Today was Vocational Day- many thanks to Steve S for coordinating, and to our Host businesses: Blackhawk Technical College, Janesville Performing Arts Center, Cedar Crest, TAGOS Leadership Academy, MercyHealth, and Hope Institute of Uganda. Some comments from today:

Janelle Sharp: I visited TAGOS Charter School in Janesville and had a wonderful experience learning about the different school options available in Janesville. Prior to this meeting I had a little background about the public and charter school offerings, but I did not know how very unique each Charter School actually was.
TAGOS is a project based learning environment, where Students are very independent and focus on the subjects that truly interest them, all while obtaining their normal high school credits. I really think schools like TAGOS help Janesville really stand apart from other districts as we can accommodate so many various student needs through one of our Charter schools, if public schools are not the best option.
I appreciate TAGOS leadership and Patty Hernandez for having us today, and an extra thank you to the Students that came to talk with our group as well.

Lisa Higgins: I visited TAGOS Leadership Academy and learned about how the program uses project based learning for the students’ educations. It was interesting to learn that it is one of 4 charter schools in Janesville and starts at 7^th grade. They are very passionate about setting the students up to succeed in college or moving into a career right out of high school. They focus on life skills and I think it is something that the public schools could implement. Thank you, Patty!

Gregg Dickinson:  Blackhawk tech gave a fantastic  presentation of it's facility in Milton. We toured the whole facility and they answered our questions. I had no idea how big or how many options were available for students that are interested in the trades.

Dave Warren: I’m sure glad I chose to visit Cedar Crest and just a little embarrassed to say it was my first time to see the campus.  The lunch was outstanding and the facility very nice too.  I didn’t want to leave.  In fact, I am already planning to submit a residency application!

Aaron Thomas: I visited the hope Hope Institute of Uganda jewelry store.  We got to learn of all the great works that they are providing people in Uganda and got a chance to see the awesome gifts and jewelry they have at the store.  Gideon was very informative and also had members of the board there to answer our questions.

John Wickhem: Had a great time and learned much about the history of JPAC. Was neat to go behind the scene and see how my old school has changed and is being utilized. Nathan's excitement was contagious and informational. Had a GREAT Time.

Harris Thatcher: Our visit to JPAC was very interesting as we were able to see all of the unused space (unused except for storage) and the potential for the future.  I did not realize there was that much space that is available under the lease JPAC has with the owners out of Madison.
Nathan is very upbeat and positive about the possibilities even though much of the equipment for putting on shows is outdated.  He gave an excellent history of the school and  JPAC.
 

Frank Scott: The BTC tour of the Milton facility was eye-opening. BTC is trying to help local business by training technical people to fill the needs of welders, CNC operators, HVAC technicians and many other  comparable positions. Their are bodies looking for work but those bodies don't have the skills needed by local industry. The new efforts in training people are a personal, flexible learning model where individuals learn and progress on an individual basis while balancing Family, work and learning time all happening from feedback from local industry.