News of EXCEL TECC • Excel Technical Education Career Consortium Serving School Districts: • Aurora • Beachwood • Chagrin Falls • Mayfield • Orange • Richmond Heights • Solon • South Euclid-Lyndhurst • West Geauga Vol. VIII No. 1 Fall 2007 Program Power ...continued on page 7 ...continued on page 6 Director’s Notes ExceLETTER VISUAL ART & DESIGN by Maureen Cavotta, Instructor We’ve had a great start in Visual Art & Design. The juniors were comfortable from the first day of school, since they had already met each other at our New Kid Day back in May. They are eager, talented, outgoing, friendly and thoughtful. After a month of hard work, we took a break and went to breakfast, which of course, is always a big hit. But then it was back to the drawing board, to fill the junior wall with art for the October 10th Open House. The seniors came back to school very eager to start per- sonalizing their portfolios by choosing their own project ideas. They are presently working on pieces ranging from illustrations of dreams, to self-portraits, to 3D characters. Art colleges that have come to Orange to begin recruiting Visual Art & Design students are: Milwaukee Institute of Art & De- sign, Maryland Institute College of Art (Baltimore), Columbus College of Art & Design, and Rhode Island School of Design (Providence). The senior Open House was on October 11th, when parents had their questions answered about applying to art colleges, scholarships, and received a list of what they can do to ensure that all deadlines are met. They also received a detailed stu- dent timeline for everything from the personal statement to portfolio NEW!! EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION @ Fairmount by Pat Payne, Instructor the early Childhood Class 1a is housed at Fairmount School in Beachwood and we are enjoying our new bright and beautiful home. At Fairmount the students are able to work in the Beachwood Pre- school classrooms every day. They have already practiced their storybook reading skills with the children as well as created and told flannel board stories. Some students have jumped into cooking activi- ties making pretzels with the preschool children. They are doing a wonderful job. Mrs. Cavor, the owner of Looney Tunes Day Care in Cleveland Heights visited the classroom and gave the students advice on how to CONGRATULATIONS! to Excel TECC Director, Eva Jo Mihnovets, who recently received the Award from the Ohio Association of Career Technical Educators in the Administration Division for the Directors that exhibit leadership roles as advocates for Career Technical Education. The award is given to individuals that have gone above and beyond to promote and support Career Technical Education. The reason that Mrs. Mihnovets was given this award was based on her position as President of the Career Tech Compact Directors for the State of Ohio, and her service as lobbyist for this association. She spent countless hours driving to Columbus to work with State Legislators on the Core Academic Legislation and the move of Adult Education from the State Department of Education to the Ohio Board of Regents. Career Technical Education is made better through the dedicated efforts of educators who work hard on behalf of students’ best interests. Excel TECC is proud of Mrs. Mihnovets’ contribution and recognition. ...continued on page 7 Senior Laurie Gallagher works on a self-portrait Fall 2007 • ExceLetter 2 MARKETING STUDENTS HOST REGIONAL GREEN SHOWCASE by Greg Perry, Instructor it is almost impossible not to hear about something “Green” everyday. As consumers, we are bombarded with messages about new products and services that are eco-friendly; but where did all of the “Green” buzz come from and what are people doing about it. The Marketing Program at Beachwood High School is tackling this issue by creating a GREEN CONSUMER SHOWCASE. The showcase will be held April 2008 in Beachwood. The showcase theme is: “The Green Dream…It Starts With One”. One person can make a huge difference to the environment – whether it is by driving one hybrid car, replacing one light bulb with a compact florescent light, or by buying one set of organic cotton sheets. The Green Consumer Showcase will empower each person to make eco-friendly changes. The showcase will have three main components – an exhibit area with local businesses and organizations, access to an informational guide and action plan, and green products available for sale. Also being highlighted at the Green Consumer Showcase will be what Mayfield Excel TECC, Beachwood City Schools, and our city is doing to be eco-friendly. Beachwood High