Masking Update

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Parents & Students: Update on Masking.

You should have received a text message Friday, Sept. 3, 2021. If you did not, please read this important update. Keeping our students and staff safe and at school is our priority. Thank you, Superintendent Charles Speelman. 9.3.2021

Please read the letter for details. 

September Lunch Menu

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Tri-Rivers’ Food Service strives to provide healthy meals.

A healthy diet is essential for good health and nutrition. It protects you against many chronic noncommunicable diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Eating a variety of foods and consuming less salt, sugars and saturated and industrially-produced trans-fats, are essential for healthy diet.

September 2021 -Meal Menu—printable pdf

 

Free Meals for Students in 2021-2022 School Year
The Ohio Department of Education received approval to offer free breakfast and free lunch to all students attending schools on the national school lunch program through the entire 2021-2022 school year. This opportunity continues the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Ohio Department of Education’s dedication to meeting the needs of the whole child during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Happy retirement, Obra Horn!

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Happy Retirement, Mr. Horn! We thank you for 40 years of dedication to Tri-Rivers,
your students, the staff and the community. We will miss you!

Hobbies
● My son, Kyle, and my grandson, Karson, drag race. My granddaughters Taylor and Lily are drag racing with us this year.
● Flipping Houses
● I love to do tournament bass fishing.

Family
● Elaine-wife taught math and the computer lab here at TRCC, Jeni Reely (Ed) daughter, Kyle (Meagan) son, Edward, Austin and Taylor Reely; Karson and Lily Horn grandchildren
● Jeni and Kyle attended TRCC Pre-school
● Edward attended TRCC’s RAMTEC program
● Austin will be attending TRCC next year in the RAMTEC program

Retirement Plans
I will be doing whatever I want to do each day. Spend time with my grandchildren, watching them do sports like football, baseball, t-ball, and gymnastics. Enjoy my lake house in South Carolina. I will also keep in touch with my former students and colleagues.

Words of Wisdom to colleagues
Ensure that as instructors and academic teachers appreciate your students, none of us have a job without them. We are a team when recruiting students because without students; there is no TRCC.

Favorite Quotes
● Give a student a fish, and you feed them for a day. Teach a student to weld, and you feed that student for a lifetime.
● Earl Pitts says, “Everyone of us is the best in the world at something you just have to figure out what that something is.”

Awards
• Ohio State University Award for Excellence in Workforce Development

Educational/Job Background
● Attended Harding High School, Instructors: Junior Instructor Franklin Dyer and Senior Instructor Herman Myers
● Attended Harding’s Vocational Welding Program
● Career Technical Instructor Training, the University of Toledo Ohio with Paul Hubaker
● AWS Certifications

Career Highlights
● Mentoring our current welding instructors, Levi Retterer and Dakota Elswick
● Watching many of my students buy a home for their family
● Having welding family members return to the lab to give back to the younger students
● I stress giving back to the trade to all of my students.

Message to your Tri-Rivers Friends
Remember, our students are the best parents have to send us. They are all five-star recruits, so treat them with kindness and help them find their something. Best wishes always, and thank you for helping me enjoy the last 40 years at TRCC.

Doug Shawver—Tri-Rivers Outstanding Alumni 2020-2021

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Doug Shawver graduated from Tri-Rivers’ Building Trades program in 1990. He is now a general Carpenter Foreman with the George J Igel Company in Columbus.

While working for George Igel, he received the 2011 BX Craftsmanship Award for the cast-in-place concrete stairs added to the north and south sides of Cunz Hall at The Ohio State University. He has also earned countless training certificates during his career.

He is also president of the Board of Public Affairs in LaRue and volunteer on many projects in and around LaRue.

Doug is so talented and a true Tri-Rivers’ success story. He comes highly recommended! His skill is respected and sought after in his field.

He is also a great supporter of Tri-Rivers in general and has been a supporter of the Construction Trades Academy since the beginning.

Doug always says that Tri-Rivers changed his life forever in a good positive way.  He said, “If it wasn’t for Tri-Rivers, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”

Gwyn (Trihaft) McKinniss—Outstanding Alumni 2020-2021

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Gwyn Trihaft McKinniss, who graduated in 1979, is so deserving of a Tri-Rivers Outstanding Alumni Award.

She has been a legal secretary for 30 years performing all aspects of Law Office Administration, including bookkeeping, accounting, document preparation, tax preparation, case management, client consultation and confidentiality.

She has been the Administrative Assistant for Marion County Family Court for four years and the Fiscal Officer since 2013.

Gwyn manages a budget which exceeds $3 million dollars for a multi-jurisdiction court, including a juvenile detention center. She is responsible for supervising all payroll, withholding, expenditure and benefits management for employees including maintenance of confidential personnel files.

She supervises fiscal employees and conducts evaluations and coordinates all aspects of court finances with county departments, including the Marion County Commissioners, Auditor and Treasurer. She also oversees court income and expenditures and manages grant, reclaim and general funds for court activities.

We thank Judge Fragale for nominating Gwen. She is amazing! We are so proud of her success!

 

Pictured above with Judge Fragale and Tammi Cowell.

Happy Retirement, Laurie Wise!

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Thank you Laurie Wise for your 19 years of dedication and professionalism. Your friends at Tri-Rivers wish you the very best in your retirement. Happy adventures!

