WCR/QAVTC Serves the following School Districts in Western Illinois: Adams County: Central CUSD#3, , Liberty CUSD#2, Payson CUSD #1, Unity CUSD#4, Quincy School District

172. Pike County: Griggsville-Perry Unit #4, Pikeland Unit #10, Pleasant Hill Unit #3, Western Unit #12. Hancock County: Southeastern Unit#337

TECH TIMES NEWSLETTER OF THE QUINCY AREA VOCATIONAL

TECHNICAL CENTER &

WEST CENTRAL REGIONAL EDUCATION FOR

EMPLOYMENT SYSTEM #240

During the spring semester Child Care 1 & 2

made a visit to Early Education Center to observe

inclusion classrooms, which gave students a bet-

ter understanding of working with children who

have special needs.

Preschoolers at the center had a Valentine’s Party

in February and enjoyed lessons on friends. In

March, preschool children participated in a pa-

jama day, with many activities around nighttime

and sleeping. Children are now working on their

lessons on spring and plants.

November 2011

Jacob Bangert-QHS

Business Program

nominated by Marti

Dunker

Kelsey Strothers-QHS

Graphic Arts Program

nominated by Bill

Twaddle

Child Care Program

Rotary Club of Quincy

QAVTC

Vocational Students of the Month

DIRECTOR

Mark E. Pfleiger 219 Baldwin Drive Quincy, IL 62301

217-224-3775 217-221-4800 Fax pfleigma@qps.org

December2011

Amanda Boyer-QHS

Engineering Design

Program nominated by

Steve McAnulty

Venancio Pedrao da

Silva-QHS Principals of

Engineering nominated

by Kaleb Smith

Volume 1, Issue 2

April, 2012

January 2012

Nathan DeJaynes

Central High School

Auto Body Program

nominated by Pat Thelen

Jordan Owens

Liberty High School

Auto Body Program

nominated by Pat Thelen

February 2012

Royal Bugh-QHS

Child Care Program

Nominated by

Cinda Hummel

Devon Wagner-QHS

Commercial Foods

Program Nominatedby

Signe Oakley

March 2012

Ashley Evans

QHS—Health Occupations Program

Nominated by Dana Trantor

PAGE 2 TECH TIMES

WCR/JWCC Sophomore Career Fair

The Sophomore Career Fair was held March 6th at John Wood Community Col-

lege. Approximately 1100 sophomores heard from community presenters on

some thirty-three different careers. The students seemed well engaged in the ses-

sions and received good information from the presenters.

The Construction Trades Expo was held April 20th at the John Wood Community

College Workforce Development Center. Approximately 300 9th graders partici-

pated, getting to hear from workers in ten different crafts of the building trades.

Students seemed to participate well in the sessions and received good information

from the presenters. Students from the Quincy Area Vocational Technical Center

Building Trades program served as ―Forepersons‖ and group leaders for the stu-

dents as they moved through the stations. Thanks to the crafts people from the

Building & Construction Trades labor organizations for providing the great oppor-

tunities for students to learn about building trades careers.

WCR/JWCC Construction Trades Expo

Can Out Event:

High School Students had until 8:05 am to block the teacher’s classroom door with canned goods and non per-

ishable items. The chapter had no idea how successful this activity would be, until the students arrived with bags

of canned goods and non perishable items and started stacking them up the front of the doors. Excitement rose as

the doors filled up and the Canned Out Signs were taped to the blocked out doors. 75% of the rooms where

Canned Out for the Day – What a SURPISE ! The teachers who were Canned Out provided supervision for the

activities: volleyball, basketball, ping pong, kill ball, kick ball, cards and board games provided by FCCLA in

the gym. FCCLA members along with students from the Family and Consumer Science Dept. marked the expi-

ration dates on the canned goods, sorted, boxed up the 1050 items that were donated to local Food Pantry. The

chapter is very appreciative of the support given to them by the

Liberty School’s Administrators, Staff and Students who made

the event a huge success.

