Lowe’s Charitable and Educa-tional Foundation has awarded a $1050.00 Lowe’s Toolbox for Education grant to Roane-Jackson Technical Center for chapter revitalization. Monies from the grant will be used to purchase SkillsUSA chapter meeting tools, such as a gavel, secretary’s and treasurer’s in-formation packets, table drape, and ceremonial emblem. This will allow the chapter to begin conducting regular meetings where the students can elect local officers, develop and dis-cuss community service pro-jects, and host programs geared towards leadership de-velopment and networking. Also, monies will be used to purchase competition attire in

addition to new SkillsUSA patches and buttons to update the school’s current collection of SkillsUSA blazers and work shirts. The grant application was submitted earlier this year by ProStart Instructor, Lynette Jones.

“The grant in Leroy represents Lowe’s commitment to career and technical education,” said Marshall Croom, chairman of Lowe’s Charitable and Educa-tional Foundation. “By support-ing schools like Roane-Jackson Technical Center and Skills- USA, we believe we are con-tributing to a cause that’s important to our customers and employees by helping provide improved learning environments and building

stronger communities.”

SkillsUSA helps students discover and grow their career passions. As a nationwide part-nership of students, instructors and industry working together, SkillsUSA works to ensure America has a skilled work-force. The organization also teaches leadership, citizenship, and character development to complement technical skill training. There is an emphasis on respect for the dignity of work, ethics, workmanship, scholarship, and safety. For more information, go to http://www.skillsusa.org.

RJTC Receives Grant for SkillsUSA

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

CAD 2

Timothy Weekly

2

Welding Certifications

3

Forestry 4

HOSA Competition

4

Pilot Program 5

Building Construction

5

R O A N E - J A C K S O N

T E C H N I C A L C E N T E R

Tech Talk M A R C H 2 0 1 3

Dates to Remember: • 3/22-23 Skills USA

Competition • 3/29 OS Day • 4/1-4/5 Spring Break

• 4/9-10 FBLA-PBL

State Competition

• 4/11 LSIC

Meeting • 4/17 End of 5th Six

weeks • 4/19 Global 21

Testing • 5/2 Student

Appreciation Day Members of SkillsUSA and the Administrative Council receive the Lowe’s Charitable and Edu-cational Foundation award in the lobby at RJTC.

P A G E 2

CAD Enjoys Aerospace Presentation On December 5th, students in the CAD program were visited by Aleksander Marthinussen, an Aerospace Coordinator from the Mid-Atlantic Aerospace Complex in Bridgeport, WV. Marthinussen spoke to the class about the principles of flight. The students were first engaged in an active discussion and slideshow presentation on Newton’s Laws of Motion and Bernoulli’s Principle. They then learned how the forces of drag, thrust, and lift each play a critical role in the flight of an aircraft. Furthermore, students were introduced to the basic control surface operation, as well as the design of the airfoil itself, including the properties of an efficient wing, stall and angle of attack.

After the presentation, the students were divided into teams and asked to use what they had learned to design a functional and efficient airfoil on the AutoCAD software. Once satisfied with the design, each team then carved and sanded the airfoil into a Styrofoam block before placing it in a port-able wind tunnel for a computer-guided evaluation of drag, lift, peak, lift angle, and

stall angle at 40 mph.

Following the evaluation of each wing, the test results were combined into a single comparison chart to determine which air-foil produced the most lift with the least amount of drag and was, therefore, the most efficient. After the winning design was announced the students were able to keep their airfoils and had a brief presenta-tion on the Mid-Atlantic Aerospace Complex and careers in the aerospace industry.

This was a highly informative and interest-ing hands-on presentation in which students not only learned about the principles of flight. In addition, we were able to test these principles through the engineering process using skills acquired in the classroom and working knowledge of wing design gained from Mr.

Marthinussen’s interactive demonstration.

Contributed by

Micheal Wilkinson

According to the

Bureau of

Labor Statistics,

the median

annual wage for

an Aerospace

Engineer in

2010 was

$97,480. RJTC Student Makes Daring Rescue

Timothy Weekley, a student in the Welding program at RJTC, had an interesting Christmas vacation. In late December Timothy and his friend Paul Lively were heading toward Ripley on Rt. 33 on their way home in the evening from a hunting trip. They noticed an automobile parked along side the road and stopped to see what was amiss. They were informed an elderly gentleman’s vehicle had careened of the road and landed in Mill Creek. When Timothy and his friend noticed the car sinking, they climbed out onto a limb and helped the gentleman stay above water until the rescue crews could get to the scene. Fire Chief Rick Gobel commended Weekly and his friend for their heroic efforts. Timothy is pictured at left with Chief Gobbel and Ripley Mayor Carolyn Raider.

Several Welding Students Complete Certification P A G E 3

Instructor Rick Cheuvront has been busy administering certification exams this winter. Mr. Cheuvront, a Certified Welding Inspector with the American Welding Society, has certified several students from Roane and Jackson Counties. During the two year program offered here at Roane-Jackson Technical Center students are given the opportunity to certify in various areas free of charge. All of the students pictured below successfully completed a certification.

Above: Rick Cheuvront with Roane County High Senior

Johnathan Nichols.

Above: Rick Cheuvront with Ripley High Senior Justin

Collins.

Above: Rick Cheuvront with Roane County High Senior

Keith Kelly.

Above: Rick Cheuvront with Roane County High graduate

Briar Nichols.

Ripley High Senior Michael Slaboda with Rick Cheuvront,

Above: Rick Cheuvront with Ripley High Senior Ashton

Bicak.

:

P A G E 4

“Touch the Earth”

Narrative Nature

Trail is open to the

public and offers 6

different hiking

trails with several

points of interest.

