In that last post I mentioned how running sometimes gives me time to think and often times inspires my thoughts. That is the case again this week, as this past weekend I went for a run with one of my former athletes, who is now running in college at Heidelberg. Talk about motivation in a time where many of us are trying to figure out our new reality. To give you the background, this young man just got his College Outdoor Track season cancelled by the NCAA on his 21st birthday. For many people that would create a lot of anger and depressed feelings, however he had such a positive attitude about his training and future that it rubbed off on me. For that reason, this week I want to continue highlighting our communities by focusing on that community I coach in: Fort Jennings.
Thirteen years ago I started my career in education as a teacher at Vantage. In my third year of teaching I started to coach track and field at Fort Jennings. Through my years at Vantage and my years of coaching I've gotten to know many students from Fort Jennings very well. One of the high school teammates of the young man mentioned above was Kyle Maag. I got to know Kyle very well in high school, because not only was he an athlete that I coached, but he was also a student here at Vantage (Industrial Mechanics). I always knew Kyle would be very successful after graduation, so it was no surprise when he reached out to me a couple months ago to say he was looking to hire a new employee at Fenson Contracting. Luckily, we were able to help him out.
Currently this year, Thomas Calvelage is getting the most out of his time in the Construction program here at Vantage. He interned with Webken Masonry this past fall and now is working for Fenson Contracting in Jennings.
Last week I mentioned that spring is a time when many of our seniors have jobs lined up for after graduation and those that excel in the classroom have the opportunity to do advanced job placement through our CAP (Career Advanced Placement) Program. Tyler Kahle (Industrial Mechanics) is doing just that by working for BK Tool and Design in Kalida.
Speaking of BK, last week I also mentioned that many of our junior students are already lining up summer jobs/internships, and that is the case with Nathan Sealts (Precision Machining) who has been working at BK this school year, Derek Weyrauch (Welding) working at Unverferth Manufacturing, and Eli Zehender (Ag & Industrial Power) working at A & D Automotive.
Keep up the good work guys!
I'm sure I forgot to highlight some of our other Jennings students that are doing amazing things as well, so if I missed you with a shout out, I am sorry!
As I mentioned above, many of us are looking for new routines and new motivation to get through our days because so much in our lives has changed in the past week. I have been so impressed with our students this week and the effort that they are making to learn. Their effort is truly motivating to me. So many times in life we look to our coaches, teachers and mentors for motivation, but this past week it has been this coach/teacher being motivated by the students/athletes. Our future is bright with these young people coming up! We will get through this, and our students will lead the way!
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