April 4, 2018 at 5:30 p.m.
Hauser to offer landscape class with Ivy Tech
The Flat Rock-Hawcreek School Corp. Board approved the program during a Tuesday meeting in which Superintendent Shawn Price hailed the state-funded partnership as a winning formula for all parties involved.
Eight boys and one girl will get to attend Ivy Tech's Level 1 and 2 Landscape Management classes in consecutive semesters for free because of a grant that saves them $360 in tuition, Price said. He said Hauser will release the students early from high school twice a week, starting Thursday, so they can drive themselves to the Columbus campus.
All the students have taken the classes necessary at Hauser to qualify them for the collect program. If for any reason they fail to complete the courses or receive a failing grade, they would have to pay the full tuition.
"We're setting them up for success," said Aleesa Dickerson, director of Hauser's agricultural curriculum. "Three-hundred sixty dollars is a lot of money for a student. They sign up for this because they're serious."
Dickerson said the partnership evolved from an Indiana Department of Education realization that the state needs a more qualified workforce for certain high-demand, high-paying jobs. Knowing she had no room in her schedule to bring such courses to Hauser, she began talking with Matt John, chairman of agricultural programs at Ivy Tech.
Together they formed the partnership.
"These students will get a better experience than what we could offer here, and they get to go for free," Dickerson said. "Even if they don't go into this as a career, these are life skills that will help them."
Price said Ivy Tech has expressed a willingness to expand the program if it proves successful.
Landscape Management at Ivy Tech teaches students about:
- The many career opportunities in the diverse field of landscape management.
- The procedures used in the planning and design of a landscape using current technology practices.
- Principles and procedures involved with landscape construction.
- Determining maintenance schedules, communications and management skills necessary in landscaping operations.
- The care and use of equipment utilized by landscapers.
Upon completion of the Level 1 and Level 2 courses, students will have the opportunity to become Indiana Landscape Industry Certified. Dickerson said that would qualify them immediately for well-paying jobs.
In other business, the school board officially placed on the school corporation's payroll three aides who have been helping teachers with kindergarten and first-grade classes since the beginning of the school year.
Price said filling the positions helps the district claw back from a painful decision a few years ago to cut most of their aides. That decision was precipitated by state funding reductions that affected other schools statewide.
The school corporation has enough money now to bring in aides for the kindergarten and first-grade classes, which Price said have the greatest need. Two of the aides assist in kindergarten classes with 24 and 23 students a piece, Price said. The other one assists in a first-grade class with between 26 and 27 students.[[In-content Ad]]