School houses two Marketing Technology Programs under the instruction of Mr. Greg Perry and Mrs. Jean Getz. Mr. Perry’s Marketing class, in cooperation with Junior Achievement, has formed a company – RBM Marketing (Richmond Heights, Beach- wood, and Mayfield). RBM Marketing will host the Green Consumer Showcase and serve in the capacity as event planners and promoters. The students will also be creating and marketing green products as part of the Junior Achievement company. Mrs. Getz’s marketing class will be involved in the support activities of the showcase as well. If you or someone you know is involved in Green Business or Green Activities and would be interested in participating in the show- case, please contact Greg Perry at Beachwood High School – gwp@bw.beachwood.k12.oh.us or 216.831.2080 ext 236 WELCOME NEW STAFF exCel teCC WelComes the following new staff members in the 2007-08 school year: Joanna Davidson, Medi- cal Careers Technology Instructor, began at Excel TECC mid-way through last school year. She has a BA in Business Ad- ministration, a BSN in Nursing and is presently working on her Masters in Education. She has been a Registered Nurse for 22 years with experience in ICU, Telemetry, Medical/Surgical, Gastrointestional, Pediat- rics, Home Health Care and Maternity. She is presently employed by Cleveland Clinic/Hill- crest Hospital in the Maternity Department. Kortez Wilson, Culinary Arts Instructor, Juniors, is a graduate of the Pennsylva- nia Culinary Institute. He was the Executive Chef at Mustard Seed Market Cafe and spent seven years at Whole Foods as the Direc- tor of Catering. Mike Luzniak, Public Safety Services Acad- emy Instructor, holds Bachelor’s degrees in Criminal Justice and History, and certification in Secondary Education/Integrated Social Studies. He graduated with the top academic award from the Ohio State Highway Patrol Academy in 2005. At present, he is working on his Master’s Degree in Education Admin- istration. He is currently in his third year as a police officer. Denise Kluk, Attendance Secretary, comes to Excel TECC from the Richmond Heights school district where she was the At- tendance Secretary for the past seven years. She has an accounting degree and has owned her own business for 15 years. TECC NEWS AT BRUSH HIGH SCHOOL by Debbie Cegelka, Department Coordinator WelCome to Christy pestello and Kathleen Franz, the new Business Academy teachers. Both teachers are excited and looking forward to moving the Business Academy forward as we graduate our first block of seniors. The Brush Cosmetology department teachers and students are excited for the new year. Officers are being elected and fundraisers have begun to help support the class on a variety of activities throughout the year. Mr. Perry’s Marketing class at the Beachwood Cham- ber of Commerce Business to Business Showcase Excel TECC Mayfield Excel Technical Education Career Consortium 6116 Wilson Mills Road Mayfield Village • Ohio 44143 phone: 440.995.6750 fax: 440.995.6755 Eva Jo Mihnovets, Director Joe Rico, Dean of Students Joe Hayes, Guidance, Admissions Beth Udisky, Guidance ExceLETTER published 2x per school year Kay Vincent, Editor ExceLetter • Fall 2007 3 VIDEO BROADCASTING by Dave Strukel, Instructor this year is oFF to a great start. My Excel TECC Junior video class, with 15 students, is the second largest in the history of the program. As a whole, this class is energetic and goes after every project with a ton of enthusiasm. They just wrapped up Greetings and welcome to the new school year! This year is off to a fabulous start! My classes just finished producing their first com- mercials. Tyler Hadbavny, Dan Parker, James Psathas, Jamaal Simmons, and Alex Starinsky went to great lengths to make a 30 second spot for Birkenstock sandals. Also from the second period Excel TECC junior class, the team of Anna Addison, Nicole Flynn, and Biana Glozshteyn made Bubbli- cious gum, a product that makes you daydream. Look for all three commercials to be in this year’s film festival in May. Video Broadcasting seniors are busy at their internships. Shawn Diamond and Vidas Pliodzinskas are producing shows for Mayfield High School’s cable tv channel. Michael Schmitt is handling promo- tions and marketing for the Grog Shop. Myra Harrison is learning audio production for the Carpenter Music Group in Euclid. Anthony Lucci is like a regular employee at Viewpoint Media Group in New- bury. Stephanie Bricklebank hit the ground running, assisting the Aurora Chamber of Commerce doing public relations. THE TEACHING PROFESSIONS CLASS by Melanie Engbert, Mayfield High School the