What's Your Passion

Lately I have been talking with a lot of the seniors and I noticed a common theme among several of the students. They seemed to be scared about their future. Several have stated "what if I haven't selected the right major in college?" or "I can't decide what I want to do yet, it seems like so many others know what they want to do." I realize this time of year there can be a lot of anxiety growing with many of our students and actually students everywhere. Graduation is near and there are so many things to think about. Well I hope I can mention a few things in this blog that will help you look at the decision a little different and take your mind off the worry so you can enjoy the rest of the school year.

One of the first things I want to mention is that choosing the wrong major is not the end of the world. You will not be the first and you certainly will not be the last to have done this. I know you are thinking about the cost and that it would be a total waste of money to go to school for two or four years and then realize you do not want to pursue a career in that field. I get that (and so do your parents/guardians). However, you have to realize that your first year in college, you will probably be taking general education classes that you would need no matter what major you are going into. This really gives you an extra year to be thinking about your major and you can always change it your second year. You will hang around other students while away at college and you will be talking to them about their majors or some that may be majoring in the same subject area as you are. This will give you some tremendous input. Maybe by talking to someone in another area, their field of study may sound really interesting and it might be something you think you would love doing for a career. The main thing to remember is that you will not be tied to a decision that you made while a senior in high school for the rest of your life.

The second thing I want to mention is that whatever you choose, please have a passion for that field of study. I don't want you to go into a field of study just because it pays great. If that is the only reason that you make your choice, you will be miserable in life. That I can promise you. I know that when you are young it is easy to think that finding a job that pays six figures will make you happy no matter what anyone says. I have heard that stated and the person continued to argue with me. Maybe many of you reading this believe the same thing. If you are doing something that you do not enjoy, for eight to ten hours a day, you will not last long. Webster describes passion as "a strong feeling of enthusiasm or excitement for something or about doing something". Spend a lot of time thinking about what you are passionate about. What is it that you know you could do, and the day would fly by because you enjoy doing it so much. Once you have discovered it, investigate that line of work. Will it be able to support you and your future family? Is it truly something you would love doing all day long? Once you answer these questions, you are on your way to finding your career.

Finally, I think a lot of the pressure that many of the students are feeling, is based on the idea that they will have to do this job "their entire life". I have heard people state that an average person will change careers anywhere from 3 - 7 times in their life. After investigating that a little bit, I found that the Department of Labor and the Bureau of Labor and Statistics don't even track those numbers because they say that no consensus has emerged on what constitutes a career change. I do feel the number is closer to three than it is to seven.

Let me give you a real life example: I graduated from Western Michigan with an Engineering degree, I worked for over 15 years in the automotive field as an engineer. I left Michigan and moved to beautiful Delphos Ohio where I became an entrepreneur for almost eleven years. While I was owner of my own business, I found time to substitute in the public school systems in and around Delphos and became passionate about school counseling and helping out the students in whatever way I could. I earned my School Counseling degree and here I am today. So I guess you could say I am about average. My point is, don't let the idea bother you that once you choose a career then you are stuck with it. Wherever your passion takes you in life, you will have the ability to follow it. Your passion may change over time, that's okay. Feel free to follow that passion and experience an exhilarating life. A life that you know will provide happiness and pleasure.

I hope some of these points will help relieve your anxiety. I hope I have caused you to think about your passion in life and what drives you. I hope you will understand that life is really only given to us one day at a time, and that you will live that one day with passion and gusto. Take care, enjoy the rest of the year and stop by my office and just say hello. Thanks!

My Wish

As the school year is winding down, I don't want to miss the opportunity to say goodbye to the graduating class of 2015. Whenever I have been invited to a graduation party, I have tried to make a point of including in the card, the lyrics to one of my favorite songs, "MY WISH" by Rascal Flatts. The song was written and released in 2006 and I have always thought it had the perfect words to say to the students leaving Vantage. It also has been my ringtone for a long time. I guess now that I have a blog, I will use this opportunity to pass it on to all of our seniors who will soon be leaving us.

   I hope the days come easy and the moments pass slow, and each road leads you where you wanna go, and if you're faced with a choice, and you have to choose, I hope you choose the one that means the most to you. And if one door opens to another door closed, I hope you keep on walkin' till you find the window, if it's cold outside, show the world the warmth of your smile. But more than anything, more than anything... My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to, Your dreams stay big, your worries stay small, You never need to carry more than you can haul, and while you're out there getting where you're getting to, I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too, Yeah, this is my wish.

As the words say, I really do hope you enjoy life, take it one day at a time and don't get upset by some of the little things you will face. I hope you never give up when you run into trouble. Please don't give up on your dreams, use them as motivation. I also want you to know that wherever you end up or whatever you end up doing, I do care for you and I do want the same thing for you. My door is always open after you leave. Feel free to call or email me anytime. I welcome it.

