Volume 1; Issue 1; Winter 2018

STEEL CENTER

Welcome The Steel Center Review is part of a NEW initiative that is designed to better inform our stakeholders about their school. Produced in both hardcopy and digital form, this Quar-terly Newsletter will be published on our website and distributed to the families of our students. The School Board Directors serving on the Steel Center Joint Operating Com-mittee as well as ALL other School Board Directors from our members districts, Superin-tendents, Principals, School Counselors, business and industry partners, and other agen-cies that support Steel Center’s mission will also receive the Review. Feel free to offer ide-as and feedback concerning the Review by emailing Steel Center Executive Director, Mr. Kevin Rice krice@steelcentertech.com. Thank you for your interest in Steel Center and enjoy the Steel Center Review.

Steel Center

Spotlight

Steel Center’s “Job Ready Day One” poster won first place in the promoting CTE poster competition at the

SkillsUSA Pennsylvania Western Region Fall Leadership Conference in November. Pictured from left to right

are: Kayleigh Moon, Welding, grade 12, Bethel Park; Xaviar Morris, Culinary Arts, grade 11, West Mifflin;

Samantha Smidansky, Medium/Heavy Truck, grade 11, West Mifflin; Ben Fanelli Health Assisting, grade 12,

Elizabeth Forward; and Melissa Perdomo, Cosmetology, grade 10, Baldwin-Whitehall Mrs. Corina Bonsall

Each issue of the Steel Center

Review will feature an individ-

ual that has done something

special to shine a “Spotlight”

on Steel Center. For this issue,

that person is one of our facul-

ty members Mrs. Corina Bon-

sall. Mrs. Bonsall teaches Cos-

metology at Steel Center and

was recently named as a final-

ist for the 2018 Champions of

Learning Award for Teaching by

the Consortium for Public Edu-

cation (Full article on page 2).

Inside this issue: ●Spotlight pg. 2 ●NEW Steel Center Website pg. 2 ●Career Education news pg. 3 ●SkillsUSA District/State Competitions pgs. 4-6 ●Steel Center/CCAC Partner-ship pg. 7 ●Upcoming Events pg. 8

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This issue’s “Spotlight” features Mrs. Corina Bonsall. Mrs. Bonsall joined the Steel Center family in August of 2013 as a Cosmetology teacher. She quickly began making a positive impact on our students with her passion for teaching, a high degree of technical knowledge/competence in Cosmetology, strong relationships with business and industry partners, and innovative teaching skills. A graduate of Plum High School, she is also a product of Career and Technical Education having completed the Program of Study in Cosmetology at Forbes Road CTC in Monroeville. After high school, Corina earned a Bache-lor’s in Education degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a 4.0 GPA. In addition to Cosmetology, Corina has earned Penn-sylvania Teaching certification in Secondary English, Mid-Level Eng-lish, and Elementary Education. Mrs. Bonsall serves as our Cosmetol-ogy Supervisor maintaining PA Department of Labor and Industry compliance for our program and is a member of the school climate committee and CTE planning committees. Working closely with her co-teacher Mrs. Sandee Knight and instructional aide Mrs. Samantha Brinkman, Mrs. Bonsall has fostered very positive relationships with local business and industry partners. She was selected by the Con-sortium for Public Education as a finalist for the 2018 Champions of Learning Award for Teaching and recently named by the Steel Center Administration as the 2018 Educator of Distinction . She credits her success as a teacher to her students and colleagues here at Steel

Steel Center Spotlight- Mrs. Corina Bonsall

The NEW www.steelcentertech.com

Under the leadership of the Assistant Director for Curriculum and Technology, Mrs. Robin White, Steel Center launched a new and updated website in December. Using a new vendor and platform, the reimagined website offers a more com-plete and user friendly experience. Work-ing closely with Data Specialist, Ms. Shel-ley Hartman, input was collected from various stakeholder groups as well as research into various vendors and platforms. Special attention was given to offer current and future students and their families detailed program and cur-riculum information. Please visit our website and feel free to provide us your NEW website front page features students and their success

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Steel Center employs a school counselor as part of a comprehensive initiative to provide enriched Career Education for middle school students from Steel Center’s eleven member school districts. Mrs. Alicia Schmidt, who has been with Steel Center since January 2016 spends most of her time helping students in grades 5-8 learn about the world of careers that await them in the future. Recently, she has been working with a few of Steel Center’s outstanding students who serve as advocates for their Career Major during large-scale 7th grade presentations. These students are well versed, charismatic, have a mature and professional demeanor, and not afraid to present to large groups of students (100-400 kids) in an auditorium, LGI, or gymnasium setting, to represent Steel Center and our amazing pro-grams. Under Mrs. Schmidt’s guidance, these student leaders have already presented to the entire 7th grade at West Mifflin & South Park Middle Schools on December 15, 2017and January 18, 2018 respectively. Each talks about themselves, their CTE Career Major, and Steel Center extra-curricular activities they participate in here such as SkillsUSA and National Technical Honor Society. They create and utilize use a PowerPoint when they present and show videos and pictures that represent their program set to music during their presentation. Finally, they will ei-ther do a demonstration or show/pass around various tools items they use in their programs. They conclude with a questions/answers game and give away Steel Center decals or water bottles, etc… During the presentation, the pre-senters dress in their required shop uniforms, so give a realistic idea of what they wear to class on a daily basis in their respective Career Majors. These presentations have been well-received from the member district faculty and staff as well as the 7th grade students because they are able to hear directly from these amazing and knowledgeable Steel Center students about the importance of CTE and how their education here is positively impacting their lives. Upcoming presentations scheduled for this spring include: Brentwood Middle School, on February 14, 2018 and In-dependence Middle School (Bethel Park), on April 25, 2018.

