What’s recently happened?
The Area Career Center (ACC) just finished up its celebration of Black History Month. Students from different career pathways participated in ways that made sense in their classroom. In the multimedia broadcast program, students learned about famous African Americans in the multimedia field whereas students in the culinary program learned about local restaurants that were completely African American owned. At the end of February, students joined together to do a Black History Month-inspired talent show. In the talent show, students had the opportunity to showcase their individuality based on what they presented in front of their peers. A mix of singing, dancing, and even puppet shows were seen during this performance. At the end, students were given first, second, and third place awards for all their hard work.
Additionally, students were able to make displays that were kept around the school for the month of February which showcased impactful people in the different career pathways that were African American. This allowed students to talk about current or past people that were influential for their career pathway. Most of the careers talked about those in the area who own small businesses. Doing this allowed students to discover companies that they may not have found while looking for themselves.
What’s coming up?
The ACC students are heading into March at full speed. March is the last month of preparation before the State SkillsUSA competition which is to be held at the beginning of April. In the different career classes, students will practice the skills necessary for their competitions.
Students will also be spending a lot of time within their classes working on the time and material constraints that have previously been given at the state level. This helps students maintain a more positive attitude when they are faced with the unexpected challenges that come with the competition. This allows for all the students to not only be prepared for the state level but also be confident in the work they will be bringing there. The ACC students will leave on a Friday morning and return the following night on Saturday. State competition is set to be held at the Indiana State Fairgrounds & Event Center.
The first place finisher for all of the state events will be moving on to the national level in June, which will be held in Atlanta, Georgia. Students across the state will be competing for this spot, and every year, a handful of ACC students make their way down to Nationals for the week.
Staff spotlight
Joseph Young is the Automotive Services Instructor at the ACC. Young enjoys teaching his students career standards and seeing them take this knowledge into their job field.
“I like seeing these guys come in with almost zero knowledge, then see them move on into a career and be successful,” Young said.
In the automotive class, students have the opportunity to go out on internships, and Young sends a handful out every year.
“There are some pros and cons to the internships. They miss out on some instruction I would want them here for,” Young said. “Typically these students are my best students, and they are the most helpful, so I end up needing them when they are out on internships.”
Young has been teaching this class for only a few years, beginning just shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Prior to teaching, Young was a mechanic. In the field, he described himself as an unofficial teacher because, at the different jobs he worked, he tended to take the new guys under his wing and teach them what they needed to know.
Student spotlight
Kenny Booker is a senior at Griffith High School and a student in the automotive class. Outside of the ACC, Booker spends his time hanging out with friends and bowling for his high school bowling team. Booker took this class originally because cars were something he found interesting.
“Cars were something I found interesting,” Booker said. “I wanted to learn how to work on them.”
In this class, Booker enjoys being able to apply what he learns to his daily life. Booker looks forward to learning about engines more specifically. For Booker, it is a bonus that Young enjoys teaching about engines, saying that it is one of his favorite things to teach his students.
After this class, Booker plans on going to college at Purdue University Northwest, and his major is undecided as of now. If that does not work out, he plans on going to trade school to be an electrician or a plumber.
“I want to go to college at Purdue Northwest,” Booker said. “If that does not work out, I will probably go to a trade school to be an electrician or a plumber, a jack of all trades.”