Looking back on 2017 for Area 30

Looking back at 2017, the Area 30 Career Center had a good year, full of victories and a few milestones.

Perhaps the most exciting was the Area 30 Culinary Arts Team becoming the new state champion in the Indiana ProStart/FCCLA Culinary and Management competition in March.

The team bested 27 others from 15 schools to win the honor. The team consists of Caleb Basore, Tyler Smith, Jonas Ray, Mikayla Campbell (Greencastle High School) and Zach York (South Putnam High School).

Also exciting, the inaugural Computer Science Summer Camp, which took place in July, enrolled 16 students between the ages of 13 and 17 from each of the five Putnam County school corporations.

Two students each from Cloverdale and Eminence high schools, three from South Putnam and four each from Greencastle and North Putnam high schools attended.

Students learned about the history of computing, transistors, graphical programming and creating videogames, and at the end of the course created an LED matrix marquee sign using a small computer called Raspberry Pi.

The camp was made possible by a grant from the Indiana Department of Education.

“I would say that the 2017 year was great,” Director Lora Busch commented. “We are proud of all the 2017 grads and their many accomplishments.

“We look forward to continuing our partnership with Vincennes Early College, Project Excel and Ivy Tech. We are also appreciative of the community, business and industry partners we have, which provide students with high-quality work-based learning experiences. Our sending schools work hard every day to provide all students with excellent opportunities in Putnam and Morgan counties.

“We look forward to a great second semester as we prepare to send off the 2018 grads.”

Other major events were:

-- CTE Awards: Indiana Career and Technical Education (CTE) Awards for Excellence: NPHS welding student Grace Willer and the Area 30 Law Enforcement program in January.

-- CTRE Grant: In Decemeber Area 30 received $100,000 from the Career and Technical Rural Education Grant for the fourth consecutive year. The funds were used to purchase Caterpillar excavator and front-end loader simulators, partly to encourage female students to participate.

-- HOSA: In April, five of the 23 students sent to the state HOSA competition returned with a place in the top 10 of their category: medical reading, pathophysiology, transcultural healthcare, prepared speaking, and EMT. Area 30 had sent 23 students to state the previous year, where they placed first in medical reading.

-- Putnamville Correctional Facility: Through a program at the facility, the Putnamville Correctional Facility donated 24 bikes to be shared among the five schools in March.

-- Robotics Club: With two more competitions to go, the Area 30 Robotics Club so far has taken third twice in robot hockey and second once in autonomous maze.

This is the team’s sixth year of competition, and last year took second and third overall. This year’s team consists of: Dustin Zeh (Eminence High School); Jakob Canellas (Cloverdale High School); Robbie Froderman (Greencastle High School); Lainey Willis, Kaleb Warner and Marcus Burdine (North Putnam High School).

The next competition will be April 2018.

-- Skills USA: In February, 19 of the 32 students sent to the regional Skills USA competition qualified for state. Area 30 students took first in auto refinishing, auto collision repair, marine technology, architectural drafting and information technology services.

At the state competition in April, Area 30 students placed first in computer systems networking quiz bowl. Area 30 had sent 11 students to state the previous year, where they placed first in computer systems networking quiz bowl and mobile robotics.

-- Super Mileage: The Area 30 Super Mileage team placed fourth in the Engineering/Technology Educators of Indiana Super Mileage Challenge in April with 50 laps at 102 miles per gallon. The challenge took place at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.