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Mount Vernon presentation highlights career pathways, credentials and local apprenticeship hiring
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Summary
District educator Chris Keaton told the board the district is expanding career and workforce-ready options — including OTC Plus/KTC partnerships, one‑year senior programs and industry credentials — and said several recent graduates secured local apprenticeships through employer partnerships.
Chris Keaton, a district educator who has worked in education for more than 30 years, told the Mount Vernon City Schools Board that the district has expanded career and workforce‑readiness programs tied to the CCWMR measure, which “says that everybody who walks across the stage has equal value and a measure.” She said the district’s approach emphasizes employment, enlistment, enrollment and entrepreneurship as pathways and that students can earn state‑governed, industry‑recognized credentials that enable immediate hiring.
Keaton outlined partnerships with Knox Technical Center (KTC) and Columbus State initiatives (OTC Plus and MEP). She described one‑year, senior‑only programs offering credentials in public safety, EMT basic, phlebotomy and certified nursing assistant training, and said the district will start a medical assistant program next year that includes phlebotomy instruction. “If you complete all four of these, you will actually get three 12‑point credentials,” she said, adding that KTC’s tuition typically includes state testing and that state CTE funding covers substantial costs; she noted that students who fail required state tests may be responsible for retest fees.
Keaton described Team 12, a senior‑cohort model that preserves English and math coursework while allowing students to take career‑technical classes in the afternoon, and noted scheduling adjustments that let students be on campus for periods 1–4 and then attend KTC from roughly 11:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. She also highlighted virtual‑reality modules and employer tours: students visited about 13 local manufacturers and three community colleges, and Keaton said companies conducted interviews for participating students.
On immediate job outcomes, Keaton said several recent graduates finished pre‑apprenticeship electrical training and were hired by a regional apprenticeship program. She named two students and described a foreman’s positive report: district students were being hired quickly into Newark Electrical’s apprenticeship pipeline. Keaton called the partnerships “an incredible initiative from the state” and said the district is working to grow entrepreneurship supports, which she called the program’s current weakness.
Board members praised the effort and asked practical questions about testing and costs, scheduling and parent engagement; Keaton said the district plans outreach such as CCP nights and hopes to expand parent information sessions after building a year of internal experience with the new programs. The presentation closed with a request to continue coordination with area partners and to publicize successful student outcomes.
Keaton’s presentation was followed by routine board business including fiscal and personnel items and did not include any formal board action specific to the career‑pathway items.
