LOVELAND MAGAZINE

News and Events from the Loveland, Ohio Area

Without fear or favor
Since 2004

Tag: career-technical education

  • Great Oaks notes Career Technical Education Month

    Great Oaks notes Career Technical Education Month

    Each year, thousands of southwestern Ohio students enroll in career-technical education (CTE) classes that lead to professional credentials in a career field by the time they finish high school.  These students become nurses, aviation technicians, website designers, veterinary assistants, personal trainers, dental assistants, fire fighters, and more.  Some take CTE classes in their own high school; others go to a regional career center serving their school district.  About half continue on to college, often with credits earned in high school.

    Great Oaks Career Campuses President/CEO Harry Snyder

    The research shows that CTE works.  American high school students in career-technical education (CTE) programs are more likely to graduate, according to the U.S. Department of Education.  Other studies show that those students are more likely to be satisfied with their education and earn higher wages when they graduate.  Adults who earn shorter-term CTE credentials can out-earn bachelor’s degree holders.  

    “CTE students have an impact while they’re still in school, and they make our community successful throughout their lives,” said Great Oaks Career Campuses President/CEO Harry Snyder.  He said that local experts, business owners, and other community leaders are graduates of CTE programs, including those offered at the four Great Oaks campuses.

    • Area businesses see value in CTE.  Over 1400 local leaders serve on Business and Industry Advisory Councils at Great Oaks, helping educators choose curriculum, purchase equipment, and share their knowledge with students.
    • CTE instructors are required to be experienced in their fields.  Computer programming courses are taught by accomplished computer programmers; practical nursing programs are led by veteran nurses; culinary students learn from local chefs.
    • CTE students learn using the equipment and tools they’ll use in their career field.  Aviation students at the Laurel Oaks Career Campus work on airplanes in a hangar in Wilmington; engineering students program robotic manufacturing equipment, and cosmetology students learn in fully-equipped salons at the school.
    • More than 200 Great Oaks students are currently on placement in local businesses, practicing skills from computer repair to automotive refinishing while still in school.
    • More than 90 satellite programs allow high school students to have unique experiences in Great Oaks classes without leaving their high school.  For instance, engineering students in Project Lead the Way, a Great Oaks satellite program at Milford High school, have designed and built prosthetic arms, devices to hold hockey sticks and violin bows, specialized masks, and other equipment to help children accomplish tasks and do more in their lives.
    • Cincinnati Zoo Director of Construction Management Gary Gilbert is a graduate of Diamond Oaks Career Campus. He’s one of 32 Distinguished Alumni of Great Oaks, a list that includes inventors, a fire chief, police chiefs, business owners, an Olympic gold medal winner, an Emmy nominee, and numerous educators.

    February is CTE Month each year, and local schools use that time to share facts about career-technical education.  For instance:

    “Career-technical education is so much more than the vocational classes of the past,” said Snyder.  “CTE graduates have professional credentials and options for great careers, pathways to college, and success in whatever they choose to do.”

  • Symmes Township’s Nancy Mulvey honored by national school organization

    Symmes Township’s Nancy Mulvey honored by national school organization

    Symmes Township resident and Great Oaks Director of Student Services Nancy Mulvey was honored this month with the Distinguished Service Award from the National Council of Local Administrators NCLA, a national association for career and technical administrators.  She was recognized for her service to career-technical education and for her professional accomplishments.

    Mulvey has served the students of Great Oaks Career Campuses for more than 30 years as a math teacher, counselor, career specialist, campus dean, and district administrator. In her current role as Director of Student Services, she has strengthened both physical health and mental health services for students, led the effort to rewrite Board policies, began a summer camp program for younger students, and helped guide the district to record levels of high school enrollment.

    The nomination read in part, “Nancy recognizes best practices in the field, and shares, adapts, and improves those practices to benefit current and future students as well as the organizations she serves. She freely shares her own ideas and innovations and champions those practices that others have developed, for the benefit of career-technical education as a whole.”

    The award was presented virtually during the NCLA Best Practices Conference, which was held online this year.

  • Here is how the Great Oaks campuses will open in the Fall

    Here is how the Great Oaks campuses will open in the Fall

    Here is how the Great Oaks campuses will open in the Fall.

    Please note:  The following information applies only to high school students at Great Oaks campuses.

    Our community, and the world, continues to adapt to the ongoing pandemic. In all that we do at Great Oaks, the safety and health of our students, staff and visitors is our highest priority. Whenever students, staff and visitors are together in a Great Oaks building, we expect that social distancing (at a minimum of 6 feet) is practiced, face coverings will be worn by all, and the buildings and equipment will be frequently cleaned and sanitized. We also encourage such healthy personal habits as regular hand-washing. 

    The following information reflects the most recent planning; information can change if circumstances change.

    Update July 20, 2020

    Academic classes will be held online

    In order to maximize the amount of hands-on, career-technical education available to students, all in-person classes will be in the career lab with the career-technical instructor.  English, mathematics, social studies, and science classes will be held remotely.  Students will spend all day two days per week in their career-technical program.

    As part of this schedule, students will have time to meet individually with academic instructors while on campus, which will support their online learning.  It also means that the same group of students will stay in the same room—their career lab—for the full day, reducing the number of times per day needed to sanitize rooms as we would if students changed classes for multiple periods daily.

    Students will attend the campus on Mondays and Thursdays as part of the A group, or Tuesdays and Fridays as part of the B group.  During the remaining three days, students will work remotely on academic work and other homework, with Wednesday set aside for one-on-one remote assistance.

    This schedule will run for the first quarter, until October 16.

  • Career-technical education in high school can lower the cost of college

    Career-technical education in high school can lower the cost of college

    Harry Snyder is the President/CEO of the Great Oaks Career Campuses

    by Harry Snyder,

    “Price of College Increasing Almost 8 Times Faster Than Wages,” reads a June 2018 headline in Forbes magazine.  A recent USA Today story said the “Rising cost of college (is) creating a financial hole for parents, students.”  The author recommends that parents of young children begin saving more, sooner.

    Fortunately, there are other options for college-bound students. Career-technical education in high school can lower the cost of college.

    At Great Oaks, every high school student can earn college credit before graduating in one or more ways:

    • Articulation agreements with partner colleges and universities provide credit for students who are majoring in fields that align with their high school program. For instance, Construction Framing and Finishing students can earn 10.5 college credits toward a degree in Construction Management at Hocking College. Industrial Diesel Mechanics students can start at the College of Applied Technology at the University of Northwestern Ohio with 12 credit hours. Many Great Oaks programs have articulation agreements in place.

    • Career-Technical Credit Transfer is an Ohio program that aligns career-technical programs with college degree programs at Ohio public colleges and universities. Currently, 26 of Great Oaks’ 32 career programs qualify for college credit through this process.

    • College Credit Plus classes offer all Ohio students the chance to go to a local college or university and take classes while still in high school. Those college classes are offered at Great Oaks campuses, so Great Oaks students can take them during their regular school day without leaving school.

    Career-technical students can also get a financial boost toward earning a college degree:

    • Employers may pay college tuition for valuable employees.  For example, it’s not uncommon for graduates of our Precision Machining program to be sent to engineering school by the companies that hire them.

    • The professional credential that graduates earn can help them save for college. A cosmetology license, FAA Airframe Mechanic license, LPN, or other credentials give grads the chance to start working right after high school in jobs that pay considerably more than minimum wage.

    We sometimes hear community members say that career-technical education is a great option for those who aren’t going to college.  What we know, and what the evidence shows, is that it’s also an excellent, cost-effective path for those who plan to go on to college.