teaChing proFessions Class has elected the following Future Educators of America offi- cers: President: Brittany Griffin, Vice President: Karen Goudreau, Secretary: Melanie Engbert, Treasurer: Emily Flowers, Spirit Coordinators: Sean Blessings and Todd Gaskell. The students are currently placed in elementary schools and learning about the responsibilities, trials, and joys of an elemen- tary education professional. Their classrooms are located in Southview, Rowland, Adrian, Center, Millridge, Roxbury, Lander and Gates Mills schools. A benefit of the students work- ing in different schools is that many of them went back to help and learn from the teachers that they once had. The overall feeling of the class about their placements is excitement for a new and challenging experience. Every Tuesday and Thursday the students come to Ursuline College in Pepper Pike, Ohio. While on campus they work on learning and understanding the Praxis III. This is an assess- ment that every highly qualified teacher must be familiar with. The classroom is a computer lab; this, along with being on a college campus, gives each student a preview of what their col- lege years will be like. MAYFIELD COSMETOLOGY by Maryanne Hummell and Debby Kall, Instructors the mayField Cosmetology program has a full year of activities planned. The students began by putting together a display for the Fall Fest. We hope you had a chance to come out and see our work. The Cosmetology program will continue to provide our students the opportu- nity to receive educational training from the companies we work with. The Junior students have settled into their routine very nicely and appreciated the welcome lunch the Senior students put on for them. Thank you Seniors!!!! Our cus- tomer clinic is now open for business Tuesday through Friday from 12:10 to 3:00 p.m. If you need an appointment you can call us at 440- 995-6740. TOP: [L-R] Elexa Koblentz (Orange) and Biana Gloz- shteyn (Mayfield); BOTTOM: Antho- ny Lucci (Chagrin Falls) at Viewpoint Media Group TOP: Brittany Griffin in the first grade class at Sunview Elementary; BOTTOM: Sean Blessing in kindergarten class at Lander Elementary Fall 2007 • ExceLetter 4 CNE PROGRAM UPDATE by Steve Kaminsky, Instructor as i Write this artiCle, students have been back to school for 21 days. In that short time, CNE juniors have acquired at least 63 new skills! (I am keeping a list.) As our name implies, Computers, Networking, and Electronics juniors have already put together computer networks, written 3D video game programs, used digital multi-meters, and built electronics kits from scratch with soldering irons and tool kits. Seniors are beginning work on a major project. They will attempt something students have never done before in this program: design and create their own circuit boards. Based around this goal, students will work on the following project: Design a 4-player PC video game with a twist: each game control- ler will be a PC board with a wireless receiver and transmitter on it. These will communicate with a 5th PC board, which will, in turn com- municate--with wire--through the computer’s serial port, to a video game designed with Visual Basic and DirectX. Each of the controllers will have 4 button switches which will control forward, backward, left and right motion of their video game character. The game will either be a simple “tag” game, or a “Pac-man” style game. The 5th board will contain an embedded microcontroller IC to control all activity external to the computer. Students will make their own circuit boards, first using circuit drawing and PC board artwork software, then using photo-sensitive circuit boards and developer and etching fluids. Next, students will drill the holes in the boards for the components. Students will also write assembly language code for the microcontroller IC. This code will talk to each wireless controller and acquire player movement direction from each one. It will then send this information to the com- puter through the serial port, to the video game program. Students will create a 3D video game that will use the information from the serial port to move the players in the game. This year will also mark the introduction of new robotics equip- ment and curriculum to the CNE program. Also, we are planning a collaborative project between the IM program (Interactive Media) and CNE to make a 3D video game, using their 3D and graphical arts skills and our game programming skills. More information on these developments will appear in the next newsletter. IT ACADEMY by Donna Fronck, Instructor the it aCademy at exCel teCC welcomed 62 