 

Laurie’s Work Background (jobs, career highlights, etc.)
I worked as an R.N. for several years during the 1980’s at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Lorain, Ohio. I worked in the ICU/CCU stepdown unit and really enjoyed the fast pace and interesting cases. After moving to Marion I worked at Marion General Hospital on the medical floor and then worked at what was then Americare Nursing and Rehabilitation Center on Jamesway. There I worked the subacute unit and later became the supervisor and did employee education. In summer 2001, I became aware of an opening to teach the Tri-Rivers Health Technologies satellite program located at Harding High School. I applied for the position and was hired. So began 19 years of what was the most fun, challenging, and rewarding career of teaching. The highlight of my teaching career is twofold; first, taking what was originally a one year program for seniors only and upgrading it to a two year program with certifications in first aid, CPR, Nurse Aide Training for STNA, and college credit for Medical Terminology. Secondly, is when I see former students at hospitals, doctor’s offices and surgery centers working in their careers as health care professionals.

Hobbies
Gardening, writing, hiking, and cycling are my favorite hobbies. I also volunteer with Columbus Metro parks and enjoy teaching nature programs to elementary age children. I also am a nest box monitor for Glacier Ridge which is part of the Columbus Metroparks system.

Family
I am widowed and have 3 grown children. My daughter Christie and her husband Marc and my grandson Tanner live in California. She is a Trauma nurse and has had an extremely challenging year taking care of Covid patients. She is an avid backpacker and escapes into the mountains to “recharge”. My Son Sean and his wife and my triplet grandchildren Claire, Ian and Aidan live in Reynoldsburg. Sean works at John Glenn International Airport in Columbus as an aircraft mechanic. My youngest son Evan works at Marion General in the nutrition department and is an avid hiker and cyclist. My dog Sadie is a rescue; she is a lab/border collie mix and loves to take hikes with me.

Retirement plans
Spend more time with my grandkids. Volunteer more with the park system. Take classes at OSU now that I’m old and can take them tuition free!

 Words of wisdom to colleagues
Know your students! Get to know them. Ask about their lives; jobs, passions, talents, frustrations. Listen to them. Give your students autonomy. Let them structure learning. Give them the opportunity to use their individual talents and skills to run the class with your guidance. You must earn their respect in order to be effective as a teacher and mentor.

 Favorite quotes

“It is never too late to be what you might have been.” George Elliot (a.k.a. Mary Ann Evans)

“Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt.” John Muir

 Awards/organizations
I am vice president of the Marion Public Health Board and a member of the Marion Covid Defense Team. In the 1990’s I received awards for being an educator with the Columbus AIDS Task Force.

Educational Background
I graduated from Lorain County Community College with and Associate Degree in Nursing and graduated from The Ohio State University in 2005. In 2001 I completed coursework to become a certified Nurse Aide Trainer. In 2015 in conjunction with my volunteer work with the Metropark system, I completed a program through OSU to become an OCVN. Ohio Certified Volunteer Naturalist.

I have really enjoyed teaching. I feel my years of hospital and nursing home experience made me a better teacher. I think that is the real key to career technical schools. The instructors have lived what they teach. We know the ups and downs and challenges as well as the joys of our professions. Students love hearing about our experiences. It makes the subject matter real and relevant…and sometime hilarious!

Julia Doty—Outstanding Alumni 2020-2021

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We always hope that our Tri-Rivers graduates not only succeed in their career fields, but also become contributing members of their communities. Julia Doty, who was nominated by Terri Mantey for an Outstanding Alumni Award, is deserving of this honor. She is an active member of the community both professionally and personally.

Julia has used the skills she learned at Tri-Rivers to not only enhance her family life, but also the community. She graduated from the Office Education Co-op program in 1980—where she worked in the mornings and attended classes in the afternoon. When she graduated, she worked at the same company for three additional years. She then moved to Texas where she started out as a clerk for a bank and then moved up to being a mortgage loan processor. She eventually then moved back to Marion and was hired as an Executive Secretary for a Senior Vice President of a local company. From there she moved to become a legal secretary for a local law firm where she was employed for 20 years. Currently she is the Service Coordinator at Seton Square in Marion.

For her current position Julie earned the Professional Service Coordinator Certification through The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Office of Geriatrics and Interprofessional Aging Studies. At Seton Square she helps residents to access services available in the community and designs programs and services to meet their needs. She works closely with the Council on Aging, Area Agency on Aging, Ohio Senior Health Insurance Information Program, OSU Extension Office, OhioHealth, and the Marion Senior Center.

She also gives back to the community by serving as a mass lector at her church, assisting with Sunday School for young children, working as a poll worker for the Marion County Board of Elections, and attending quarterly social worker round tables. She was also a 4-H leader at one time. She dearly loves serving her community and church.

Julia’s story is a Tri-Rivers’ success story. She is very deserving of an Outstanding Alumni Award.

Chris Jenner—Outstanding Alumni 2020-2021

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Chris Jenner has always been a great asset to the community and is always willing to help other people.

Chris Jenner is a 1993 graduate of Tri-Rivers Graphics Printing Program.

He worked in the plumbing and HVAC Industry from 1993 to present. He then started managing the marketing—using his graphic design training to update logos, materials, and advertising. He also added social media to the mix.  In 2014, he took over the business as the co-owner/operator of A-1 Plumbing and Heating.

In 2021 he started his own company, Jenner’s Plumbing.

Chris is a wonderful representative of the MarionMade™ concept. He offers great customer service and genuinely cares for his customers.

Chris, left, is pictured above with Kristian Casey, Tri-Rivers CNET instructor, and family friend and neighbor of Chris.