Great Oaks Career Campuses 2020

CELEBRATING 50 YEARS • NEW PROGRAMS FOR FUTURE CAREERS

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reat Oaks is a public career-technical school district serving 36 school districts in southwest Ohio.

Each year, thousands of area high school students prepare for a career at a Great Oaks Career Campus—Diamond Oaks in Dent, Laurel Oaks in Wilmington, Live Oaks in Milford or Scarlet Oaks in Sharonville.

Professional certification is available in a wide range of career fields, from health care to high-tech manufacturing to cybersecurity to construction trades, culinary arts, agriculture, cosmetology and more. Great Oaks offers over 30 different programs on campus as well as satellite programs in 28 of the district’s 36 affiliated school districts.

Great Oaks also leverages its facilities and local partnerships to provide adult career training, high school equivalency classes, public safety credentials, English for speakers of other languages and personal enrichment courses. n

Contents 4 History 6 Upcoming Programs Published in Partnership with:

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History

An Always-Evolving Education Milestones in History of Great Oaks Career Campuses 1968: Ohio Governor Rhodes signs vocational act requiring all districts to offer students comprehensive vocational options

Machining has changed; students today learn programming in addition to manufacturing.

Great Oaks remains at the cutting edge of vocational training 50 years after it started

By Jon Weidlich

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n the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, there was growing concern that too many young people were not prepared to enter the labor market. Ohio responded by creating joint vocational school districts. By 1970, 22 districts had joined together to form the Hamilton County JVSD—what today is referred to as Great Oaks Career Campuses.

Initially, there were to be two campuses, in Milford and Dent, but in 1971 all that changed. Great Oaks acquired the old army depot in Sharonville and 13 more school districts joined.

The first class, an instructional aide program, began in 1971 in the central office building located at the current Scarlet Oaks Career Campus.

In 1972, the name changed to Great Oaks and we added a fourth campus with the addition of the Clinton County Air Force Base. The work at Great Oaks moved to developing curriculum, equipping labs and recruiting students.

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Later in the decade, when the Ford Plant closed in Fairfax, Great Oaks started its first training for adults.

As we entered the 1980s, we saw that technology was changing the face of American life, business and, eventually, education.

In 1983 Great Oaks placed what, at the time, was said to be largest IBM order for personal computers by a school district. The district equipped large vans with computers to train both students and workers in these new workplace skills.

From the beginning, Great Oaks understood that a vital economy depends on everyone’s participation. In the mid ‘80s, we were the first and only vocational school in the country to have earned the CARF accreditation for our inclusion of students with disabilities.

As the 1990s began, the National Center for Research in Vocational Education named Great Oaks one of the 15 best vocational schools in the country. The district had become a model for others to follow. Businesses, colleges and other high schools came to Great Oaks to better understand the system. The country of Morocco sent a delegation.

As business needed more trained employees, government leaders came to Great Oaks.

The secretaries of Transportation and Education selected Great Oaks to pilot a career pathway in transportation. Ohio Governor

1968: Hamilton County Board of Education called meeting for districts wanting to create consortium; 21 districts formed the Hamilton County Joint Vocational School District and submitted document of intent to form jointure to ODE 1970: First levy passes; first superintendent hired; Sharonville site added to become third campus; revised plan submitted to ODE 1971: Facilities plan submitted to ODE; additional schools joined bringing jointure membership to 35 affiliated districts 1972: Name changed to Great Oaks JVSD; Laurel became fourth campus 1973: All four campuses dedicated in September 1975: Board membership at 33 1993: Name changed to Great Oaks Institute of Technology and Career Development 1996: Board membership revised and West Clermont added; 35 Board Members and 36 affiliated districts 2015: Name changed to Great Oaks Career Campuses

ABOVE: Great Oaks’ dental assisting program has been a popular and in-demand program for many years, including the early 2000s and today.

LEFT: Great Oaks has always been quick to embrace technology. In 1983, Great Oaks placed an order for what was, at the time, said to be largest IBM order for personal computers by a school district.

work. Over 61% of the voters in Hamilton County voted to renew Great Oaks’ tax levy.