juniors and 41 returning seniors in August. Students this year represent all nine consor- tium schools including Aurora, Beachwood, Brush, Chagrin Falls, Mayfield, Orange, Richmond Heights, Solon and West Geauga. The focus for the first three weeks of class for IT Related 1 has been Professionalism and Teamwork. Learning focuses on roles of vari- ous team members, building consensus and achieving synergy among the groups. Juniors in CAD,CNE, IM and ITP attended YMCA Leadership camp at the end of September. We are implementing a new web-based applica- tion and training for Microsoft Office, Win- dows XP and the Internet in October. Seniors in IT Related 2 began the year by writing Personal Vision Statements which are tools to assist students in determining their identities and setting goals for their futures. Instruction in Project Management and Prob- lem based leaning projects will be continuing themes throughout this year. To develop their public speaking and leadership skills seniors in CAD and ITP will participate in the Youth Leadership Program facilitated by Toastmas- ters of America and Mr. John Elzroth and Mrs. Fronck. cal records, radiology, ultrasound, cardiac stress testing and hematol- ogy lab. Each year Medical Careers’ experience at Richmond Heights Hospital is tailored to the students’ area of interest. Medical Careers is taught by a Registered Nurse who is still em- ployed in the health care field. The first semester consists of lectures, group discussion, projects and skilled lab to prepare the students to be successful during their second semester at Richmond Heights Hospital. Students study Human Growth and Development, Human Anatomy and how disease affects the human body, as well as learn- ing hands-on skills in the high school lab that teach the students the correct care of the sick patient. Medical Careers teaches a ‘holistic’ approach to caring for to- day’s patient. This approach means that the student learns to assess the patient physically, emotionally and mentally. In today’s health care setting we are seeing sicker patients with challenging diagnoses. Medical Careers introduces the student to critical thinking when MEDICAL CAREERS....(continued from back page) caring for these patients. It’s essential that today’s patients receive care that addresses all of their needs, not just the physical. In learning the holistic approach to patient care, students learn to be non-judgmental and em- pathetic in providing care. Health care tends to be a ‘bonding’ profession where health care workers look after each other. The students of Medical Careers become a family and bond together because they are experiencing real life events at the hospital that they can only truly share with one another. The employees at Richmond Heights Hospital welcome the students with open arms and look forward to sharing their professional occupation and time with the students. ExceLetter • Fall 2007 5 HORTICULTURE NEWS… by Rebecca Gardner, Department Chair TAKING THE SHOW INTO THE COMMUNITY… the hortiCulture program is going through many changes this year due to the upcoming renovations at the Gates Mills site. Four of the five programs have been relocated throughout the area. Mr. Tuhela’s students are housed at Richmond Heights High and work closely with the grounds crew. Mrs. Judson and Mr. McCracken are now located at Alpha Park while Ms. Gardner’s class has been traveling to Tri-C-East- ern Campus to obtain their horticulture experience. Classes have done off-site learning at Highland Floral, the Learning Garden in Cleveland, Mayfield Union Cemetery and Mayfield Village Historical House. Pro- gram assistants Dianne Yerick and Dave Husat are the busiest. They not only have to help all five classes, but also have to drive to several differ- ent locations throughout the day. Many lunches are eaten in the car or walking to the next location. NATIONAL COMPETITION… Congratulations Winners!! On Friday, October 5th, seven students traveled to Fort Wayne, Indiana for the National Junior Horticul- ture Association convention and national competition. Michelle Weisman (Beachwood), Nick Wolf (Brush), and John Mascaro (Chagrin Falls) all placed in the Top 5 indi- viduals at the state contest this past summer. Joining the trio were: Kayla Mahone (Richmond Heights), Bran- don Hoover (Solon), Constantine Boltyansky (Mayfield), and Anthony Pivonka (Brush). The contest con- sisted of vegetable, flower, fruit, and woody ornamental identification, written test of general horticulture information, and judging plant quality. Students also toured many area points of interest including: