“In Ohio, we have four jobs for every one person who’s looking for a job. So we have to build a workforce if we want to continue to grow our economy. Career tech is the best value education, you can earn a credential, a job skill, and you can do it at your career tech institution at no cost,” Husted said. “Employers today are hiring skills, not degrees. We need more students to earn these skills.”
Some projects that Greene County Career Center students have worked on this semester will go directly towards helping people in their community.
The Career Center’s Advanced Engineering Systems students have developed modified, ride-on toy cars for Go Baby Go, a program through the Cerebral Palsy Foundation that provides the cars to young children with disabilities. Student volunteers across the country take toy cars and turn them into functional, ride-on cars, complete with electric modifications, extra seat padding, and more, so that young children can get around more easily.
Nursing students learn phlebotomy skills, medical terminology, and practice anatomy on Anatomage tables, which are large-scale devices that simulate the human body and more. Students graduate with their State Tested Nursing Assistant certification, and are often hired promptly by area hospital networks. Students that work in hospitals during school hours can count their work hours towards their class credit for high school graduation.
Junior Lilly Willmann said she was inspired to pursue a career in health care because of the kindness she experienced in the hospital as a child. While in middle school, she came down with the flu and strep throat at the same time.
“I went to my physician because I just was really sick and they couldn’t figure out what’s wrong,” she said. “It was just hard because that was fifth or sixth grade, maybe. But I remember this nurse who was extremely kind to me, and I’ll just never forget her, because I was so scared as a little kid, and I want to be able to help people like that.”
Junior Presley Baxter said she chose the nursing assistant track because of her heart for helping people, and a desire to work with children.
“It’s something different, and by coming here, I really decided that I wanted to be in healthcare,” she said.
High school students can complete certifications to become mental health technicians, similar to being a nurse’s aide for mental health patients.
“Since they are trained and know about mental, behavioral health, they would do a great job at de-escalation ... so it’s a great (lower-level) position they can do while in school,” said Health Sciences instructor Faith Sorice. “We took a gamble on it. It’s the first year we did it, but honestly, the kids did great.”
About 35% of all Greene County Career Center students earn 50 or more hours of work placement experience, and 27% of all students earn over 250 hours. GCCC students are employed with over 115 local businesses. Last year, the career center issued 1001 industry credentials, and will exceed that number this year.
About the Author