With increased demands for educational reform, Great Oaks became a model for career and college preparation. We led a regional collaborative to incorporate 21st century skills in classrooms. We renovated our campuses to offer students state-ofthe-art labs and an environment that was welcoming and accessible.

By 2013, we were serving over 11,000 students in 67 programs at 40 locations.

Today, that number is over 22,000 students in more than a hundred programs.

Through these 50 years, we have altered what we teach and how we teach to groom our students for the challenges of an evolving world. One constant has remained—to prepare successful students for a world that never has and never will stand still. n

Congratulations

50

YEARS

George Voinovich called on Great Oaks to develop and implement a model to recruit and train workers for Airborne in Wilmington.

As the new century arrived, technology was shaping our lives as well as our educational system. “Collaboration� and “career readiness� were the new buzzwords. For us they were always the foundation of a Great Oaks education.

The need for lifelong learning became a reality in the workplace. We built relationships with postsecondary institutions. This meant our instructors could teach academic courses that gave students both high school and college credit. Since 2005, Great Oaks’ high school students have earned more than 20,000 college credits.

Recognizing that many students needed financial assistance to continue their educations, Great Oaks once again stepped forward. Through the dedication of associates and friends, we increased assets in the Great Oaks Education Foundation by $300,000.

In 2008, and again in 2018, citizens acknowledged the importance of Great Oaks’

ANNIVERSARY

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Staying on the Cutting Edge Great Oaks’ new programs help students prepare for new careers in IT and drone technology

Laurel Oaks Career Campus has launched a new IT Academy in which students will learn about the hardware/programming aspects of IT. Level one students will take courses in computer software/hardware as well as web design and visual programming.

Level two students will further specialize

by choosing courses in the Programming and Software Development or Cybersecurity pathways.

At Great Oaks’ Live Oaks Campus, students will be able to take advantage of the UC Early IT Program, which gives students a jumpstart on their college degree. The IT

By Corinne Minard

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reat Oaks Career Campuses has spent its 50 years of existence with an eye on the future and it has no plans to stop doing so now. The school has several new programs slated to start this fall to train students for careers in several growing fields.

High school students will be able to take advantage of two changes in Great Oaks’ IT pathway programming, which provides students with an opportunity to start an IT career while in high school. Great Oaks’

Great Oaks’ new drone program is the first of its kind in the world. It is designed specifically for firefighters and emergency personnel.

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Systems and Cybersecurity (ITSC) program is offering the six required Early IT courses along with access to three college-level academic courses. Students who complete the ITSC program with a grade of C or better in each course will meet the requirements for automatic matriculation to the University of Cincinnati beginning in the fall semester of 2022.

“Our region is in need of skilled IT professionals to support the growth of our local economy. IT job openings are increasing and without trained entry-level professionals unmet employee demand can limit opportunities for local, regional and national businesses,” says Jim Hansel, career tech program specialist at Great Oaks. “Students who successfully complete the program will have a competitive advantage in securing entry-level employment or entering a postsecondary educational system.”

This year, Great Oaks is also offering a first-of-its-kind-in-the-world program: Drone piloting for firefighters and emergency personnel. Students will be able

to become certified in small unm anned aircraft system s (sUAS) and earn visual observer and remote pilot in command certifications.

“The ProBoard-approved NFPA 2400 program certifies them under professional qualifications—much like how we certify a firefighter—so they can operate on an emergency scene. It validates their training with a testing process,” says Johnny Mason, fire safety services supervisor at the Great Oaks’ new IT Academy and UC Early IT Program will give high school students a jumpstart on an IT career.

Great Oaks Fire Academy.

The five-day program is for a variety of emergency personnel—the first priately in today’s world,” adds Mason. “The class includes police officers, firefighters more information we can have before we and SWAT officers—and will have students commit people, the more efficient we can be learn to fly and service a drone in addition and the faster we can resolve the incident.” to participating in several simulations, such Going forward, Great Oaks anticipates a mock search and rescue event at Summit holding the program twice a year—once in the fall and once in the spring—as the Park in Blue Ash. “It’s not just a neat thing or a neat toy—it’s demand for these skills is anticipated actually a legitimate tool when used appro- to grow. n

Congratulations to Great Oaks on 50 Years of Excellence!

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