{"id":91604,"date":"2017-08-18T08:34:31","date_gmt":"2017-08-18T13:34:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=91604"},"modified":"2017-08-19T07:16:47","modified_gmt":"2017-08-19T12:16:47","slug":"vwhs-program-gives-seniors-internship-opportunities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2017\/08\/18\/vwhs-program-gives-seniors-internship-opportunities\/","title":{"rendered":"VWHS program gives seniors internships"},"content":{"rendered":"

DAVE MOSIER\/<\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n

The high cost of a college education, coupled with the changing job market, has led school districts to rethink how they\u2019re preparing students for future success.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Van Wert County Economic Development Director Stacy Adam addresses the CEO class at Van Wert High School.<\/strong> Dave Mosier\/Van Wert independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At Van Wert High School, guidance counselor Kerry Koontz, with support from VWHS Principal Bob Priest, Assistant to the Superintendent Bill Clifton, and former superintendent Ken Amstutz, has made it his mission to develop a career education program that would provide workforce information, as well as internships and other job shadowing experiences, to students.<\/p>\n

\u201cTalking to employers, I sense there is a need for this new generation of workers,\u201d Koontz said, noting that, with Baby Boomers retiring, more good-paying jobs are coming open locally. He noted, though, that his program is centered more on career choices, rather than on just getting a job, and companies are willing to make a financial commitment to get good employees.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we, as a school, do some students a disservice,\u201d Koontz said, noting that, formerly,<\/p>\n

One part of the school\u2019s new career education initiative, the CEO program, got underway on Thursday morning, with 27 of the 28 students who enrolled in the class last spring attending.<\/p>\n

Koontz explains that the program is a class offering for high school seniors only, at this point, although he says it\u2019s likely to expand as interest increases.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like signing up for any other class that they would be taking,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s two periods a day and they will get high school credit for that; but the experience they are getting is more than worth (the time spent).\u201d<\/p>\n

The program provides information on a variety of career options, including education courses required, jobs availability, and starting salaries. The CEO program also assigns students to internships at several local businesses and companies, including Van Wert County Hospital, National Door & Trim, Vancrest Health Care Center, Van Wert Manor, BeeGee Realty, Alliance Automation, The Kenn-Feld Group,\u00a0and the Van Wert Fire Department.<\/p>\n

Students also have to create resumes and undergo job interviews as part of the program.<\/p>\n

The first CEO program class included a presentation by Van Wert Area Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Stacy Adam, who noted that, while 7 million Americans are currently unemployed, there are 5 million U.S. jobs that go unfilled. The reason the jobs go unfilled, Adam said, is because the workers available don\u2019t have the necessary skillsets to do the jobs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe disconnect, in part, is the skill gap between the skills that this group has and the skills that these businesses need,\u201d Adam said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also why the CEO program is so important to VWHS students, she added.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is programs exactly like this that have the ability to give Van Wert an edge, to meet the business needs for the workforce they are demanding,\u201d Adam told students, noting that programs such as the CEO programs can make her job easier.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am very fortunate that we have a program like this, a career-ready program that gives you an opportunity to experience some of these fields first-hand, before you have to make major decisions about what you\u2019re going to do for the rest of your life,\u201d Adam noted. \u201cI think businesses are interested, I think the community is interested, because it means growth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Career programs are especially important when trying to attract new development, Adam said, because one of the top three things businesses are looking for when seeking a site for a new facility is a workforce with the skillsets they need.<\/p>\n

Adam said the VWCS career education programs are very valuable to students because they give them the chance to know what it takes to prepare for a specific career or job. That knowledge is important, she said, because by the year 2020, two-thirds of jobs will need some kind of post-high school training, whether it be a college education or a welding certification, for example.<\/p>\n

Koontz said students get their first exposure to career education when they are given an Ohio Means Jobs accounts in sixth grade. The Ohio Means Jobs website provides helpful information on a myriad of career possibilities, from marketing to engineering to truck driving and welding.<\/p>\n

Van Wert Middle School guidance counselor Sarah White also does a career profile and interest survey for each student, which attempt to quantify each student\u2019s personality and discover what types of jobs students are interested in.<\/p>\n

In addition to allowing students to find out what career they\u2019re interested in, Koontz said career education also can show students what careers are not a good fit for them.<\/p>\n

Students are also encouraged to consider entrepreneurship — starting their own businesses. During her presentation, Adam took the time to talk about Dalton Heppeard, one of the students in the CEO program who came to a local entrepreneurship fair seeking information on starting his own business.<\/p>\n

Adam said entrepreneurs are important to a community because they fill unmet needs in a community, while some small businesses can become huge companies.<\/p>\n

As an example, Adam talked about Steve Jobs, the late co-founder of Apple Inc., who started Apple in his garage with then-partner Steve Wozniak. The company has since become the most valuable company in the world, with a market value of approximately $800 billion.<\/p>\n

The CEO program internships, which run for two classes a day, will officially begin on Monday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DAVE MOSIER\/independent editor The high cost of a college education, coupled with the changing job market, has led school districts to rethink how they\u2019re preparing students for future success. At Van Wert High School, guidance counselor Kerry Koontz, with support from VWHS Principal Bob Priest, Assistant to the Superintendent Bill Clifton, and former superintendent Ken […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-22 00:53:28","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91604\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}