a pickle factory, a wetland project, and a World War II museum. Students met once a week throughout the summer to prepare for this contest. CONGRATULATIONS to the students on their accomplishments as they walked away national winners: 3rd PLACE Open Division – team of Michelle Weissman, Nick Wolf, John Mascaro and Brandon Hoover 4th PLACE FFA Division – team of Anthony Pivonka, Kayla Mahone, Constantine Boltyansky FAMILY FALL FEST… Saturday October 13th the soccer field at Mayfield High School was turned into a fall wonderland. Among all the decorations made by the students at the Horticulture center, hundreds of elementary students and their families enjoyed old-fashion games such as bobbing for apples, sack races, bean bag toss, and pumpkin painting! New this year was ‘Touch a Truck’. Children had the chance to climb up in a fire truck, police car, and ambulance provided by Mayfield Village and other local service departments. Thanks to the many vendors who came to sell their wares. The bouncy house is always a favorite and this year was no exception. We are looking forward to having the Fall Fest in our newly renovated building next October! CLEVELAND BOTANICAL GARDEN by Kim Haydu & Sam McCracken, Instructors Cleveland botaniCal garden Class is in full force this year. The students are preparing the gardens for fall and have been getting to know all the plant material on the grounds. The students learn by working at the main site Cleveland Botanical Garden, the three- acre organic Learning Garden at E. 66th and Chester, and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. This year at the Learning Garden both the CBG program and Gates Mills CBI class are working together on improving an area that has not been used in years. This area is infested with field bindweed, a perennial weed that spreads from an extensive rootstock. The students are cleaning the area thor- oughly by removing all the roots and making raised beds. Next growing season that area will consist of garlic, tomatoes, herbs, and peppers. Each student will start the seeds, plant the seed- lings, and then help harvest in the fall. The plants in the raised bed will be used to make Ripe from Downtown® Salsa for the Green Corps summer program. EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION @ Alpha Park by Ober Tanigawa, Instructor Junior Class oFFiCers: FCCLA (Family, Careers, and Community Leaders of America) President: Diamond Cornelison (Solon) Vice President: Candace Cook (Mayfield) Secretary: Chelsey Resweber (Mayfield) Treasurer: Shawn Kahan (Solon) Historians: Therea Gardner (Brush), Megan Puskar (Mayfield), & Alex Conti (Mayfield) TOP: State award; CENTER: CBG & CBI classes - [L-R] Mr. Mc- Cracken, Aaron Seawright, Tom Goetz in foreground; Eddie Jerome, Giovanni Palmer-Finley in back- ground; BOTTOM: CBG & CBI classes [L-R] Tom Goetz, Aaron Seawrigh, Cheyanne Bailey, Em- ily Hotchkiss, Cameron Bounds 6 Fall 2007 • ExceLetter VISUAL ARTS....(continued from pg 1) submission. From now to March 1st is a very busy, stressful, yet exciting time for seniors. By mid-March, the scholarship award letters are sent, and the class of ’08 has a good chance of beating the all-time high scholar- ship year, 2003, which was $648,000. MARKETING: New Online Store to Open by Caitlin Wajahn, West Geauga High School & Dana Schulman, Beachwood High School, Public Relations mrs. getz’s beaChWood marKeting teChnol- ogy Class has kicked off to a great start. The high school class is a mixture of students from the Chagrin Valley Conference includ- ing Beachwood, Aurora, Chagrin Falls, and West Geauga. The students are in the process of creating a marketing plan for the class company. The company is totally operated by the students from the management position of president to the sales department. The company’s focus this year is to start an on-line store. The on- line store is the first of its kind to be managed entirely by the students. Customers will have an opportunity to purchase a wide variety of products on-line. Look for a list of merchan- dise that will be sold in the next ExceLETTER edition. The Beachwood Marketing Technology class has chosen officers to represent their company and DECA organization. The Presi- dent is Lee Axelband from Beachwood high school and Vice-President is Jane Frires from West Geauga high school. The class will also participate in the DECA competitions where they will be competing in areas of business and marketing against students from Ohio with an opportunity to advance nationally. In addition, the class will be volunteering in various activities throughout the school