   I hope you never look back, but you never forget, All the ones who love you, in the place you live, I hope you always forgive, and you never regret, And you help somebody every chance you get. Oh you find God's grace in every mistake, and always give more than you take.

Some pretty simple rules that will help you as you head out into the "real world". Don't hold on to grudges or hold on to your anger just because someone may have made you upset. You will find that when you forgive, you will be released and set free from an invisible prison. You will be a better person because of it. Please continue to give back to the community in which you live. You will not believe how good it feels when you reach out and help someone. Many of you have volunteered while you were in school, keep it up every chance you get.
I know that some of you reading this may have been in my office because you were upset about a mistake you made or something you regretted doing. Remember that I have always told you that you learn from your mistakes. We all make them but it is the mature person who learns from it and grows as a person. Hold on to this bit of advice and don't forget it. I guarantee you will need it again some time in the future. We all make mistakes. Finally as the lyrics above started out with, I hope you never forget. Come back and visit us or send us a quick e-mail to let us know how you are doing. Mrs Wilhelm is always looking for an alumni story to write.

So there it is, my wish for all of you seniors who are leaving us in two short weeks. I thank you for trusting me with your friendship, your troubles and your last two years of high school. Good luck in all you do. 

Our Youth of Today

I am sure many of you have already read about or watched the video of the ESPN reporter, Britt McHenry and her getting irate at a towing company female worker. Apparently Britt's car was towed and she had to pay to get it out of the tow yard. Britt was on a video camera that caught the whole ugly scene as she decided to make it a personal attack on this woman's looks, weight, education and job. The video soon made it's way onto the internet and it has already been seen by millions. Britt has been suspended for at least a week and some speculate that she may lose her job. If you watch the video, it really is quite disgusting. As you can expect, all the pundits are putting their two cents worth in and taking sides on the issue. A reporter for the Huffington Post stated that the real issue isn't about a pretty blonde girl being a bully or a tow truck company having lousy ratings from the Better Business Bureau or about a tape that was edited to leave out the tow truck employee conversations. No what he stated is "this is about shaming and bullying and using words to make yourself feel superior. And aren't those all things that we say need to change about our youth today?"

Now that is where I have the problem. I agree with him that "shaming and bullying and using words to make yourself feel superior" are wrong and should never be tolerated. However, he throws a general statement out there that these are things that "we need to change about our youth today". I never like the idea of generalizing everyone into one group and I didn't agree with him clumping all our youth together in his statement. Working with so many of our youth as a school counselor, I see just the opposite of what he is saying. Certainly there is the "bullying" going on that we try to address and put a stop to. I believe every school is doing their best to try and halt school bullying. However, I just don't want to say "our youth of today" need to change, or "our youth of today" all bully and shame to make themselves feel superior.

What I see here at Vantage Career Center are youth who excel in the classroom and work really hard in their labs. They are learning skills for the 21st century and are going out into the workforce on a regular basis and being successful. I have never seen so many youth as I have lately, that as soon as school is out, they head off to work. I don't know about you, but when I finish up my day here at Vantage, the last thing I want to do is go to another job. Well that is what so many of our students are doing. We have several students going out on Early Placement and job shadowing. We have the health career students going out on clinicals, Medical Office students doing job shadowing and mentor-ships. Several of our Electrical students and Precision Machinists are going out on Early Placement along with several welders who are working also. Whenever I ask Mr. Verhoff or Mrs. Hall about how the students are doing on their jobs, they always give me a great report. The companies are very pleased with them and many of them are more advanced than some of the workers they have working for them. Also, on my last blog I showed you several of our students who are exceeding at the state level and beyond in competition.

I know it is easy for others to blame the "youth of today" but we also need to give them credit. They are growing up in a different world than most of us did. The internet makes everything instantly available to everyone. That can be a good thing or a bad thing. Many of them are struggling to help their parents who are out of work or in-between jobs because of our unemployment rates. Many of our youths have an unbelievable work ethic and many of them have some great goals. Let's encourage these students as they will be our future leaders. Let's continue to believe in them and help them out as they walk along their path to adulthood and beyond. They are a great bunch of students and I am proud of "our youth of today".

23 and Counting

Can you believe it? That's right, the seniors have 23 days of school left this year. It has been officially announced that May 20th will be our seniors awards assembly at 9:30 am. So that means you have just 23 days to soak up and enjoy your high school career. I was in a meeting yesterday when that came up and I couldn't believe it. It seems like every year it goes faster and faster. I hope you will invite your parents/guardians/grandparents or anyone else who has helped you along this journey that started about 13 years ago. Yesterday interim grades were made official. If you have any classes that you are not passing at this point, you better figure out what needs to be done in the next 4 1/2 weeks so that you can graduate with your class. Please don't give up and please come see me if you are not sure or if you need some help. I guess it's time for the sports analogies now; ladies and gentleman, many football games have been lost in the final minute, you must play the entire 60 minutes. Don't ease up even for a minute. Or if you are into baseball; ladies and gentleman, some of the greatest comebacks in baseball have been in the final inning. Don't quit playing hard now, finish strong. Well, you get the idea, I hope you will finish your senior year strong. 23 days is all you have left to complete. I know all of you can work hard for just 23 days.