Middle School Career Education Program

Pictured from left to right are: Dalton Coddington, Medium/Heavy Truck,

grade 12, Clairton; Kayla Burt, Health Assisting, grade 12, West Jefferson Hills;

James Cadwallader, Collision Repair, grade 12, Steel Valley; Mrs. Alicia

Schmidt; Julie Boytim Health Assisting, grade 12, Brentwood Borough; and

Jared Lukens, Medium/Heavy Truck, grade 12, Brentwood Borough

Steel Center Student Presenters at South Park Middle

School on January 18, 2018

February is Career and Technical Education Month

To learn more visit www.acteonline.org

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What is SkillsUSA?

Students that attend Steel Center and all Career and Technical education schools have opportunities to participate

in Career and Technical Student Organizations (CTSO’s) as an extra-curricular activity to enrich their high school

experience. The largest of these is SkillsUSA. As outlined on its website, SkillsUSA is a national membership associ-

ation serving high school, college and middle school students who are preparing for careers in trade, technical and

skilled service occupations, including health occupations, and for further education. SkillsUSA is a partnership of

students, teachers and industry working together to ensure America has a skilled workforce. SkillsUSA helps each

student excel.

More than 335,000 students and advisors join SkillsUSA each year, organized into more than 18,000 local chapters

and 53 state and territorial associations. In 2017, 19,500 teachers served as professional members and SkillsUSA

advisors. Combining alumni membership, the total number reached annually is over 394,000. SkillsUSA has served

more than 12.5 million members since its founding in 1965.

Mission: SkillsUSA empowers its members to become world-class workers, leaders and responsible American citi-

zens. SkillsUSA improves the quality of our nation’s future skilled workforce through the development of Frame-

work skills that include personal, workplace and technical skills grounded in academics.

Vision: SkillsUSA produces the most highly skilled workforce in the world, providing every member the opportuni-

ty for career success.

More than 600 business, industry and labor organizations actively support SkillsUSA at the national level through

financial aid, in-kind contributions, and involvement of their people in SkillsUSA activities. Many more work direct-

ly with state associations and local chapters. Commitment by industry to the annual national SkillsUSA Champion-

ships is valued at more than $36 million.

Steel Center SkillsUSA

Steel Center SkillsUSA students

along with one of the advisors, Mrs.

Sheila Parker attending the annual

Steel Center Board Holiday Dinner

December 13, 2018

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2018 Skills Competitions

The 54th annual SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference will take place June 25-29, 2018 in

Louisville, Kentucky. At that event, more than 6,000 students compete in 100 occupational and leader-

ship skill areas. For Steel Center students, the road to Nationals began in December when our local com-

petitions occurred allowing students to compete for a chance to represent Steel Center at the District

Level competition. The District 8 was held on January 15, 2018 at two sites, the Community College of

Beaver County and Forbes Road CTC in Monroeville. A total of 48 Steel Center students participated at

District 8, and the results were incredible. We are proud to say that 20 of our students won their compe-

tition, 6 took second place, and 7 came in third. A complete listing of students finishing in the top five

places at District 8 can been seen on page 6. Our first place winners will now move onto the SkillsUSA

State Competition held April 18-20 in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

Steel Center’s AM Session District 8 Champions Steel Center’s PM Session District 8 Champions