year, such as the charity event for Muscular Dys- trophy Association Bowl-A-Thon. Currently, Mrs. Getz’s class company and Mr. Perry’s class company are selling Cheese- cake Factory cheesecake for the Thanksgiving Holiday. The income generated from the sales will provide support for future activities of the class companies. HOSPITALITY & FOOD SERVICE CAREERS I by Donna Diamond, Instructor hospitality & Food serviCe Careers i is off to a great start. We have a new partnership with The Embassy Suites Hotel in Beachwood. The students began their mentorships on September 19, 2007 and we are already beginning our second rotation. During our “New Hire” orientation, we were introduced to many practices, policies and procedures that are part of Embassy Suites. Embassy Suites has wel- comed us into many departments. The students are working at the Front Desk, Reservations, Bell Person, Housekeeping, Breakfast Buffet Preparation and Serving, Catering/ Banquets, Sales, The Banquet Kitchen and the Kitchen at CJ’s Restaurant. The mentors are working side by side with the students while sharing their knowl- edge of the industry. Our mentors are fabulous professionals. Embassy Suites is very supportive of Technical Educa- tion and we encourage your support of this community partnership. HOSPITALITY & FOOD SERVICE CAREERS II by Donna Diamond, Instructor hospitality & Food serviCe Careers ii is off to great start. Giant Eagle has chosen to continue the employment of two Senior students. Other establishments that are employing our students are: Heinen’s in Orange Village, Red Robin Restaurant in Beachwood, Lago Restaurant in Cleveland, Chester Diner in Chesterland, Zagara’s Marketplace in Richmond Heights, Lopez res- taurant in Shaker Heights, Station 43 in Solon. The mentors are work- ing side by side with the students while sharing their knowledge of the industry. Our mentors are fabulous professionals. All of these establish- ments are very supportive of Technical Education and we encourage your support of these community partnerships. TOP: Johnny Brunton (Brush); CENTER: Daniel Pinkett (Chagrin Falls); BOTTOM: Cameron Hubbard (Shaker) Artwork by junior Anna Gulyavskaya Medical Careers by Julia Gasper, Mayfield “Medical Careers, to me, is about opportunity, learning and experiencing with a career I am interested in pursuing. Medical Careers is all about taking care of a patient, and being that pa- tient’s healthcare advocate. I am looking forward to going to the hospital, which will allow me experience with patients and the hospital itself. Medical Careers gives you opportunity and will help a person’s interest in the medical field. When thinking about the importance of Medical Careers, you understand the hands-on learning experience you’ll go through in order to pursue a medical career in the future.” ExceLetter • Fall 2007 7 ECE @ Fairmount...(continued from pg 1) SKILLS USA NATIONAL CONFERENCE 2007 June 24-30, Kansas City, Missouri The students participating in the Skills USA National Championships come from all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and well as The Dis- trict of Columbia. They are all regional or state champions and represent the top 1% of nearly 600,000 career-technical students throughout the U.S.A. Excel TECC Chapter Team Results Alex Flagg, Mayfield High School, ITP 2; RELATED TECHNICAL MATHEMATICS CONTEST: 16th PLACE Tremaine Gissentaner, Richmond Heights High School, CADD 1; JOB INTERVIEW CONTEST: 9th PLACE ITP 1 TECH PREP TEAM: SILVER MEDALISTS Byron Brown, Brush High School Roland Cross III, Brush High School Lamar Hinchen, Solon High School * Walter Moore, Solon High School (non- presenting team member) present oneself and interview for an early care position. She also shared insights on the day to day workings of a child care center. Mrs. Cavor is Jamilya Doss’s mother. The students learned a good deal from her visit. Mr. David Reiser is the English teacher for Early Childhood students. He is planning to incorporate children’s literature into the curric- ulum and Ms. Jennifer Schwes- lik, the Beachwood High School librarian, will visit the students on a regular basis helping to in- troduce the students to various concepts in literature. Upcoming activities include a field trip to Winderemere Head Start in East Cleveland. Also the students will soon be taking their six hour Communi- cable Disease Training. ITP BUILDS SKILLS by Ron Suchy, Instructor Junior ITP and CADD Students Build Bridges to Teamwork reCently, the Junior itp and Cadd classes collaborated during an extended session of the IT Academy Related class facilitated by