ASHLAND — A handful of Ashland County West-Holmes Career Center students led Lt. Gov. Jon Husted through a tour of their labs on Tuesday, showing off a student-built house, welders letting sparks fly, a student-repaired computer and more.
Husted’s visit was to see how the career center would expand their operations if they received career technical education funding from Gov. Mike DeWine’s proposed state operating budget, which is making its way through the statehouse.
The career center planned to expand its labs and shuffle them around since a levy passed in November 2021, but the renovations have come in around $12 million over budget, Supt. Rodney Cheyney told Husted.
The school’s rising enrollment numbers limits the amount of money it can receive from the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission, so it is relying on the proposed career technical education funding to complete the project in its full scope, Cheyney said.
“Success creates the next problem, right?” Husted said about the center’s enrollment numbers.
According to Husted, career centers all around the state are seeing unprecedented growth in enrollment and student interest, sometimes creating lengthy wait lists.
“I’ve been working on (workforce development) for almost 25 years, and finally it’s booming. (It) just happened, trying to create this environment and now it’s happening,” Husted said.
“It’s a combination of preparation, meeting opportunity, we’ve been preparing for this. But now other outside influences, the market, the costs, all of those things are really driving people into this.”
At ACWHCC, half of its programs are completely full for next year, and the other half have only a handful of openings. The school itself does not have a waitlist, but its career-based intervention program has 27 students waiting for a spot.
Also, around 40% of sophomores from surrounding schools wound up at ACWHCC for the most recent school year, Principal Rick Brindley said.
“I mean, that’s amazing. That’s a pretty amazing stat when you think about it,” Husted said.
After shaking hands with students Marcus Wolboldt, Mikayla Jarvis, Gabby Elges and Tessa Ross, Brindley led Husted to the mechanical engineering lab, where student Amasa Maynard demonstrated the school’s lathe and mechanical drive system over the din of machines spinning, spooling and drilling.
Maynard also displayed the class’ certificates, of which he has 11 or 12, he said.
Next, construction technology students Jaxon Siler and Haley King walked Husted through an empty, white modular house that the students built themselves.
Husted then moved onto the welding lab — a long, metallic-scented room filled with welding booths, which were filled with students sending sparks flying. There, student Blaine Rakovec showed off a metal frame the class had built.
The next stop was the cyber security lab, where student Bobby Redden introduced the class and showed off rows of computers and their PCs under construction.
Husted’s last stop was the school’s HVAC and refrigeration lab, a small, thin building detached from the rest of the school. There, he spoke with student Jaylyn Knuth about her plans for the future.
Supt. Cheney, Principal Brindley, Adult Education Director Nancy Hall and board member Jason Chio finished the day with a roundtable discussion and presentation about the school and planned renovations.