Steel Center students finishing in the top five at the District 8 competition

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FIRST PLACE

Basic Health Care Austin Rust Health Assistant Baldwin

Customer Service Rachel Yannayon Health Assistant Bethel Park

Culinary Arts Savannah Poland Culinary Elizabeth Forward

Diesel Equipment Tec Jared Lukens Medium and Heavy Truck Brentwood

Electrical Construction Wiring Brad Simon Electrical Construction Baldwin

Health Knowledge Bowl Tonilynn Danca Health Assistant Elizabeth Forward

Health Knowledge Bowl Jessica Finney Health Assistant Elizabeth Forward

Health Knowledge Bowl Erica Fitzgerald Health Assistant South Park

Health Knowledge Bowl Kaylah Michel Health Assistant Elizabeth Forward

Industrial Motor Control Ivan Matejcic Electrical Construction South Allegheny

Medical Assisting Maria Perallo Health Assistant Baldwin

Photography Arianna Sanker Advertising and Design South Park

Plumbing Andrew Votedian Building Trades Steel Valley

Quiz Bowl Matthew Blackburn Health Assistant South Park

Ben Fanelli Health Assistant Elizabeth Forward

Andrew Ernst Electrical Construction South Allegheny

Conner Holmes Electrical Construction Baldwin

Mitch Holmes CIS Baldwin

Jon Dickson Health Assistant Baldwin

Technical Computer Apps Tyler Shearer CIS West Mifflin

SECOND PLACE

Basic Health Care Kara Parsons Health Assistant Thomas Jefferson

Cosmetology Haley Richert Cosmetology Bethel Park

Fire Fighting Jamie Carroll Protective Services South Allegheny

Job Skills Demo A Gillian Schmidt Cosmetology Baldwin

Restaurant Service Xavier Morris Culinary West Mifflin

Welding Clayton Coppola Welding Steel Valley

THIRD PLACE

Building Construction Travis Petrilli Building Trades South Allegheny

Health Occupations Portfolio Kayla Burt Health Assistant Thomas Jefferson

Information Tech Service Jonathan Bastianini CIS South Park

Internetworking Cameron McGill CIS Bethel Park

Nail Care Jenna Ludwick Cosmetology Elizabeth Forward

Nail Care Model Celia McBride Cosmetology Elizabeth Forward

Web Design Mark Janovec CIS Brentwood

FOURTH PLACE

Advertising and Design Alexis Gormley Advertising and Design South Allegheny

Esthetics Angel Feschuk Cosmetology West Mifflin

Esthetics Model Alyssa Scherer Cosmetology South Park

FIFTH PLACE

Cosmetology Delaney Gregorius Cosmetology Bethel Park

Steel Center students finishing in the top five at the District 8 competition

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Credential Connections Program The Credential Connections Program is a partnership between Steel Center for Career and Technical Education and the Commu-nity College of Allegheny County. This opportunity has been made possible through the Partner4Work’s “Business-Education Partnership Grant” . It is a progressive, results focused initiative designed to offer dual enrollment and industry-based certifica-tions in high priority occupations for high school students in Southeastern Allegheny County. Building on learning experiences in Pennsylvania Department of Education approved “Programs of Study”, qualified Steel Center students studying Auto Mechanics and Medium/Heavy Truck Technology will have the opportunity to enroll in courses through the Community College of Alleghe-ny County that will lead to earning an industry recognized certification. Further, the “Credential Connections Program” will pro-vide participants with two (2) college credits through this “dual-enrollment”. Program participants that successfully complete the courses will have increased opportunities for employment because they will earn both the Pennsylvania State Safety Inspection and Emissions Inspection Certifications. These credentials along with the skills obtained in the courses they have studied at Steel Center will make them highly marketable for employers. The program will conclude with planned interactions with employers representing business and industry from committed partners who belong to Steel Center’s Occupational Advisory Committees as well as new partners with whom new relationships will be made.

Program participants will be enrolled in the following through CCAC for the Spring 2018 Semester:

Emission Inspector Certification

ATE-106: Credits: 1, Department: Automotive Technology

This course is a Pennsylvania State-directed Emission Inspector Certification Program. It is designed for anyone wishing to become Pennsylvania certified to perform emission inspections on passenger cars & light trucks. This course is graded on a pass/fail basis.

State Inspection Certification

ATE-108: Credits: 1, Department: Automotive Technology

This course is a Pennsylvania State directed Safety In-spection Certification Program. It is designed for anyone wishing to become Pennsylvania Certified to perform safety inspections on motor vehicles. This course is grad-ed on a pass/fail basis.

Program participants will

Be given an “Inspection Tool Kit” worth approximate-ly $150 after completing the courses.

Have the opportunity to meet with representatives from local business and industry partners who are seeking qualified candidates for employment.

Credential Connections Program Kick-Off Dinner January 17, 2018

February

6 Board Meeting

14 Staff Appreciation Breakfast

20 SkillsUSA Snow Tubing Night

27 Community Service Project Day

28 Steely Awards

March

6 Board Meeting

12-19 NOCTI Written Exams

21 NOCTI Performance Test Day

12-19 NOCTI Written Exams

21 NOCTI Performance Test Day

April

3 Board Meeting

11 Steel Center Job Fair

18-20 SkillsUSA State Competition

26 CTE School Board Members Training Sessions

May

1 Board Meeting

9 Top of the Shop

10-11 Futures in Technology

17 Senior Awards Brunch

21 Middle School Career Day

22 Senior Recognition Ceremony @ CCAC

Upcoming Events

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SAVE THE DATE

SCHOOL BOARD DIRECTORS Thursday, April 26, 2018 @12:00 p.m. or 6:00 p.m.

Steel Center for Career and Technical Education is offering an im-

portant professional development opportunity for ALL school board

members from the Baldwin-Whitehall, Bethel Park, Brentwood Bor-

ough, Clairton City, Duquesne, Elizabeth Forward, South Allegheny,

South Park, Steel Valley, West Jefferson Hills, and West Mifflin School

Districts. Topics will include: the role of Career and Technical Educa-

tion within Public Education, CTE and the local economy, how Steel

Center is serving the needs of your school district, and the looking to

the future for Steel Center. The training session will be offered twice,

at 12:00 p.m. or 6:00 p.m. for your convenience. More information

will be sent at a later date.

2017-2018 Fall Top of the Shop Winners