On a different note, I would like to congratulate our students who headed down to the SkillsUSA competition in Columbus the past couple of days. We had excellent results and are very proud of each and everyone of them. In the CNC Turning category, Cole Ketchum received the silver medal. In Robotics & Automation, Brandon Kimmet and Chris Bauer also received the silver medal. In Mechatronics, Jeremiah Dealey and Nick Grote received the bronze. Congratulations to everyone who went down there and competed. In cabinetmaking, Bradley Rice finished 4th, just out of the medals. Great job to all.

On the other side of the school, we have some national qualifiers for the BPA contests. They are; Angel Kline (Advance Office Systems & Procedures), Kenneth Pinks-Leibert (PC Servicing & Troubleshooting), Rachelle Ward (Digital Publishing) and Jill Ross (Advanced Spreadsheet Application). Congratulations to all our Business Professionals of America students and have fun in Anaheim California.


Finally, let's all have a strong finish and make these last 23 days the best you can. Remember as I said in an earlier blog, "Don't Blink" they will be over before you know it.

Say It Aint So Moe

Back in November, I first heard word that Mr. Larry (Moe) Mengerink was going to be stepping away from teaching and starting the road to retirement at the end of this school year. I can’t tell you how I felt when I first heard this news even though I knew it would be coming sometime down the road.  Larry has taught our Building & Grounds program for the past 11 years and I have had the pleasure of knowing him for the last ten years now. 

Those of you who are not familiar with our Building & Grounds program may not understand the terrific job that Larry does. Each year the program is comprised of around 95% of the students who are on an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). Many of these students have struggled in school and have been looking for a place where they can develop some skills so that they can find employment after graduation. Many of the students who are in this program will start off learning how to read a tape measure, hammer a nail, or understand safety measures when working with equipment. By the time they leave this program they have been able to use all types of power tools and equipment, frame windows, build walls, run electricity in houses and out-buildings, roof, landscape and drywall. Several projects that they have completed in this program over the years include; restoring several old dilapidated houses in the Van Wert area, building sheds in the Children's garden in Van Wert, roofing shelter houses in the Delphos community, building a memorial for the veterans association,  restoring the Van Wert armory building and several community projects that are too numerous to mention. I know Larry would be the first to state that he has had a lot of help from Brenda, his aide and friend who is such a big help in the lab.

As I look at the list, I would say that this is quite an accomplishment for Larry but it isn't the whole story. See, Larry is one of those guys that when I talk with, I always feel better. I feel that maybe I just stepped back in time for a moment when respect, morals and genuine kindness was a given, not an exception. You walk away from a conversation with Larry and feel like the world would be a much better place if more people were like him. That part of Larry is what is really taught in his lab and what his students will carry with them for a lifetime. No matter where you see a Building and Ground student, you will see what I am talking about. They are always polite when speaking with an adult. You will never see one of his students wearing a hat outside of his lab. They will always have their shirts tucked in and they will always put their chair back under the table when they are done. This behavior isn't only done in and around school because I have been on field trips with the class and we have stopped at several restaurants over the years and I have witnessed it. Every single student takes their hat off before entering, they are very polite to the staff at the restaurant and they always put their chairs under the table when they get up to go to the buffet, the restroom or when we are leaving. Larry believes these traits will help the students in the “real world” more than anything else he can teach them. Larry will never allow “nick names” in his lab. He believes everyone was given their name at birth and they should be referred to as that. This stops any name calling or other derogatory remarks in his lab. The care and compassion that Larry gives each student is evident in the way his past students always come back to visit. They always speak of how Mr. Mengerink cared for what was going on in their lives and they knew he wanted them to succeed and he believed in them.  For many of these students, it is the first time in their life that they have had someone believe in them and push them to be successful. They talk about the respect they have for him and all the things he taught them.

Well as the title of this blog states, “Say it ain't so Moe”, I wish it wasn't true that he was retiring. However, I realize that we all come to that day when we say it is time. Larry has given so much to Vantage Career Center and our students that he deserves to enjoy his retirement. I wish the best for Larry and his wife Diane. I hope they take the time to enjoy all those grandchildren, I’m sure they will. I will truly miss our talks Larry. In closing, I would like to share a poem that has meant a lot to me and I feel describes Larry to a tee:

                                      SUCCESS AS A HUMAN BEING – R.W. Emerson

To laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of children; to earn the approbation of honest citizens and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to give of one’s self; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived—this is to have succeeded.

