What’s recently happened?
Recently at the Hammond Area Career Center (ACC), students are getting back into the swing of things fresh off of their Regional SKILLSUSA (SKILLS) competition. Several programs including culinary, cosmetology, and radio/TV from ACC went to Elkhart for the competition and all did very well.
Radio/TV has seven teams going down to State for video production, news production, and short film.
Culinary is sending 12 students down to State for culinary service, baking and pastry, and restaurant service.
Jorge Lopez and Marco Ocampo are two students doing culinary service in the SKILLS competition and are both headed to State.
“For culinary service, we had to create a three course meal which included a salad, entree, and a soup,” Lopez said. “We knew ahead of time what we would be making so we had lots of time to prepare and practice for what regionals would entail.”
For the entree, participants had to make a braised chicken breast and some kind of fresh, tossed salad, and soup that they were given ingredients for. They also had to do something with the green beans they were given.
“I made lemon zested green beans and they turned out well,” Ocampo said. “I enjoyed the chance to be creative and add my own flavorful touch to my dishes.”
Ocampo also said that he feels confident heading into state because of the preparation they are doing and the experience they already have from the regional competition.
Early childhood is sending 20 students down to State for the early childhood competition, job interviewing, prepared speech, and promotional bulletin board.
Construction is sending 12 teams to the State competition for cabinet making, carpentry, roofing, electrical wiring, and masonry.
Cosmetology is sending six teams down to State for barbering, estheticians, natural hair braiding, nails, and job interviewing.
All around, Regionals went very well for the students of the ACC and students are looking forward to State with the hopes of making it to Nationals in Atlanta.
What’s coming up?
Students at ACC are getting ready for the end of the third quarter and are practicing skills in preparation for the State competition in April. The criminal justice class has begun working on its 911 dispatch certification which includes several different tests.
Sara Clark, a senior at Munster High School and a first year student in the criminal justice program, says that the certification is tough but definitely worth it.
“We have to read two books about being a dispatcher, take tests about different scenarios that we might encounter as a 911 dispatcher, and then a final test at the end combining everything we will learn,” Clark said. “It will be a really good experience and I’m excited to be able to do it.”
Also coming up, students who are interested in coming to ACC have to submit their intent forms in order to join the program that they want. The programs that usually fill up the fastest are welding and construction, so students who want those programs have to fill out the application as soon as possible to get a chance to get into either of those programs.
Students who were nominated for the National Technical Honor Society (NTHS) have their induction ceremony coming up on March 19. This special honor is only available to students who have at least a C-average in their respective programs as well as having good character. Teachers have to select students who they think meet those criteria, and several students are being inducted into this prestigious honor society.
Students are able to put the NTHS on their resumes as they go on into life and they are also able to wear the tassel that they receive on their graduation cap to show the honor.
Staff spotlight:
Ryan Cogdill is the emergency medical services (EMS) teacher at ACC. He has been at ACC for seven years now and previously did one year of teaching adults, but he has enjoyed every single year that he has been teaching.
“I absolutely love teaching the EMS program. Seeing the content click with the students and then hearing about how they use what they learn in class in the real world is really rewarding to me and it’s what keeps me coming back as a teacher,” Cogdill said.
Coddill got into EMS at a fairly young age due to his mother having medical issues and has been interested ever since then.
“I was at the hospital quite often due to my mother having medical problems so I picked up on a lot of things here and there while I was there at the hospital and it all fascinated me,” Cogdill said. “I also did training and the head instructor told me that I would be an awesome teacher, so I ultimately decided that’s what I wanted to do – to be able to help people, especially young adults, and teenagers how to help people if they come across some type of medical emergency.”
He enjoys doing different competitions to see how much the students learn and how well they can apply it. The EMS program goes to SKILLS competitions for the EMT competition but they also do the Health Occupation Students of America (HOSA) competition. For the past several years they have done well in all of their competitions.
Outside of class, Cogdill enjoys being outside and enjoying nature and the world.
“I love camping, biking, fishing, hiking, hunting, just anything that gets me outside and active,” Cogdill said. “Every summer I try to camp as much as possible and also fish, I really just love being outside.”
Student spotlight:
Lyric Walker is a first year student in the emergency medical service (EMS). The EMS program is one of the more popular programs at ACC.
“I chose the EMS program because I want to be able to help people out in the future, and I also love the adrenaline rush that I get when I am helping someone out and in the heat of the moment,” Walker said. “My favorite thing that we have done so far this year is the supraglottic, which is when an EMT assists the airways of someone that is unconscious by using a device to open their airways and allows them to breathe.”
Walker also said that Cogdill, the instructor, makes the class enjoyable and a really fun environment to learn in.
“Mr. Cogdill is very knowledgeable about different things and a large variety of things as well. He has taught us about basic life skills to help not only ourselves but also others. He has taught us about things like how to stop bleeding, learning about the stages of pregnancy, and how to treat different trauma cases. Having him as a teacher has also been a really big part of why I enjoy the EMS program,” Walker said.
Outside of school, Walker enjoys spending time with her friends and family as well as sometimes playing sports just for fun.
“I mostly just enjoy going home after school, relaxing, and listening to music to unwind from the long day of school,” Walker said. “I also enjoy hanging out with my friends and my family because they always make my day better.”
