Tech Prep Showcase

Columbus State hosts high school standouts

At one end of the room, a group of high school students is showing how they redesigned the Delaware Rotary Club’s web site.

A panel of three judges question the students on how well their design works – it turns out the Rotary likes it so well, they’re using it right now. A local web design firm contacted the students, Brian Pierce and Brent Galloway, to see if they could do some freelance work.

Pierce said he may come to Columbus State - next year. He, and all the students with him, are still in high school.

Tech Prep students Brian Pierce and Brent Galloway

Thirty-one teams of high school kids came to Columbus State April 11 as part of the 2008 Heart of Ohio College Tech Prep Showcase. The teams came from tech-prep programs in 8 counties to show off the pre-professional projects they completed.

Columbus State hosts the Heart of Ohio Tech Prep Consortium, which assists tech prep programs. “Tech prep” refers to high school programs that teach vocational skills, but also have a college preparatory focus. It also helps tech prep programs align their curriculum so their students can gain college credit for their high school work.

Suzanne MacLean, a teacher in Delaware Area Career Center’s Information Technology program, appreciated the chance to come to Columbus State and show off. “It’s great for them to get some of that outside world experience.”

Heart of Ohio College Tech Prep students

Josh Dyer, a DACC student, showed off a video of he and his friends snowboarding at Mad River Mountain. Dyer had learned to sync each clip so they flow into each other, all in time to the music.

“I think (tech prep) helped a lot,” Dyer said. “It gives me an edge.”

A group from Gahanna-Lincoln High School had completed an exercise in International Business for a fictitious American sporting goods company. Under the students’ plan, the company would promote an obscure sport, then use that sport to gain entrance to the Italian market.

A project by another Gahanna student, 16-year-old Natalie Potts, may soon be tempting taste buds in Central Ohio. She wrote a business plan to help a Cincinnati Belgian waffle maker expand to the Columbus market.

“I don’t just want to learn this in the classroom, I want to apply these lessons,” Potts said. “And I don’t want to wait until I’m 20 or whatever to apply them.”

Scholarships, awards, and money awarded to Tech Prep students

The Heart of Ohio Tech Prep Consortium includes around 55 schools and vocational schools in eight counties. College partners are: Columbus State, Central Ohio Technical College, Ohio University-Chillicothe, Ohio University-Lancaster and the Electrical Trades Center. A number of local businesses are represented on the consortium’s board of directors.

Columbus State awarded 18 scholarships to Tech Prep students last year, each valued at $1,500. To qualify, students must have completed a Tech Prep program with a 2.0 GPA. The deadline to apply for this scholarship is usually March 1; check Scholarships for details.

Future potential, talent and skill found in Heart of Ohio College Tech Prep students