Northern Medina County superintendents present the state of their school districts

MEDINA — School districts in the northern Medina County region are undergoing construction and providing college and career experiences for its students. Superintendents gave a state of the schools presentation at the Northern Medina County Chamber Alliance luncheon at the Medina County Career Center's The Center Cafe on Wednesday. Career Center Superintendent Steve Chrisman said most of its adult education programs were moved to the former Medina County University Center, which gave the Career Center the ability to start an LPN program. "In the first week of January, we are starting the first nursing program in Medina County," he said. "We put out for 25 spots. 125 students responded in the first week. Also by securing that facility, it allowed us to start an EMT advanced program." The new space also allowed the Career Center to start a medical assisting program at the high school level, Chrisman said. The plan is to soon implement a high school welding program as well. "We're going to need a partner (for the welding program), so we reached out to the Tom and Jill Lincoln Foundation," he said. "The Tom and Jill Lincoln Foundation agreed to give us $1.5 million towards the $2 million to do the entire project." Brunswick Superintendent Jason Niedermeyer said Brunswick has a college and career readiness lab that every eighth grader takes, which introduces them to relevant job experiences. There is also a new aptitude assessment program that starts in sixth grade, which aims to get kids to start thinking about what they are interested in. "We're focused on trying to make sure that our kids have a plan, and our parents get excited when they hear that we're focusing on that," he said. "Ultimately, it's a portal, and every single student will have their own login. They will collect all of this data over the course of six years, and if they're a college-based student or a career-based student, it will send them on a path to the next step." Brunswick Schools is also working on a construction project that involves building a new Brunswick High School that will house students in 300 days, Niedermeyer said. The district is recently focusing on phase three of the project, which involves demolishing the existing Brunswick High School and putting a parking lot and various fields in its place. "We want to be in a position to not have to talk about brick and mortar or facilities with our community for decades," he said. "Where we're at with our capital plan and all of our buildings, we feel like we're in that space." Buckeye Superintendent Jeff Stanton said work is also beginning on a new Buckeye High School that will open for students in fall 2029. The current high school will be converted into a middle school with sixth graders joining the facility in fall 2030. Preschool opportunities will also be expanded in the district. Buckeye is offering an associate's pathway in partnership with Tri-C that allows students to earn an associate's degree and their high school diploma at the same time, Stanton said. There is also a new lab in the media center that is designed to support students who are taking college courses. "You will see an area for our kids who come back to our campus who are coming from the Career Center or from any of the other places where they can go out and receive education during the day," he said. "When they come back to Buckeye, there's now a dedicated space to support them." Highland Superintendent Catherine Aukerman said for the first time this year, all eighth grade students in the district are involved in the Hands of Gratitude program that helps people who have limb differences globally. "Our students are going to be working together to basically assemble hands for those in need across the world," she said. "We will actually be constructing 200 limbs that will go to Guatemala and the Dominican Republic." The Highland Alumni Committee in conjunction with the Highland Foundation is also working to install an alumni military honor wall which will be a tribute to Highland graduates who are serving or have served in the United States armed forces. The kick-off ceremony for the wall will be on Nov. 10. "This display is going to be located right outside of our theater lobby, and each one of our students will receive a hexagon panel displaying their name, graduation date and branch of military service," she said. "The goal of this project was to make sure that any student would be provided this recognition at no cost to the family." Contact reporter Madisyn Woodring at 330-721-4049 or mwoodring@medina-gazette.com.