CURRENT NEWS & EVENTS

>WINNERS - 2008 Competitions

>Notes for 2007-08 School Year

>Culinary Arts: HS Iron Chef Winners!

>CNE Teacher Earns First Energy Grant

>WINNERS - 2007 Summer

>Research Supports TechEd Makes a Difference

For last year's news archive click here

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JOIN the Green Dream
The Green Dream Eco-Friendly Showcase
Beachwood Community Center
April 25, 2008
2pm. - 7 pm.
Admission is free
The Green Dream is an entrepreneurial enterprise that was born in the Marketing Education class at Beachwood High School. Twenty seniors embarked on a socially and environmentally responsible project that is changing the way people think and business is being done. The Green Dream Eco-Friendly Showcase is bringing 60 area businesses and organizations together to show consumers how easy it is to be green.
click here to visit the Green Dream website to find out more...

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WELCOME!
THOMAS Q. FULTON named Director of
Chagrin Falls Performing Arts Academy
Excel TECC is excited to be able to offer students in our consortium
the opportunity to study with Mr. Thomas Fulton at the new Performing Arts Academy housed at Chagrin Falls High School. The program will open next school year 2008-2009. Applications are being accepted now.

click here for Press Release about Thomas Fulton

click here for the Performing Arts website or

click here for students applying to the Performing Arts Academy
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APPLICATIONS BEING ACCEPTED NOW
FOR 2008-09 SCHOOL YEAR
for programs with openings
contact Mr. Joe Hayes - 440-995-6761 for information

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WINNERS - 2008 Competitions
CONGRATULATIONS to all Excel TECC winners
from the following programs:
Cooperative Business Internship
CADD Engineering Technology
Computers, Networking & Electronics
Construction Trades
Culinary Arts
Early Childhood Education
Horticulture
Information Technology & Programming
Interactive Media
Marketing
Medical Careers Technology
Medical Technologies

GOOD LUCK to students going on to state and national contests!!

CONGRATULATIONS to new
NATIONAL TECHNICAL HONOR SOCIETY members
On March 20, 2008 fourteen Excel TECC students were inducted into the National Technical Honor Society in a ceremony held at Mayfield High School auditorium.
Congratulations to tudents from the following programs:
Business Academy
CADD Engineering Technology
Construction Management
Construction Trades
Cosmetology-Mayfield
Culinary Arts
Horticulture
Interactive Media
Medical Technologies
Video Broadcasting
Visual Art & Design

Click here to read all about Excel TECC winners' successes!

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NOTES for 2007-08 School Year

CHECK HERE for Excel TECC Calendar Information
for school year 2007-08

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HORTICULTURE CENTER RENOVATIONS
2007-08
[re-opening as GATES MILLS ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION CENTER]
The Gates Mills Horticulture Center will be going under some major renovations and additions beginning this summer. A larger floral design studio, horticulture/natural resource library, lunch room, offices, potting area, computer lab, and student/staff restrooms are some of the areas of attention.
Classes for the 2007-2008 year will be relocated to:
Mrs. Gardner - Tri-C Eastern Campus
Mr. Tuhela - Richmond Heights High
Mrs. Judson - Alpha Park
Mr. McCracken - Alpha Park
Mrs. Haydu's class well remain at the Cleveland Botanical Garden .
Construction should be completed by the spring of 2008.

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CONGRATULATIONS!
CULINARY ARTS WINS
CLEVELAND HIGH SCHOOL IRON CHEF CONTEST!

Chef Kortez Wilson, Danette McHale and Assistant Chris Lindsay are very proud to announce that on Friday morning, November 16, 2007, a group of our junior culinary students won the local Fox 8 High School Iron Chef cook-off! The competition was held at the Legecy Village Viking Store. Fox 8's Kenny Crumpton along with local celebrity judges Rocco Whelan, Lil John Rinaldi and Viking's Adam Wilson were some of the personalities on hand to taste and evaluate. Our students involved were Caitlan Lotts from West Geauga H.S. and Vironica Parks, Rosie Lipp, and Corderrel Harris from Brush H.S.

