ADAMS COUNTY
SCHOOL-TO-WORK ACTION PARTNERSHIP
August 10, 1999
Minutes
Attendees:
Peebles:
Manchester:
Gene Toole announced that Dawn Countryman has taken the Principal’s job at Woolard Elementary and has resigned from this committee and also the Executive Committee. Joy Jackson, WUHS EMIS Secretary, will now be taking the meeting minutes for us.
Meeting Agenda
Financial Report – Gene Toole:
IASTW Grant: Officially ends 9/30/99, but we will request the extension through 12/31/99, to ensure time to disburse the funds properly. The unencumbered balance is earmarked as follows: $8-9,000 to the CISCO Academy; $10-15,000 for teacher stipends; $4,000 fiscal agent fee. These funds are not discretionary.
1999 Block Grant: Used to award teachers across the district with mini-grants. We will probably not request an extension for this one.
1999 Breakthrough Grant: This money was used for the spring banquet, teacher externship program.
1999 STWAP Grant: From the Region 7 Office, this included mileage expenditures and provided a portion of Gene Toole’s salary.
Gene also went over Member Donations which have been received to date, totaling $1,050. These monies are discretionary funds.
(See attached Financial Report and Member Donations Summaries attached.)
Contract – Gene Toole:
Gene gave an overview of his contract for the coming year. An additional responsibility for this year will be to serve on the school district’s Continuous Improvement Committee. This will be a great opportunity, as this year’s efforts must concentrate on sustaining the STWAP without federal funds. We are hoping to embed STW in the Continuous Improvement Plan, as it is a program which is in the best interest of students.
Teacher Externship Program – Gene Toole:
This week-long program was designed to put teachers into workplaces to see what skills are needed by students. This was designated as a "breakthrough strategy" and funded through the Region 7 Office. Teachers were offered a $250 stipend, or $150 stipend and two credit hours from Rio Grande.
Dave Booth, Regional Coordinator, kicked-off the program last Monday, August 2, at North Adams High School, along with Andy Culbertson of MACA Plastics and Dale Scott of G.E.
There were 22 teachers participating from Adams County, and 16 from Brown County. Brown County teachers elected to spend two days at specific businesses; Adams County elected to visit a number of area businesses as a group. Businesses visited included DP&L’s Stuart Station, General Electric Test Facility, MACA Plastics, Cedar Works, and The Adams County Hospital.
The week was wrapped up Friday evening with a meal at Eastern Brown High School, and a presentation by STW State Director, Susan Streitenberger. Evaluations were completed at this time by the participants, and the feedback was overwhelming that this had been an extremely valuable learning experience.
Roy Willman asked about publicizing the program. Gene said that Linda Stepp had submitted an article and photograph to the Defender.
Roy Willman asked about specific teacher feedback. Gene developed the evaluation form and will make a composite and average of the information and distribute it to the members.
Rick Fulton asked if the sessions at the business were a tour set-up or hands-on experience, and how long was spent at each site. Gene explained that Adams County teachers spent two to four hours at each site, with very limited hands-on activities. Richard Shoemaker’s group in Brown County opted for all hands-on. Some of the issues of local businesses with hands-on sessions include training, safety, liability, and schedules; but we will be heading towards one- to two-day hands-on sessions for next year. The teachers expressed their interest in hands-on experience, also and most of the businesses believed that the teacher externship program was even more valuable to them than the student internships – so everybody is headed in the same direction.
Grant Submitted to Ohio STW:
"Schools That Work in the New Millenium", a grant for $100,000 was written by Linda Stepp and submitted to the State Office. It is scheduled to be read Thursday, August 10, 1999. We will know September 1st if we’re funded. We have been successful in receiving grants thus far ($350,000) mostly due to the writing expertise of Linda Stepp and Nancy Darby, which we certainly appreciate.
Included in the budget portion of this grant:
Executive Committee Membership:
The Executive Committee met at the REA in July. Dawn Countryman resigned, and Rick Fulton has been asked to take her place. Rick has agreed to do so. Gene has been trying to contact Brad Jones to see if he still wishes to remain active due to his transfer to Hillsboro, but has been unable to do so at this time.
Open Forum:
Elaine Collins - Jr. Achievement Program
Elaine has received information from Susan Childs of the Governor’s Officeof Appalachia on the Jr. Achievement Program, which provides a grant for fifth graders in 29 Appalachian counties. It requires commitment from the business community to teach five short sessions in the classroom throughout the year. Money is available to implement, but we must find out if businesses are interested. We would need at least one business for each school.
Gene Toole met Susan Childs at the Region 7 meeting and confirmed with her that the program is "proficiency-test-friendly", as there is no room in the school day for anything that doesn’t go in that direction. Elaine will help find the business people.
Roy Willman asked about coordination of the program. Gene said that money is available for coordination. The Jr. Achievement Program has targeted STW as a vehicle to move forward, so it would probably be an STW issue.
Mr. Porter said that he has been involved with the Jr. Achievement Program, and it is a good program that would definitely fall into the STW program.
Roy Willman – Workforce Investment Act
At the last Region 7 meeting it was discussed that STW may become a part of that Act, with Human Services as an umbrella organization. Greg Grooms said they have received no details as of yet, but expect to receive more information in October.
Open Forum: (continued)
Gene Toole – Madison’s Ridgeview Farms
Gene introduced Dr. Bryan Madison, owner/operator of Madison’s Ridgeview Farms, who has established a major mushroom venture based in Adams County. They market mushrooms to all restaurants in Cincinnati and retail to national food stores. They are also a vendor and participant at Findlay Market in Cincinnati, which is a good vehicle for opening up agriculture avenues for Adams Countians. Dr. Madison also does Alternative Agricultural Training, and would like to link in with the STW program to work with some of the younger people. He will be going to Washington, DC, soon to meet with the Department of Agriculture, as Ohio is one of the six states designated to participate in an Incubator Program.
Mr. Porter said that we would definitely get him networked with our Vo-Ag Advisory Committee, as it sounds like a great opportunity.
Al Porter – Remarks
Mr. Porter stated that he was impressed with the Teacher Externship Program and looks forward to seeing it grow next year.
He commented on our updated curriculum, which includes Advanced Placement classes. We are enhancing and raising the standards for our better-performing students. We need to help students overcome the image that their Senior year is "just for fun" or "goofing off". We are looking at awarding higher GPA points for the Advanced Placement classes, but are meeting with some resistance.
We want to prepare our students to their fullest potential. We’ve done our part, now the students need to step up to the challenge.
Roy Willman – Closing Remarks
Thanked Mr. Porter for attending and participating. He expressed his hope that Guidance Counselors and JOGS teachers would begin attending in the future.
The motion to adjourn was made by Kay Holden, seconded by Greg Grooms. Motion carried.
Executive Committee Meeting - September 7, 1999
General Membership Meeting - October 5, 1999