A map with the

trails and

indigenous species

is available in the

main office.

RJTC Volunteers Help with Trail In May 2011 the Parkersburg Area Community Foundation awarded North Bend State Park and The National Wild Foods Association a grant to construct a nature trail for public use. The trail is

dedicated to providing educa-tion and experience for

recognizing edible wild plants and other forgeable vegeta-tion within the landscape at North Bend State Park. The park is located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains near Cairo, West Virginia.

Approximately 120 trees have been planted and 1000 feet have been added to the trail, which was named the Euell Gibbins Wild Foods Trail. The

trail now forms a loop so hikers can return to the starting point, and includes Black Walnut, Chinquapin, Butternut, American Plum, Hazelnut and Paw Paw as well as many other trees and shrubs. Installed at opposite ends of the loop are two kiosks that contain photo-graphs and information about Euell Gibbons and wild foods. The trail also has a causeway that crosses the pond at the campground.

Volunteers from Roane-Jackson Technical Center, The National Wild Foods Associa-tion and North Bend State Park helped with the trail de-velopment. The project has

provided an opportunity to carry on the legacy of the wild foods program from the Na-ture Wonder Weekend es-tablished in the 1960’s by Euell Gibbons and Edelene Wood, President of the Na-tional Wild Foods Associa-tion. For more information about North Bend State Park visit:

http://www.northbendsp.com/

T E C H T A L K

Tech Center Students Fair Well at HOSA Competition

Practical Nursing First Place Winners Sandra Price Debbie Oliver Shelby Mcfee & Stephanie Williams Susan Roush Jessica Raines & Sarah Hinzman Scott Welch Second Place Winners Kelly Shingleton Cody Waybright Kristen Erickkson Jessica Hinzman Scott Welch Dana Stepp Brandic Adkins Amy Fields Sarah Nichols Mindy Shriver

Dental Terminology Physical Therapy Cert Skills Extemporaneous Writing Forensic Medicine Health Care Issues Exam Medical Reading Medical Law & Ethics Job Seeking Skills Creative Problem Solving Public Service Announcement

Several Programs to Participate in Pilot Program P A G E 5

The West Virginia Department of Education has unveiled an new initiative for Career and Technical Education Schools called Simulated Workplaces. According to the WVDE, the program “will transform traditional classrooms into simulated workplace environments that emulate the structure, processes and expecta-tions that students will face when they matriculate into the employment sec-tor.” Welding, Auto Collision, Early Childhood, and Work Skills Training programs all plan to participate in the initiative.

The objective of the program is to expose students to all aspects of industry in the CTE classroom. By placing business and industry directly into the classroom students experi-ence “real” workplace expectations

including professional behavior, attendance, drug testing, evaluation, profit/loss and many other aspects of successful businesses.

There are three key com-ponents to the Simulated Workplace initiative. The first level is the “Business and Industry Technical Team.” This team would be responsi-ble for helping the program achieve an authentic workplace environment representative of the business or

industry. They would rate the pro-gram each year and those meeting standard criteria will receive an endorsement from the team. Students graduating from an endorsed program would be granted an additional certifi-cation upon completion. Programs not granted certification would be given an improvement plan and reevaluated after improvements were made.

The second level is titled “State Structures/Protocols/Rubrics” and

deals with components of the program that must remain consistent through each of the CTE areas, at every insti-tution. Factors and requirements for this level include assigning a net worth value, the use of time clocks and a for-mal attendance point system, random drug testing, and quarterly and annual reports.

The final component of the Simulated Workplace is the “School/Programmatic Business Operations” which determines the name of the company, the hiring and interview process, work committees and employee evaluations.

The new program promises to create a more meaningful, authentic learning experience for Secondary students enrolled in Career and Technical pro-grams. For more information about the programs at RJTC, contact Ben Cummings.

Construction Nearing Completion The house built by the Carpentry class is nearing completion and will be ready for auction this spring. Currently students are painting and installing flooring. For information on the auction or details about the house contact Jeff James at the Center.

RJTC Students of the Months December

January

February

Lindsay Anthony (Left) was voted Secon-dary Student of the Month for December. Lindsay is completing her second year at RJTC. She is a student in the Career and Work Skills Training program with Instruc-tor Stacy Parsons. She works for RJTC as a Co-Op student. Lindsay is the daughter of Monica Lanham and John Anthony. Brenna Mahan was named Post Secondary Student of the Month. She is currently en-rolled in the Medical Office Technology pro-gram with Instructor Lea Ann Puckett. Brenna plans to work in the medical field upon completion of the program.

Secondary Student of the Month for January was Garrett Shamblin of Given, WV. Garrett is enrolled in the Auto Technology course with Instructor Doug Schutt. He plans to at-tend UTI and study Diesel Technology begin-ning in the fall of 2014. Garrett is the son of Dallas and Tammy Shamblin. The Post Secondary Student of the Month was Daniel Parsons. He is enrolled in the Practical Nursing program with Instructors Evie Harris, Vickie Langford, and Michele Ellis. Daniel plans to continue his education in the medical field after graduation. He is the son of Mi-chelle and Steve Koontz.

February Student of the Month in Secondary programs was Benji Willis. He is enrolled in the Criminal Justice class with Instructor Melissa Wilkinson. Benji plans to participate in a Cooperative Learning program next fall and work in the Law Enforcement field after graduation. He is the son of Jim and Jane Willis. The Post Secondary Student of the Month was Cheryl Scarberry. She is enrolled in the Medi-cal Office Program with Instructor Lea Ann Puckett. She plans to work in the medical field upon completion of her course work. Cheryl is married to Rodney, has two daughters and lives in Leroy.