ONTARIO — Supt. Keith Strickler is about to build the STEM lab of his dreams.
Ontario Local Schools was recently awarded a $642,849 grant from the Ohio Department of Education & Workforce.
The department’s Career Technical Education (CTE) Equipment Grant Program is aimed at helping schools establish or expand CTE programming and gives priority to schools that support careers on Ohio’s Top Jobs List.
The grant will help the district expand its existing pre-engineering, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and robotics courses at the middle school.
The high school will expand its manufacturing operations pathway by incorporating new courses, Smart Automation Certification Alliance (SACA) curriculum and industry-recognized credentials.
“We are so excited to receive this grant and equip our students with the skills needed to excel in our rapidly-evolving workforce,” Strickler said. “This grant is going to provide for opportunities like our kids have never seen here at Ontario.”
Strickler said he believes expanding career tech opportunities is crucial to preparing students for 21st century jobs, especially in light of the local economy.
“These dollars mean we can better prepare students to graduate from high school ready for good-paying, entry-level jobs in a field they are interested in and that keep our economy moving and growing,” Strickler said.
“One in five jobs in Richland county are manufacturing jobs. It’s a big need for us in our area. We have some pretty amazing employers right here in Richland County.”
Preparing students for the Fourth Industrial Revolution
The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce defines a CTE concentrator as any student who takes at least two courses in a single CTE program.
Ontario’s goal is to increase the number of students with a CTE concentration from 9.7 percent to 20 percent by 2027.
“We are living in the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” Strickler said. “We are taking the computing to a whole other level. We have AI introduced into it. We have machines that are now talking to other machines.
“If they’re going to work in around here, we’re going to just start seeing more and more automation,” he added. “If you work over at Next Gen or Gorman Rupp or Newman Tech, it’s amazing all the automation that takes place. Someone has to know how to do that. I would love for it to be our students.”
Lab spaces will be upgraded with real-world equipment
Much of the grant funding will be used to purchase curriculum and state-of-the-art equipment for the middle and high school STEM programs.
An old computer lab that’s no longer in use will become the middle school Computer Assisted Design (CAD) lab.
“I taught industrial tech, STEM manufacturing, for a long time. This is like, if I was able to built like my perfect lab from scratch,” Strickler said as he pulled up a blueprint on his computer.
The lab will feature movable desks that can be broken up into pods for group work or pushed against the walls to create a large working space in the middle of the classroom.
Middle school students will also have access to LJ Create, a blending learning curriculum designed to help them explore career fields in the fields of construction technology, health and biomedical, information technology, manufacturing, logistics and supply chain, transportation technology and agriculture.
“There’s so many different jobs that are out there that the kids have no idea exist,” Strickler said. “All the kids know what a teacher does.
“They all know what a nurse does. But do they know what a robotics technician does?
The high school STEM lab and high school carpentry lab will both be equipped with new portable systems, many of which are used in local manufacturing operations.
Some curricula will come with virtual training models, so students can get comfortable with a computer simulation of the equipment before putting their hands on the real thing.
“I can have somebody working on learning pneumatics, another kid learning hydraulics, another kid learning robotics, another learn kid learning programmable logical controlling (PLC) and another kid learning how to integrate that in building a smart factory,” Strickler said.
“They can all be doing this simultaneously and getting their industry recognized certifications, utilizing the curriculum and then the teacher then is a facilitator where he’s going around and he’s helping these kids with this.”
New courses to start in 2024-2025 school year
But Strickler said it’s about much more than simply getting hands-on experience with high-end technology.
Industry-recognized credentials will make students marketable to employers after graduation. Strickler said both workforce and college-bound students will benefit.
“Even if they are going to go off to a four-year college, it’s still nice to be able to have some certifications when they’re looking for internships, when they’re looking for jobs,” he said.
“If they have these certifications, chances are they’re going to get a job at a company that will pay for their school.”
The district plans to install new equipment this summer and will begin offering new and improved classes at the start of the 2024-2025 school year.
Strickler said the enhanced programming will complement rather than compete with the Pioneer Career & Technology Center, which students can still opt to attend in their junior and senior years.
“Pioneer can only put out so many kids. They work with 14 schools. Everybody has to be doing this kind of stuff,” Strickler said. “We all have to work together to be able to provide the skilled workforce that Richland County needs.”