RULES for the CAN OUT:

All Cans MUST be in place by 8:05 am

Once a door is filled to the tape mark on the door frame (12‖

from the top), cans are permanently stuck to that doors. Tape is

permitted.

Activities will be provided in the Gym for the classrooms that

was Canned Out. It will be posted on the door if it has been

Canned Out. Brenda Meyer, FCS Instructor

Page 3 TECH TIMES

Liberty FCCLA Chapter Canned Goods Collection

FIRST Robotics® Rumbles Q.A.V.T.C. Students By: Kaleb Smith

The students, and faculty, of the Quincy Area Vocational Center (Q.A.V.T.C.) have started their first years in

the FIRST Robotics® competition. Thanks to the ―Rookie Grant‖ provided by jcpenney®, the Q.A.V.T.C. was able to

start a program that should be very competitive, and sustainable, for years to come. The grant not only covered the reg-

istration cost for entering the competition, but it also provided the basic materials for building the robot.

The robot operates by wireless remote control using a pair of joysticks attached to a laptop computer. A 12-volt

battery powers seven different motors that control the wheels, drive train, power arm and other functions. Its primary

function will be to pick up the foam basketballs, feed them into its storage compartment, and then shoot the ball through

a device designed for power, and accuracy.

The robot, known as ―little devil‖, competed at the FIRST Robotics® 2012

Competition March 23-24 in St. Louis, along with several schools across

the Midwest. The competition was a 3-on-3 robot basketball tournament

that required teamwork, and showcased individual designs. The ―little

devil‖, was selected for the final elimination tournament, but was unfortu-

nately defeated by the eventual champions in the first round.

The students involved with this project have gained an immense

amount of knowledge and experience throughout the 5 week build period.

The real world applications of the project ranged from advertising, engi-

neering design, manufacturing, electronics, ballistics, material testing, and

several other facets of industry. Including all of these disciplines it took

an immense amount of collaboration throughout the Quincy school

district, and has grown the capabilities of the entire area.

Page 4 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2

Greetings from the faculty and staff at the West Central Regional System office and

Quincy Area Vo-Tech Center. The close of the school year is already upon us,

and I hope you all have had a great school year. It has been a great year for

QAVTC with our students participating in many exciting activities both in-class

as well as in student organization activities. You will read about a number of

these activities in this newsletter. We are very proud of the accomplishments of

our vo-tech students at QAVTC and in all of the CTE programs at our member

high schools. We look forward to seeing all of our CTE completers transition

from their CTE programs here at the AVC and CTE programs at each of our high

schools on into their lives after high school, whether it be to go directly into em-

ployment or continue their education and preparation for a career. We wish these

students the very best of success as they move on with their lives.

We have been working hard in the West Central Region office to coordinate funding resources to each of the

high schools for procurement of equipment and instructional materials to support career and technical educa-

tion programs at each high school. Although State funding was slow in coming, we have been able to proc-

ess requests through Perkins Federal funding. If you have any questions about where we are at with this

process for your school, please feel free to contact me at the WCR office.

We continue our dialogue with our partner John Wood Community College to identify opportunities to im-

prove transition from high school CTE programs to related certificate and associate of applied science de-

gree programs at the College. Our goal is to establish relationships for enhanced articulation of programs

and offer dual credit as an option where feasible. We will keep you informed as this work moves forward.

Recently, we have been working with a group of Quincy area employers and with the Great River Economic

Development Foundation (GREDF) on the opportunity for area high school seniors who meet eligibility re-

quirements to take the WorkKeys assessment titled ―Locating Information‖. This would provide these stu-

dents with the opportunity to earn the ACT National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRS). This Certificate

is a nationally recognized credential documenting career readiness based on applied academic skills. Many

employers (including some in the Quincy area) are using this credential as a screening tool for potential new

employees. Eligibility is defined as students who earned a five or higher on the two WorkKeys assessments

of Applied Math and Reading for Information taken during the Prairie State Achievement Exam taken dur-

ing their junior year. Eligible Quincy High School Seniors will be taking this assessment on April 26th.

