needs to have at least two attendees to be eligible to apply for District Grants. Contact Dave for details. -The All-Ohio President Elect Training Seminars (PETS) is having a fundraiser to provide blankets for The Children’s Foster Care Network. There is a friendly competition among the districts to provide the most $10.00 blankets. Each club in our District 6630 is being asked to donate as many as possible. Individual donations would be collected today, but members can continue donating online or using our local VENMO account. All money raised by our district will serve foster care in Northeastern Ohio. Will Underwood announced that there will be a District 4-Way Speech Contest meeting following next week’s regular Rotary meeting. Student-Of-The Month Anthony Horton, Principal of Stanton Middle School introduced Anna Hido as the Rotary Student-of-the-Month for February. Anna is an eight grader in the Voyagers program. She is highly active in school and enthusiastic about learning, carrying a 4.0 GPA. Hannah is a three- year member of the Orchestra in which she plays the violin, as well as a member of the Girls’ Soccer Team, Basketball Team, and Track Team. She is a leader by example and is active outside of school in her church. Of special note was her once a week dedication in taking care of her grandmother who has ALS. She credits her parents, Robin and Aaron Hido, with giving her the desire to serve others. Please see the attached presentation in her honor. Program Paul Organ introduced Brian Bachtel, Director of Career Technical Education at Kent City Schools. Brian has served in this position since 2009. Using a brief video as an introduction, Brian gave an overview of the programs being offered at Roosevelt High School. His major points served as a framework for the rest of the presentation. These included: - Approximately 1000 students attend Theodore Roosevelt, with an additional 286 students from five other schools enrolled in Career Technical Programs offered at the school, and part of the Six District Vocational Compact.
- Approximately 400+ students are enrolled in the 11 Career Technical Programs offered at Roosevelt. The Six District Compact has a total of 28 programs being offered. Entry to the many of the programs is highly competitive.
- Vocational Education has evolved over the years from direct employment to workforce development, but some programs offer more. This has become necessary due to the changing nature of the skills needed in the work environment, the type of training needed, and the expanding technology.
- Some programs offer state certified end of course tests, giving the students the opportunity to earn college credit with local partner universities and, in some instances, earn the equivalent of one full year of college attendance when they graduate from high school.
- The goal is to help students identify their pathway and prepare them for the rigors needed to be successful.
After the overview, Brian introduced two highly successful and competitive programs and their instructors, as examples of preparing students for evolving career opportunities: Terry Slattery is the Athletic Health Care & Fitness program instructor. Terry has spent 25 years at Roosevelt High School and directs the program. He made the following points: -The program emphasis is really exercise science and physical therapy, providing students with a variety of pathways after high school. The possibilities are driven by student interest, and they learn what is necessary to achieve their goal. - Sending out a survey to graduates of the program, he was surprised by the large return response he received. Of special note was 110 graduates currently providing direct COVID services in a variety of occupations. He also noted that the program is filled, with 50 Level One students this year. -Three graduates, Caleb Schjeldal, Tyler Simpkins, and Jordan Bedell, are currently Kent City fireman/paramedics and are examples of one pathway. Caleb commented that he was hooked when he entered the program and it helped him create a plan after graduation. This included two and half years of additional training in becoming part of his hometown force. Terry noted that partnerships and internships give real work experiences, and help students set their future path. Troy Spear is the level I instructor for the Computer Aided Design and Engineering Technologies career technical program. He made the following points: -Using a video, he shared the state-of-the-art equipment students have access to and utilize to hone their skills in Computer Aided Design. (CAD) He emphasizes to his students that “if you can dream it, we will show you how to do it!” Students cultivate a passion for learning and utilizing the technology. -The design software, valued at over $300,000 is also state-of-the-art, giving students experience in working with software they will find in the industry and giving them the tools to hone their skills. -The manufacturing side of the program has state-of-the-art CNC machines and equipment, allowing students to create what they design in the CAD Lab. The goal is that they will be able to leave the lab with something they designed and manufactured. -Students graduating from the program have an 85% placement in local industry. The goal of the program is to meet the needs of local industry and in Northeastern Ohio. He emphasized the idea that everyone must go to college as the only pathway after high school, has been replaced with developing a passion for what you want to do and determining what additional training will be needed after high school to meet that goal. Brian concluded the program with an emphasis on the Business and Industry Advisory Board each program is required to have. He encouraged anyone who can provide programs with current needs in their industry/business represented by one of the Career Technical programs to consider being part of the Advisory Board. David Dix asked how it was possible for the instructors to keep up with the rapidly changing complexities of technology? With some levity, Troy Spear suggested there wasn’t enough time to keep up, but noted that a key is outreach to local industry partners to help learn about the new programs, equipment, etc. In addition, the State offers Career Technical Training sessions and, of course, the peer-to-peer conversations among the instructors helping each other. Tom Myers, noting his company has all the equipment and technology found in the program, asked how he could access students to consider for employment? Both instructors noted mock interviews are conducted as part of the program and encouraged employers to take part in the process. In addition, summer internships during the senior year would give employers the opportunity to learn about students for potential employment. Amanda Senn asked if encouragement is given to females to engage in traditional male roles in manufacturing, technology, etc.? Brian emphasized that Career Technical Programs emphasize equity for all students and are open to all students. Responder Nancy Whitehead provided the response. She thanked Brian and the instructors for their work and the evolution of Career Education. Noting that the American Jobs Program will need one million CTE professionals by 2023, she emphasized that CTE trained students have higher graduation rates, more interest in learning, better soft skills, etc. Again, thanking the educators, she indicated that we will all look forward to following the students in the future.
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