November 2023 Update – All Counties

“They just get to talk about those results and have a conversation about all of the possibilities and I think the kids really, really enjoy that.”

Karrie Daniels, Valley Local School District

Assessments This School Year

Students take the Future Plans Career assessment which identifies their strengths, interests, personality, and work values, and then explore careers that are a fit for them. Each student meets one-on-one with a career coach to discuss their results and potential career paths, with the end goal of developing a career plan. Below is a list of schools in each county that have begun assessments or are planning assessments for the 2023-24 school year.

County	School
Adams	Manchester, North Adams, Peebles, and West Union
Athens	Alexander High School, Athens High School, Federal Hocking High School, Nelsonville High School, and Trimble High School
Clermont	Bethel-Tate Local, Felicity-Franklin Local, Goshen High School, and Grant Career Technical Center
Gallia	Gallipolis High School, River Valley High School, and South Gallia High School
Highland	Bright Local (Whiteoak Jr./Sr. HS), Greenfield Exempted Village, Hillsboro City
Hocking	Logan High School
Lawrence	Chesapeake Union Exempted Village, Fairland Local, South Point Local, and Symmes Valley Local
Meigs	Eastern High School, Meigs High School, Southern High School
Pike	Eastern Local, Pike Christian School, Waverly City, and Western Local
Ross	Adena Local, Chillicothe City, Huntington Local, and Zane Trace Local
Scioto	Clay Local, Green Local, Minford, New Boston Local (Glenwood HS), Northwest, New Boston Local (Glenwood HS), Portsmouth West, Sciotoville Community, and Valley Local
Vinton	Vinton County Local

Adams:

• We had a Manufacturing Tour for our Juniors across the district. Data from the Future Plans career assessment was used to identify students whose results aligned with manufacturing careers. We then partnered and toured three local manufacturers.
• Al Winters, Ohio Pipe Fitters, shared a presentation on unions and careers in the trades with West Union High School and Middle School students.
• Peebles High School took sophomores, juniors, and seniors for campus tour at Shawnee State University.
• We are working with OhioMeansJobs Adams – Brown Counties to introduce virtual reality (VR) headsets to our students (variety of grades) to explore potential career options and excite students about career futures.
• GRIT participated in the Foundation of Appalachian Ohio’s event in Logan County where two Adams County teachers were inducted into the Foundation.
• GRIT Participated along with local schools in the Science Alliance in Piketon. Adams County also had students who attended the Alliance, and GRIT provided name tags that recognized the top three careers for each student utilizing the students’ own data from their Future Plans assessment.
• GRIT assisted two Career & Technical Center Early Childhood Educators who shared their Summer Program experiences at the Building Bridges to Careers (BB2C) Summit held at Southern State Community College in Brown County.
• The Adams County Chamber of Commerce has initiated Operation Christmas Card. The Chamber, high school art classes (Peebles High, West Union, and North Adams), and GRIT, pulled together to create Christmas cards for the Chamber to send out to local business members.
• Other involvement includes, Adams County Connected Day, Ribbon cuttings for new businesses with the Adams County Chamber, Job Fairs (OMJ) and College Fairs (North Adams), as well as updating and presenting to the Ohio Valley School District Board.

Athens:

• OU planning on housing Innovation Hub in conjunction with the Ohio Department of Development for research, training, and development of the area workforce.
• Athens starts remodeling of the old Armory to become a shared office space in town.

Brown:

• BB2C hosted their Career Summit at Southern State Community College in Brown County. Ashlie Webster from the GRIT team and Amanda Hedrick from Shawnee State presented the Bear Tracks program.
• GRIT participated in the Brown County Fair’s “Escape to Your Future” event.
• GRIT Community Outreach Partner, Ashlie Webster, joined the Brown County Chamber Board.
• Sardinia Outreach Center Remote Workspace had a Grand Opening in the Village of Sardinia.

• GRIT participated in the Brown County Business Advisory Council meeting.

Clermont:

• GRIT attended the first Goshen Business Advisory Council meeting.

Gallia:

• The economic development department plans to develop a new industrial park to attract future manufacturing companies to the area.
• The City of Gallipolis invites all to come see their “Gallipolis In Lights” holiday light display in the park this holiday season.

Highland:

• GRIT participated in the Highland County Poverty Simulation hosted by the Southern Ohio Educational Service Center.
• GRIT attended the Highland County Manufacturing Summit hosted at Southern State Community College in Highland County.
• GRIT participated in the Parent University hosted by the Whiteoak High School and the Southern Ohio Educational Service Center.
• GRIT participated in the Highland County Business Advisory Council meeting.

