VERMILLION TOWNSHIP — Heartland Tech has made room for the future.
Students can build a grill, design an advertisement or prepare a meal while gaining experience for their future careers.
Formerly known as the Ashland County West-Holmes Career Center, the Heartland Technical Education Center organized a grand reopening and open house Thursday so residents could see the renovated facilities.
Heartland Tech’s newly updated classrooms and learning spaces are designed to help students explore all possibilities and prepare for careers after graduation.
The $45 million project added about 26,000 square feet. Classrooms and programs were rearranged to give students more functional spaces.
The project is funded through a permanent improvement renewal levy, which initially passed in 2001.
More room to build and create
Welding and engineering areas added additional space making a practical difference.
Welding now has its own lab instead of sharing with other classes. Previously, students sometimes had to rearrange tables and work around each other to accommodate classroom space for projects.
Students have worked on building functional products like a trailer and a grill.
“They can do something they put their mind to, then we can actually use it if we want to,” said welding instructor Jon Keene.
The creative media program introduces students to photography, animation, illustration and graphic design. Students work with Adobe software and learn traditional drawing techniques and the process behind the development of an idea.
Tools provided in the classroom help students create advertisement designs, T-shirts and banner printing. There will also be an added photography studio and a new wide-format printer for the program’s print center.
Outside the classroom
The culinary arts program is one of the other areas Heartland Tech reaches students outside a textbook.
At Heartland Tech’s restaurant, The White Apron Restaurant, students can learn to prepare food and develop menus while learning service skills. The culinary space now sits in the front for easier access. The open house gave visitors a look around the student-run kitchen area, but the restaurant will open in January.
The renovations benefit students and the people who use the facilities. The early childhood education wing relocated to the south side of the building to help families enter in an area that’s separate from the school bus loop traffic.
In criminal justice, students practice procedures like handcuffing and pat-downs. The program also incorporates emergency communications training, helping students become familiar with situations they could encounter in the field. Criminal justice now sits in the southeast corner of the building where culinary once was.
The cybersecurity program takes a different approach to hands-on learning. Students study computer networks, cybersecurity and ethical hacking. Newer coursework explores artificial intelligence and physical security systems.
One training tool simulates a factory production line. The exercise connects computer security to real-world infrastructure to show how a digital threat can have physical consequences.
Investing in futures
Superintendent Rod Cheyney credited the community’s support for helping make the project possible. He said taxpayers and local partners play an important role in bringing improvements to the career center.
“This building would not be possible without the taxpayers in Ashland County, Holmes County (and) Richland County,” Cheyney said. “The list goes on and I can’t thank you enough because we wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for them.”
Heartland Tech prepares students for the careers that can’t be taught in a traditional school. The hands-on environment keeps them moving and already building resume experience.
See more photos from inside Heartland Technical Education Center:
