Let the Learning & Fun Begin

Wow, what a crazy busy week we just had. Monday all the juniors started school and the following day the seniors showed up for their final year. There were enough schedule changes to keep Mr. Knott and I busy for a couple days but I think everyone is where they should be. This is a reminder that any changes to your academic classes will have to be made this week. All labs are now set and we will only change labs in rare circumstances. If you are planning on switching classes, please remember to stop and see me or Mr. Knott before or after school or during lunch. Also, remember that we will discuss your situation and see if the move is in your best interest. Finally, Mr. Miller and I closed out the week with two days of orientations to every student in the building. We discussed student services, opportunities, discipline, attendance and expectations.

The media center is now open for business and Mrs. Knodel will be glad to show you around and explain the procedure for checking out books, etc. The students will also be coming down for a media center orientation very soon. You will do this with your English class and you will get a very thorough tour of everything that the media center has to offer. I hope you will take advantage of the media center this year. In my opinion, it is one of the finest media centers/libraries in all of our schools. There are so many resources for you to use and Mrs. Knodel and I work together on a lot of test sites, etc that you can use for OGT's, ACT's, ASVAB and many others. The media center is also a hopping place during lunch time. Many students head over to the media center after eating to jump in a game of checkers or chess or just lounge around on the comfortable furniture.

This week is also the opening of the Van Wert County Fair. I hope if you are at the fair, you will take some time to stop by the Vantage booth and say hello to whoever is working that day. The fair will take place September 2nd through the 7th.

The following week we will be celebrating Student Appreciation day. It is our way to thank all of you for choosing Vantage to finish off your high school education. We really do appreciate all of you and we want to say a big THANK YOU. Student Appreciation day is Friday, September 11th this year. We will have a lot of activities that day. I'm not sure exactly what will be going on yet but I know in the past we have had water balloon toss at some of the teachers, Ice bucket challenge, dance and gaming in the commons, plenty of food and of course the "car show". They have already made announcements for the car show, so if you are interested you need to sign up as soon as possible because the number of cars is limited. This is a really big event and there are some fantastic cars. The picture above is just a sample of what you will see. If you have more questions about "THE MAVERICK" just ask Mr. Wright, he will tell you all about it. Ask him to see some pictures of the car and how it looked last year. It was white, believe it or not.

Well, that is just some of the exciting things going on at Vantage this month. We will also have picture day on September 23rd. As I have said before, you made a great choice by coming to Vantage and we will do all we can to prepare you for college and/or the workforce. We just ask that you work hard while you are here, be respectful of our rules and show up everyday. It is a simple formula that really works. I promise you, you will not regret your time here. Have a great year!!!

Ten Years Ago Me

I recently read a blog by a young woman who was talking about an article she read called "A Letter to Ten-Years-Ago-Me. The article itself was mainly a humorous article about what you would tell yourself ten years ago based on what you know now. The blog was interesting because this young woman had been married ten years and also had her oldest son in remission from cancer. She had a lot to look back on and a lot of things she could tell her ten-year-ago-me. Well it's kind of strange but this is my tenth year at Vantage so I thought "what would I tell my ten-year-ago-me?"

- I think I would tell myself to relax more and don't sweat the small stuff, everything will work out.

- I would tell myself to start running immediately because the benefits you will feel from it are awesome. You will lower your cholesterol, maintain your weight, relieve stress and on and on. I wish I didn't wait so long to learn that.

- Don't ever let the busyness of your job crowd out your compassion for the students. The students are the reason you took this job. Meet them, know them, talk to them as much as you can. Reach out to the quiet ones, the ones who sit alone. All are important. You will never know when one of them may not be here tomorrow.

- Hug and kiss your family whenever you can. Be grateful for all the things you have. Call your mother more often. I'm sure she would love to hear from you all the time.

- Smile at life and be kind to others. Enjoy every minute of every day. They are all so precious. Take every opportunity to talk with the staff and spend time with them while they are still working with you. (So many have moved on that I truly miss. I think of Denny Koester, John Kueneke, Vern Fischer, Tom Mershman, Roger Ruen, Mike Klutka, Shirley Jarvis and so many others).

I hope all of you will take the time to think what you might write that ten-year-ago-me. I know that for the students it may be a little bit more difficult but maybe think about that five-year-ago-me. What would you tell that young middle school student who is now a junior or senior at Vantage? Would you tell them to take school more serious? Would you tell them to jump at every opportunity they have at Vantage? Would you write to them and tell them not to worry so much about the OGT test because you will pass them all anyway? I'm not sure what you would write, but I know it would be interesting. Maybe as I walk around the labs the next few weeks, you can stop me and tell me what you would write to that five-year-ago-me. I would love to hear it.