Mrs. Fronck to form teams and build bridges. The materials were news- paper and a small amount of masking tape; the time limit was 30 minutes; and the criteria were it had to support eight pounds and have enough clearance for a round Nerf ball to travel under it unob- structed. The project required the individuals comprising each respec- tive team to collaborate; sharing ideas and planning their solutions together. This is the third year for this project and for the first time ever there was a 100 percent success rate. Every team completed the project, met the criteria and built a successful bridge. Every student most importantly recognized that it was the team effort that produced the successful result. Tech Prep Team Building and Leadership Program On September 26th, the Junior ITP class along with the Junior Medi- cal Technologies class of Dr. Hale traveled to the Lake County YMCA Outdoor Family Center in Perry Township to participate in a team- work and leadership program sponsored by Ohio College Tech Prep of Lakeland Community College. The two classes were mixed togeth- er and divided into three teams; then led to the low-ropes course. The environment, deep in the woods of Lake County, is far removed from the typical lab environments our students are accustomed to; and be- ing this unfamiliar environment, participating in activities totally new and unique to them stressed the absolute need for them to effectively communicate and work together to come up with solutions to the var- ious challenges they experienced. Several key objectives were accom- plished based on our post activity debriefing. 1) The students realized the need for teamwork, communication and the need for members of the group to assert themselves in a leadership role. 2) Problem solv- ing skills, based in logic, are applicable in any environment, whether the virtual world of the computer, the clinical world of medicine, or the outdoors world of rural Lake County. 3) Everyone is important and has valuable experience to offer when problem solving--therefore everyone on a team must be respected and listened to equally. This was the ninth consecutive year the Junior Tech Prep Programs of Excel TECC have participated in this event, but by far with regard to our experience this year with the combined ITP and Med Tech classes; this was likely the most exciting, dynamic, and successful experience we’ve ever had. Thank you to all our parents and home schools for permitting our junior students to participate; it was very worthwhile. Early Childhood Education class on the Fairmount playground Excel TECC TECHNICAL EDUCATION CAREER CONSORTIUM TECC Office: 6116 Wilson Mills Road • Mayfield OH 44143 DISTRICT Office: 1101 SOM Center Road • Mayfield Heights OH 44124 INSIDE... Front-VISUAL ART/ ECE 2 -MARKETING/ BRUSH/STAFF 3 -TEACH PRO- FESSIONS/ VIDEO/COS 4 -CNE/ IT ACADEMY 5 -HORT/ECE 6 -MARKETING/ HOSPITALITY 7 -ITP Back-MED CAREERS GO TO: http://www.mayfieldschools.org >ExcelTECC for news, program information & calendar of events Beachwood Bistro @ Beachwood High School 25100 Fairmount Blvd. 216-831-2080 Reservations suggested OPEN TO THE PUBLIC MEDICAL CAREERS AT MAYFIELD HIGH SCHOOL by Joanna Davidson, Instructor What is Medical Careers All About? by Brittney Tanner, West Geauga “Medical Careers is a fantastic advantage to help students do better in college. This program teaches you a variety of different things from washing your hands to physical assessment. Being a senior in high school and having an opportunity to learn everything we will be learning this year is a miracle. I’m very ex- cited to go to Richmond Heights Hospital. This is going to help us out later in college and after college. I feel this pro- gram is going to keep us a step ahead of everyone else going to school in the medical field.” mediCal Careers is a senior Excel TECC program that prepares and develops attitudes, practices and technical skills to obtain employ- ment in a variety of health care occupations. The students recieve hands-on experience to assist physicians and nurses to do direct patient care, conduct basic laboratory tests, and perform patient as- sessments. The students participate in clinical rotations at Richmond Heights/University Hospital during their second semester. They observe and obtain experience in at least eleven medical occupa- tional areas at the hospital: cardiac catheter lab, surgery, physical therapy, occupational therapy, nursing, material management, medi- ...continued on page 4 State & National Awards for TECC!! See: Front page - EvaJo Mihnovets Page 5 - Horticulture Page 7 - Skills USA: CADD & ITP