Celebrate Reading

For those of you that are not aware, next week is "National Library Week". Now I know that our library is referred to by many as the media center (because it is so much more than a library) but we are going to be celebrating next week as well, and with good reason. There is always so much going on in the media center and so many great events, that if you haven't stopped in lately, you are really missing something. Mrs. Knodel does such an awesome job keeping everything up to date and relevant. I hope each and everyone of you students appreciate it. We are very lucky to have such a stocked library with so many great books. I often stop in there just to glance at the latest selection of books and magazines. Our media center is such a professional and college type atmosphere that I am impressed whenever I enter. The staff and students are welcome in there anytime to sit in the comfortable chairs, read the daily newspapers, work on a jigsaw puzzle, play with some of the mind challenging games that are available or even get involved in a competitive chess or checkers match.

Throughout the year Mrs. Knodel has so many events going on for our students. Each nine weeks, there is a book club drawing where the students get one entry for every five books read. The winners then receive a book of their choice. In October she celebrates "Teen Read Week" with all kinds of promotions and activities. Just this past March, the media center celebrated "Read Across America" and former guidance supervisor Tom Mershman and myself were able to read a Dr. Suess book to our pre-schoolers, and we did it while wearing a Dr. Suess hat. I know that this upcoming week, anyone can stop in and check out a book or magazine and receive a sweet treat just for doing so. Not only is all this impressive, but Mrs. Knodel also puts out a "Media Center Update" every month that is first class. As the school counselor, I really appreciate this newsletter because she always has so many important links for our students. Some examples are www.pbslearningmedia.org which has thousands of digital resources where we can browse by grade level and subject area. There are videos, interactives and lesson plans that are aligned to the common core. ACT & SAT practice tests are always highlighted showing where you can access these through the "learning library". The newsletter shows events of interest that are going on around the Van Wert area or events happening in our own school. What a great job Pam and thanks so much.

Finally, and I believe the most important reason we have to celebrate "National Library Week" is because it has been a big factor in improving our students lexile scores. Yesterday in our staff meeting we received an update on how this years literacy challenge has been going. As you may know, Vantage set a couple of "Growth Targets" for our students at the beginning of this year. The first one was 60% of our Vantage students would be at or above proficient reading level based on the SRI (Scholastic Reading Inventory). With the latest results just in, I can proudly say we are at 64% and met the goal. The other "Growth Target" was that 50% of Vantage students would meet or exceed their expected growth target as set by SRI. The results for that goal show that 69% of our students met or exceeded their expected growth target. WOW!!! What an awesome job by the English department, media center and everyone who encouraged these students to read. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Now lets all celebrate next week by stopping in the media center and checking out a book or just browse around.

Driving Distracted

April is National Distracted Driving Month and the purpose of this is to educate the public about the dangers of driving distracted. Please don't stop reading this now and say "I've heard this all before." I can't emphasize the importance of this topic and the alarming rates of accidents due to distracted driving. I drive the Lincoln Highway to and from work, and every single day I notice drivers with their heads down as they pass me. Several times I have noticed their car going over the center line or into the stones on the other side of the road. Now I can't say for certain if they are texting or dialing with their cell phone but I do know they are distracted by something. I am not just writing this and speaking only to our students. I hope everyone reading this would please take this serious. I have seen students as well as adults driving distracted.

According to official reports by the National Safety Council (NSC), 26% of all car crashes involve cell phone use, including hands-free. I recently purchased a new Ford Focus and it has the hands-free driving. I have made several phone calls and text using this hands-free option. I assumed that because it was sold with the new cars, it was safe. I am not alone, 80 percent of American drivers believe hands-free devices are safer than using a hand held phone and 53 percent think the devices must be safe because they are built into the vehicle. There are also many states that require people to use hands-free. This is why all the confusion. The NSC reports these findings:

                - When listening or talking on the phone, the activity in the area of the brain that processes moving images decreases by 33 percent.

                - When talking on a cell phone, drivers can miss seeing 50% of what's around them, such as traffic lights, stop signs and pedestrians.

                - Hands-free features in dashboards increase mental distraction.

                - Using voice-to-text is more distracting than typing texts while driving

                - People who drive and text with their hands or voice keep their eyes on the road less often and have reaction times twice as slow.

According to the the Van Wert State Highway Patrol, last year 17,827 crashes in Ohio had a reported distraction, including 44 fatal crashes. In Ohio, it is illegal for all drivers to text and drive. I have not sent a text by hand while driving but I have found myself reading a text that I have received. I am promising myself to put the cell phone down. We can all make it to our destination without looking at our cell phone, trust me, many of us used to do it all the time. Please promise yourself that you will drive without distractions and make all our roads safer for everyone. Thanks for listening.