Hocking:

• AVT Beckett Elevators Manufacturer set up shop in Hocking Counting Industrial Park,   
• Logan Chamber of Commerce began the renovation process with hopes of completion this summer.

Jackson:

• Interested in Career Exploration through Virtual Reality? Contact the Jackson County Ohio Means Jobs Center today to set up a demo at 740-688-4201.
• GRIT supporting SPARC in the Park. Joining Jackson County SPARC to work as a community to reduce and prevent addiction through education, support, and workforce development. 

• Collaborating with Jackson Correction Facility and OMJ in the GED program for inmates. The adult special populations workforce pilot continues to progress and grow, assisting those in recovery and/or incarceration to prepare for re-entry into the workforce. 
• Jackson High School will start career assessments in 2024. 
• Judge Mark T. Musick, who is a Municipal Court Judge, is collaborating with GRIT on ways to use the workforce as a diversion program. He has hundreds of participants on parole who could benefit from GRIT services.
• Total Media of Jackson Ohio will collaborate with GRIT 2024 on an internship program in marketing and radio. 
• Jackson Downtown Business Association brings a monthly sidewalk market to cultivate community through local artisans, musicians, and business owners. 

Lawrence:

• New Community Outreach Partner, Sarah Redoutey, joined the team in early October. She is enthusiastic about getting started in her position. She will be covering both Scioto and Lawrence Counties.
• GRIT was represented at the 1st Annual Wayne National Forest Trunk-or -Treat.

• Sarah Redoutey is reaching out to community partners and schools in Lawrence County to begin collaboration as she gets started. Email Sarah at sarahr@futureplans.org to schedule a conversation.

Meigs:

• Ohio Means Jobs is working with other agencies to assist outreach organizations in supporting their clients.
• The workforce development department is working to fill their industrial park with new manufacturers in the coming year.

Pike:

• GRIT holds quarterly meetings at Pike Career Technology Center bringing together the Pike CTC, local Chambers, businesses, OMJ, and schools to discuss and create opportunities for students in building the workforce. 
• GRIT team members were at the Science Alliance event in Piketon.

• GRIT is collaborating with the Pike CTC to utilize the programs the CTC has in place to create more options for students and create opportunities for those students in credit recovery, seniors without a plan, and those students who were unable to be accepted into their first-choice career technical program due to program capacity.
• Pike Outreach is coming along quickly, with residents using the free resources the facility has to offer. 

Ross:

• Collaborated with Ohio University – Ohio Chillicothe Majors Fair/Exploration Day (for prospective students). Participants explored majors, minors, and certificates offered at Ohio University Chillicothe and on the Athens campus. GRIT presented how to utilize the career assessment to support students in choosing college minors and majors that will best guide them toward pursuing a career in their appropriate field.
• Collaborating with Best Ohio, the manufacturing workforce nonprofit. Developing additional ways to connect the workforce to the manufacturing partners that Best Ohio supports.
• GRIT attended the welcoming of Lori Stewart Gonzales, Ohio University’s 23rd President, to campus on Tuesday, November 28.

Scioto:

• Guidance counselors from Scioto met virtually with the new Community Outreach Partner – Sarah Redoutey. Valley Local High School showcased its career readiness program. (See a clip here!)
• Planning is underway for the Jump Start Your Future program in partnership with the South Central Ohio Educational Service Center and will be held in Spring 2024.
• Planning is underway for the 2024 summer Bear Tracks program in partnership with Shawnee State University.

Vinton:

• Workforce collaboration is under way with Herbert Wescoat Library in career readiness. December’s 2nd program will provide much-needed job-readiness services to the community. Together, we are empowering participants for long-term employment success!​ A GRIT-themed Christmas is among those to be auctioned at the Dec. 2nd event. Proceeds from sales go to supporting youth in reading.​

• GRIT collaborates with the Business & Professional Woman Coalition which supports women in the workforce. 
• Vinton County High School supports local big businesses with an informational interview event. Local businesses include Austin Powder Co., Vinton County National Bank and others. 
• Vinton County High School will be participating in GRIT career assessments in 2024.  
• GRIT, OMJ, and Herbert Wescoat Memorial Library will be offering a workplace readiness program for 2024. 
• GRIT supports Vinton Works and creating healthy communities. Meetings focus on the needs of Vinton County residents and are held each month.  
• GRIT will be collaborating with OU in a business expo in early 2024.