Moreover, there are over 200 additional seniors in Adams-Pike County high schools who also meet eligibil-

ity criteria. We will continue to work with this NCRC initiative employer leadership group to seek resources

to make this opportunity available for all students in the region. We will be in touch with high school coun-

selors and administrators in the region to keep them informed on the progress of this initiative.

Finally, my sincere thanks to all of you for making my first year as Director of the West Central Regional

EFE System and QAVTC a great year. I have been impressed with what I have seen in the area schools in

terms of CTE programs, and I applaud you on all the great things you are doing for the high school students

in your career preparation programs. I look forward to continuing working with all of you to facilitate high

quality career and technical education programs in Western Illinois. Have a great Summer!

Director’s Desk

Mark Pfleiger, WCR/QAVTC Director

PAGE 5 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2

Congratulations to the HOSA members at State HOSA Leadership Conference. Sara

Gasko-Top ten in Job Seeking Skills, Jennifer Benavidez, Ashley Evans, Sara Gasko

& Abby Hibbert-Top ten in Creative Problem Solving and Alexis Huseman-Courtesy

Corps!! Great Job QAVTC HOSA!!

Quincy HOSA (with QAVTC and QHS) raised $200 for "Pennies for Patients" during Feb. 4-10. The

money will go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's School and Youth Program.

Five student members of Quincy HOSA and the advisor, Dana Trantor, attended the Illinois State HOSA

Leadership Conference during March 14-16, 2012. The Quincy members competed in ten events and Jenny

Benavidez was a candidate for the 2012-2013 Illinois HOSA President. More than six hundred HOSA

members from Illinois participated at the conference in Decatur.

The Quincy HOSA chapter will host a spring blood drive on Friday, May 4, 2012 in the west area of the

QHS gym. Appointments for donation time will be available in early April, 2012. Please call 224-3775 ext.

343 for more details. Give the Gift of Life!

News from Quincy H.O.S.A.

HAVE A GREAT SUMMER!!!

IMPORTANT DATES

May 9 Last STP Class

May 15-16-17 QHS Finals

May 18 Last Day

Aug 20, 2013 First day of fall classes at QAVTC

TBA First day of STP Classes

Have a Great

Summer!

We’re on the Web: qps.org/qavtc

Sophomores and Juniors interested in enrolling in QAVTC classes next school year are reminded to request these classes now or during their high school registration time coming up in the summer. If a student is unsure about whether or not a QAVTC class might be right for them, they can discuss this with their guid-ance counselor, or they may request a pass to come see Mr. Pfleiger in the QAVTC office to discuss QAVTC class options. Students should consider classes that are related to their career goals. The QAVTC staff can arrange for a student to visit a class or meet with an instructor to learn more about a class. QAVTC has fourteen program offerings in the Career Cluster Areas of Architecture/Construction, Business Manage-ment, Engineering and Technology, Health Science, Hospitality, Human Services, Visual Arts/Communications, and Transportation Technology. QAVTC career tech programs are designed to provide students with skills for both entry-level employment, as well as to continue on in a related college-level program of study.

ENROLLMENT FOR 2012-2013 VOCATIONAL CLASSES

The WCR/QAVTC mission is to provide career and technical education programs students can continue to build on to establish future career goals. Our goal is to meet the career and technology needs of all learners - high school and adults.

Thomas Eichelschulte Breakfast Optimist Club

Memorial Scholarship Recipients of $1500 each

Royal Bugh & Lacy Walden ————————————

Rotary Vocational Student of the Year Scholarship Re-

cipient of $2,000

Lacy Walden

TECH TIMES PAGE 6