By Sharyn Kopf

Discovering something that inspires students to want to go to school is like finding a four-leaf clover — you have to look for it. Ohio Hi-Point Career Center (OHP) has found at least one way to do that with their Career Tech Student Organizations (CTSO).

The end of the school year presented a good opportunity for students and advisors to share their CTSO successes with the OHP board of education on Wednesday, June 17.

To start the presentation, the board heard a recording from Allison Koch, career tech supervisor, who couldn’t be there because she was at the HOSA (future health professionals) International Leadership Conference in Indianapolis.

Speaking about these competitions, Koch said, “It’s a really big deal and [the students] are very excited.”

Koch emphasized the importance of these events in providing opportunities for students to visit other cities, network with their peers and demonstrate the technical and professional skills they’ve developed at OHP.

The standout this year was Richiona Burnell, who won gold in the prepared speech contest at the SkillsUSA National Leadership & Skills Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, the first week in June. Attending OHP from partner district Bellefontaine High School, Burnell graduated from the cosmetology program in May.

After Koch’s introduction, Burnell and two other OHP students shared their experiences with the board.

“Last year in the CTSO program, I made a poor decision and had to learn from it,” Burnell admitted. “But I proved I can come back stronger and learn from the mistakes I made.”

She emphasized how participating in SkillsUSA gave her more “courage and motivation.”

Addy Ross, a Marysville High School early college student in the allied health and nursing program, credits her time with DECA for helping to improve her public speaking skills. She stated, “It’s amazing I can speak in front of you now.”

DECA is a global student organization that helps young leaders and entrepreneurs prepare for hospitality, finance, marketing and management careers.

Finally, Jacob Riley, a cosmetology student from Indian Lake, told the board that although competing with SkillsUSA was constant work, he was glad he stayed with it. At one point during the competition, he was given five minutes to present a two-minute speech.

“It wasn’t perfect, but I learned from it,” Jacob said. “I’m really grateful for SkillsUSA.”

Matt McConnell, board president, thanked the students for “effectively representing Ohio Hi-Point on the national level.”

Other highlights from the June OHP board meeting:

• Members of the OHP administrative team will lead three sessions at the Association for Career Technical Education All-Ohio Conference in July. Those sessions will cover curriculum alignment, their transformation of traditional stakeholder meetings by hosting personal development sessions for partner businesses and all-district staff on the same day, and leveraging school-based businesses for work-based learning.

• The new Public Safety Academy building is under construction and the school anticipates it will be completed by December.

• Besides revising the resignation date for Shawn Bradley, the board approved the resignations of Benjamin Brockway, criminal justice instructor, and Kyle Rose, science instructor.

• The following donations were accepted:

• Hobart Brothers, LLC of Troy—60 spools of S6 solid wire (estimated value: $7,695) for use in the district’s welding programs.

• Dennis Copp, Westerville—one Shark CNC Router (estimated value: $4,500) for use in the OHP Kenton Ag satellite program.

• Shelby Clem, Bellefontaine—one pool heater (estimated value: $4,000) for use in the HVAC program.

• The board approved these non-discrimination designees in positions like compliance officer, homeless liaison, and various Title IX roles: Tonya Ramey, Allison Koch, Justin Rigsby, Dr. Raymond Blevins, Matt Heaston, Brianna McCray, and the Midwest Regional or Madison-Champaign County ESC superintendent/designee.

• An online instructional plan for calamity days (fiscal year 2027) was approved.

The next Ohio Hi-Point Career Center board of education meeting is set for Wednesday, July 22, at 7 p.m.