Click here for video of the Dinner Plate Presentation

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CNE Instructor Earns First Energy Grant

Darlene Johnson [L], area manager for The Illuminating Company,
hands Mr. Kaminiski a First Energy Education Grant

Mr. Steve Kaminski, Computers, Electronics and Networking instructor, won a First Energy Education Grant. The $466.00 award will be used to fund a project in which students will be creating a wireless computer game system for 4 players. The grant will enable the purchase of printed circuit board creation equipment, with a drill press to drill the holes in the newly created circuit boards. The grant will also purchase a PIC microcontroller development system to write and burn code into the chip that will communicate with both the wireless remote game controllers and the PC computer. The game will run in 3D on the PC. 

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WINNERS - 2007 Summer

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY & PROGRAMMING
CADD COMPUTER-AIDED DRAFTING/DESIGN

On June 29, 2007 the Excel TECC students competed in Skills USA National Championships in Kansas City, Missouri, with the following accomplishments:

>>Junior ITP Team consisting of Byron Brown, Roland Cross III , Lamar Hinchen and Walter T. Moore earned a Silver Medal with their Tech Prep project entitled "The Original Grill/C&C Music Service" a professional experiential learning project completed for an external client.
>>Alexander Flagg, 2006 ITP graduate, competed in the Technical Mathematics competition earning a final overall ranking of 16th place, nationally.
>>Tremaine Gissentaner , a junior CADD student, competed in the Job Interview competition earning a final overall ranking of 9th place, nationally

The Skills USA National Championships are represented by state and regional champions from all 50 states, several territories and Washington D.C. These National qualifiers represent the top one-percent of over 600,000 career-technical students throughout the U.S.A.

HORTICULTURE

Students from the Gates Mills Horticulture program competed at the State Horticulture Contest held in Columbus this summer with the following accomplishments:

>>The team of Anthony Pivonka, Nick Martines and Constantine Boltyansky placed first in the Open division.
>>In the FFA division, the second place team consisted of: John Mascaro, Brandon Hoover, Nick Wolf and Michelle Weissman.
>>The third place FFA team consisted of: Charles Tyler, Kayla Mahone and Chris Cortez.
>>Individual winners included: Nick Wolf-2nd place, John Mascaro-3rd place and Michlle Weissman-4th place.

The students have qualified to attend and compete at the 2007 National Junior Horticulture Contest held in Ft. Wayne, Indiana this October.

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OUR WINNERS!!

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Using Occupational and Employment Information
to Address the Dropout Crisis

The United States is on the cusp of an economic and educational crisis. Today's complex job market requires workers to have more education and skill than ever before. Global competition demands that our nation produce individuals who are technologically literate, academically proficient, and capable of adapting to a diverse and changing workplace. The demand for workers with postsecondary education and professional or technical certifications is growing steadily. In addition, today's workers must have the self-management skills and the knowledge that will enable them to be successful career managers

The Role of Occupational and Employment Information

Young people drop out of school for a variety of reasons some of which are outside the control of the school system. However, there are many specific interventions that will stem this problem. Many students indicate that their main reason for leaving high school is that they do not see the relevance of school to their aspirations. One way to significantly improve graduation rates is to engage students in making a strong connection between academic attainment and future success in life.

Occupational and Employment Information, authorized under Section 118 of the Perkins Act, provides the resources that students and adults use to identify their career interests, match the academic requirements to those choices, and identify education and training options. Processing this information allows students to find meaning in their high school participation. And, research shows it is effective.

Students with access to quality career information resources and programs:
-- Earned higher test scores on the ACT exam;
-- Demonstrated better classroom attendance;
-- Participated in significantly more Advanced Placement classes, and
-- Enrolled in more early graduation programs.

Students who make the connection between their academic coursework and future goals are more likely to graduate from high school, complete postsecondary education and succeed in the workplace.

Click here to read the ACRNA (America's Career Resource Network Association) report