Vocational School

With construction of the new high school under way, students, staff and parents alike are excited about the increased opportunities that will become available through the new facility. But, if everything remains as planned, one crucial part of our school is left out in the first phase of construction: the vocational school. The Clark County Board of Education has made a strong commitment to preparing students for both college and career. Without the vocational school being on site from the beginning, however, readying students for their futures in particular vocations becomes more difficult than it should be. Because of costs, vocational students will have to be bused back and forth between the new high school and the current area tech building until the new vocational school can be built.

Aimee Bowman, a student at the Clark Area Technology Center, recently won the Thermadyne “Built with Class” welding contest. Bowman won in the beginning student category for her essay describing why she is interested in learning about welding. The contest was open to all students currently enrolled in a welding instructional program at a secondary, post-secondary, technical or vocational school. Bowman received a $250 prize, and Clark County ATC received a free Thermal Arc 3-in-1 system valued at $1,750.

Jacob E. Jones has received Danville Rotary Club's 2004 John Camenisch Memorial Scholarship. The $500 scholarship was established in May 2002 for Camenisch, a long-time Rotarian who made many contributions to the Danville Community and worked hard to establish the Central Kentucky Technical College, Danville campus. Camenisch had a great interest in seeing the vocational school brought to Danville to help train students in Boyle and surrounding counties. Jones, a full-time student pursuing an associate degree and plans to transfer to a four-year university to finish his bachelor's degree in business.

About 40 years ago, the IJ had a unique weekly feature going - an "IJ Mailbox of the Week. " Sadly, mailboxes aren't much in style any more. A similar feature today could be the "Email Inbox of the Week," but it wouldn't be nearly as interesting. Reproduced here are two "MoW" winners, one from March 1, 1973, and one from Feb. 22, 1973.   Feb. 22, 1973 THE¿IJ¿MAILBOX OF¿THE WEEK belongs to John McKinney, Parlor Grove Road, Waynesburg Route 1. He says he used Sam Meade's blueprints, only made his box a little smaller than Sam's.

HARRODSBURG - While looking back on their accomplishments, members of the Mercer County Fiscal Court agree that setting goals for the future is more important. "We've done a lot of good things, but let's look forward," said veteran Magistrate Bill Waggener. His comments and those of fellow magistrates came after Mercer County Judge-Executive John Trisler listed the accomplishments of the county in the recent past, and then listed goals suggested by meetings across the county of its citizens.

HARRODSBURG - Mercer County Board of Education and school officials tried to quash rumors that woodworking and house-planning classes are being discontinued at the high school. The discussion began when those attending the board's regular meeting Tuesday night were given an opportunity to speak. Caroline Orr was the first to speak, and asked why the classes, which she believes are valuable, will not be taught in the new Mercer County Senior High School. She said she heard the classes were being discontinued because they are taught in the vocational school and the state would not pay for such duplication.

A Kentucky Utilities power outage that affected more than 3,000 Winchester residents and left businesses on the Bypass without power has been fixed as of about 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. "What we had is a fuse that went off on a substation on Boone Avenue," said KU spokesman Cliff Feltham. "And it affected 3,412 customers. " The area affected was the southwest side of Winchester, and it included George Rogers Clark High School and the south end of the Bypass, Feltham said. Feltham said KU workers "shifted the load to another source and were able to bring customers back on little by little and eventually got them all on somewhere between 9 and 9:30.

LIBERTY - Student safety is the principal reason gates will be placed at entrances to the Casey County school campus on East Ky. 70, school officials said. Parents and principals agree that more security is needed on campus, which is now open to anyone during school hours. The county Board of Education has decided to place gates at four entrances that lead to the high school and middle school, the vocational school and bus garage. One entrance between the middle school and high school gymnasium will be open to traffic, and the other four gates will be closed between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. daily while schools are in session.

Lincoln County High took some hits last week, not all of them on the football field. But the school also got high-fives from community leaders who gathered Thursday night at a forum presented by the Eastern Kentucky University Office of Regional Stewardship. One thing was clear early on: There were no cheerleaders in the room. The participants cast a cold eye on Lincoln County life and found it wanting in some areas. Helped along by EKU administrators, representatives of Lincoln and Garrard counties listed what they considered to be the harshest challenges facing our region regarding education and the economy.

LIBERTY - Garland Sharp has traded in his suit and tie for a pair of khakis, T-shirt, sneakers and a cap to suit his new profession. Sharp, a former banker, is the new guard for the gated campus at Casey County high and middle schools, and Kentucky Tech vocational school. "What's your name? What are you here for?" That's the dialogue Sharp uses daily from 8:10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. He keeps a log of everyone who comes through the gate, the only entrance to campus that is open while classes are in session.