We are off and running

I have to say that it is really nice to see a full building again and to see all the students getting acclimated to another school year. Today was the first day that we had both seniors and juniors in the building together. I'm sure for the juniors it seems a lot more crowded than yesterday but before long you will fit right in. Hopefully we will have all the uniforms in very soon. I'm sure there are a lot of questions that many of you might have about the school year, policy, the handbook, etc. I just want to let you know that at the end of the week, on Thursday and Friday, Mr. Darrell Miller and I will be meeting with every student in the building. I have a schedule set up for both days. We will invite the students down by programs, this will happen both morning and afternoon on the 27th and 28th. Your lab instructor has the schedule and will be bringing you down. At these sessions, I will discuss all the things that student services has to offer and in particular, what I can do for you as your school counselor. Mr. Miller will talk about the handbook and discipline and attendance issues. Rumor has it that he will be having a little quiz this year, so come prepared and make sure to review the handbook. Please feel free to ask any questions that you have been thinking about.

I also want to remind all students that you will have two weeks to change any academic class but you will need to meet with me or Mr. Knott before changing the class. Please do not change a class because you "do not like the teacher", "it is to hard", "I want to be with my friend" or any other excuse that is similar to these. That is not a reason to change a class and we will not change a class for any of those reasons. We will discuss your future goals and what is in the best interest for you to be successful. As far as your lab goes, we generally allow one week for you to switch labs. You have to remember that the first week of lab is usually when the instructors go over all the rules and safety measures. When you jump in a lab a week late, you have missed 12.5 hours of the new lab and all the important safety instructions. Think hard before switching labs.

For the seniors, you may have noticed some new instructors around the building this year. I would like to welcome Mrs. Heckler - Intervention Specialist (Math & English), Mr. Davis - Automotive Tech instructor, Mr. DeLano - Building & Grounds instructor and Mrs. Baumle - Senior Health Tech instructor. If you see them in the hallway, stop and introduce yourself.

Have a great school year and always strive to be your best.

Welcome

Let me start by saying welcome to a new school year here at Vantage Career Center. We just finished our orientations for all new students. We held the Trade & Industry program orientation on Monday night and the Business & Service orientation on Tuesday night. We have also had the seniors coming in and picking up their schedules. Wow! What a busy last couple of days but it has been nice to see the seniors again and have the chance to chat with them and see how their summer has been going. It always amazes me how hard so many of them worked over the summer. Some of the students told me they held down two jobs over the summer. I hope many of you were able to take some time off and relax and get ready for your final year of high school.

The last couple of nights I had the chance to welcome our new students to Vantage. That is always an interesting time as they are getting measured for uniforms, meeting their instructors and trying to find their classrooms. So many commented that the building is so big that they will never find their way around. That's funny because we hear that every year and within a week or two, the juniors feel like this is home already. I promise you that you will feel the same way. Don't worry about stumbling around the school for a week or so or being late for your classes, we understand and the staff will be in the hallways to help you find your way.

I hope every student will take the opportunity that you have when you come to Vantage. I have always said that when you choose Vantage, "the slate is clean". By that I mean, whatever you have done in the past at your home school, is in the past. You come here with all new teachers and staff. We don't care if you missed a lot of days before you came here, if you found yourself in trouble or if you struggled earning good grades. What we care about is your attitude when you come to Vantage. We are hoping you will see the awesome opportunities you have by coming here and start a brand new path. Come to school willing and ready to learn, be here everyday and work hard to stand out in your class. Remember, if you miss a day of school here, you are missing 2.5 hours of lab time; that is like missing 3.5 days of your academic class. You can't afford to miss a lot of time in a career school. We are preparing you for college and a career, so we treat you that way. We always get the comments from past students that they really felt they were treated as adults here and they liked that.

For both the Seniors and Juniors, I wish you the best while you are here. There are a lot of employment opportunities available to our graduates. I hope you will stop in and see me during the school year. I look forward to seeing you and helping you with your academics, college or career choices and any social or personal problems you may have. My door is always open. If you see me wandering around your lab, feel free to stop me and talk about your summer break, etc...

Well I realize that you still have another 12 days or so before you return to school. Take time to enjoy those days and re-charge yourselves for the upcoming school year. I look forward to blogging throughout the year and hope that you will continue reading. I will try to keep you updated on important dates and issues around the school and I am sure I will also mention my summer break, my new granddaughter (5 months old) and other things that grab my interest. Have a great year!!!