The Porter County Career Center resumed classes on January 4 after two weeks of winter break. In the health science occupations, two students are about to begin their clinicals at different health facilities in the area.
The video and media productions class have kickstarted swim meet and basketball game broadcasts at Valparaiso High School. Students will begin working together as a crew to put on the live broadcast of sporting events. Anyone can access the live stream on YouTube via Porter County TV (PCTV).
Video production students also put on their fifth episode of PCTV news. This newscast is made by morning and afternoon students. Each newscast lasts around 20 minutes and covers all the big news going on around in the area.
The business class had a successful blanket drive where students donated all size blankets to donate to the Share the Warmth event. Many students from the Career Center donated blankets and helped the business students have a successful drive.
Over at the beauty depot, all students are working towards completing their hours and receiving the number of stamps needed to achieve their cosmetology license.
Since the second semester began, the cosmetology students have been very busy. Second-year students are very close to achieving their license and are still working with each other to earn more hours towards their license.
In the computer and animation design class, students began a new project building houses through the program on their computers. This is an individual assignment, but students can collaborate to create ideas for the concept of their project.
The automotive class second-year students are now doing work-based studies at a job site Tuesday through Thursday. Any second-year student is eligible to sign up for this opportunity. Students still report to class at the Career Center on Monday and Friday.
The health science class is currently learning about the sensory system, and are doing labs to further their knowledge about the five senses in the body.
There was a virtual open house for the Career Center on January 12. Students in Porter County were able to learn about classes offered at the Porter County Career Center through a virtual meeting. The meeting was from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., and students had the opportunity to visit more than one class if they were undecided on which class they were interested in.
Each nine weeks, students from each class at the Career Center are recognized for their outstanding performance. During these nine weeks, students received a gift card and a certificate for their hard work.
Coming up
The Porter County Career Center will begin having virtual learning days for all students once a month. The first online learning day will be on January 20. No students will report to vocational, instead, they will have an alternative assignment that can be completed at home.
In the next couple of weeks, the two health science classes will begin working at their clinical sites. All students will learn how to take care of patients through hands-on experience at different health facilities around Valparaiso. By completing their clinical, students will then receive their certified nursing assistant (CNA) license.
The deadline is approaching for applications to be completed to sign up for a vocational class next year. The deadline is February 11, so if you are interested in going to the Porter County Career and Technical Center please visit their website to sign up and learn about each class the Career Center offers.
Teacher spotlight
Dallas Milligan is the video and media productions teacher at the Career Center and it is his first year teaching the radio and television class. Milligan is currently taking courses at Purdue Northwest in order to receive his master’s degree in communications.
“My favorite part about being able to be around students every day and seeing all my students grow as people,” Milligan said.
Milligan’s approach to teaching offers many first-hand experiences within the classroom. Milligan’s video and media class gives students creative freedom when working on different projects. Once a week, students go into the studio area of the classroom and make a mini newscast.
Student spotlight
Maya Vickrey is a second-year student in the video and media productions course. Vickrey has achieved many things by taking the class. Vickrey had the opportunity to work with a New York based film company, to make a public service announcement about preventing drunk driving. Vickrey placed second in the competition and received a check for $1,000.
Although Vickrey does not plan on pursuing a career in the media field, she enjoys learning new skills from the class.
“I look forward to using the skills I learned in this class for whatever career I decide to go into,” she said.
Maya wants to go to Purdue Lafayette to study English.
Throughout Vickrey’s two years in the video and media productions class, her favorite part was creating bonds with her classmates through the projects the class has done.