About 40 years ago, the IJ had a unique weekly feature going - an "IJ Mailbox of the Week. " Sadly, mailboxes aren't much in style any more. A similar feature today could be the "Email Inbox of the Week," but it wouldn't be nearly as interesting. Reproduced here are two "MoW" winners, one from March 1, 1973, and one from Feb. 22, 1973.   Feb. 22, 1973 THE¿IJ¿MAILBOX OF¿THE WEEK belongs to John McKinney, Parlor Grove Road, Waynesburg Route 1. He says he used Sam Meade's blueprints, only made his box a little smaller than Sam's.

A Kentucky Utilities power outage that affected more than 3,000 Winchester residents and left businesses on the Bypass without power has been fixed as of about 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. "What we had is a fuse that went off on a substation on Boone Avenue," said KU spokesman Cliff Feltham. "And it affected 3,412 customers. " The area affected was the southwest side of Winchester, and it included George Rogers Clark High School and the south end of the Bypass, Feltham said. Feltham said KU workers "shifted the load to another source and were able to bring customers back on little by little and eventually got them all on somewhere between 9 and 9:30.

Aimee Bowman, a student at the Clark Area Technology Center, recently won the Thermadyne “Built with Class” welding contest. Bowman won in the beginning student category for her essay describing why she is interested in learning about welding. The contest was open to all students currently enrolled in a welding instructional program at a secondary, post-secondary, technical or vocational school. Bowman received a $250 prize, and Clark County ATC received a free Thermal Arc 3-in-1 system valued at $1,750.

With construction of the new high school under way, students, staff and parents alike are excited about the increased opportunities that will become available through the new facility. But, if everything remains as planned, one crucial part of our school is left out in the first phase of construction: the vocational school. The Clark County Board of Education has made a strong commitment to preparing students for both college and career. Without the vocational school being on site from the beginning, however, readying students for their futures in particular vocations becomes more difficult than it should be. Because of costs, vocational students will have to be bused back and forth between the new high school and the current area tech building until the new vocational school can be built.

If Janet Wirey had been paid a dollar for every mile she drove during her career of more than three decades, she would have retired a millionaire. “It may seem like a huge number, but I would estimate that during her 32-year career, Janet probably drove a million miles, maybe more,” says Rick Westerfield, a longtime co-worker and friend. Wirey was a school bus driver for the Boyle County school district. Although she didn’t make “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” kind of bucks, Wirey says her experience was a treasure that can’t be counted in dollars.

HARRODSBURG — A Texas-based company that has been involved in a major facility renovation project in Mercer County has donated $40,000 to the Mercer County Foundation for Education. The foundation recently received the donation from Fluor, a Fortune 500 company that delivers engineering, procurement, construction, maintenance and project management to governments and clients in diverse industries around the world. One of its more recent projects has been extensive work at Kentucky Utilities’ E.W. Brown power plant in Burgin.

Back when Steve Rinehart was in high school, students with technical aptitude and interest had few education or career options. Some four decades later, Rinehart says things have changed ? and for the better. Today, these students can benefit from what used to be vocational education but has evolved into technical as well vocational education, he said. Today, these students don't necessarily need a four-year college degree to get a good, well-paying job, he said. "In days gone by, vocational education was regarded as place where kids took shop classes and worked on cars or did welding or carpentry," he said.

Plans for the new George Rogers Clark High School made the next step toward being bid in the spring. Tuesday night, the Clark County Board of Education approved the schematic plans for the 215,672 square-foot school to be built off Old Boonesboro Road. Architect Randy Brookshire said the initial phase will include the freshman academy, which was included as construction costs have fallen in the national economy. The school would include more than 138,000 square-feet of programmed space, with much of the difference made from walls and utility spaces, he said.

Only two dozen people showed up to offer their opinions on a new school superintendent Tuesday night, but the suggestions were well-received. Three years ago, the Clark County school board staged a similar forum to gather ideas from the community on what to look for in a successor to Superintendent Ed Musgrove. In December, Musgrove announced he would resign at the end of June after three years in Clark County. For this forum, about a third of the people showed up as did in 2006, but the comments made up for the difference.

To the editor: As an instructor at the Lincoln County Area Technology Center (ATC), I was deeply offended by the front-page article in last week's The Interior Journal. In doing some investigation on my own, I learned that no one would admit to the allegations made. Each person I spoke with passed it on to someone else, blaming them for the disrespect that was given to the Tech School. The one thing that stands out in my mind is why would they feel this way? The students that attend the Tech School have some of the greatest opportunities available to them.