Outstanding Alumni, Distinguished Service Recognized

The Tri-Rivers/Lautenslager 2014 Distinguished Service and Outstanding Alumni Award recipients were recognized at the Career Center’s Annual Board Dinner Wednesday, March 19 2014.

Distinguished Service Awards
The first Distinguished Service Award was presented in 1993 to Jack Lautenslager, who is often referred to as “Mr. Tri-Rivers.” Mr. Lautenslager spearheaded the efforts to pass the original levy that provided the funds to build the Career Center that opened in 1976.  He continued to share his expertise and talents with Tri-Rivers his entire life. Today the Distinguished Service Awards are presented in his memory to individuals or groups who donate their time, resources and/or talents in order to make Tri-Rivers Career Center and Center For Adult Education successful.

This year’s recipients will received plaques and had their names added to the distinguished group
of individuals on the Tri-Rivers Wall of Service and Recognition. Recipients include:

• Jane Galyk of Marion Technical College, introduced by Sherrie Dunn, Lead Guidance Counselor
Jane Galyk has worked at Marion Technical College since 1985, prior to her  employment at Marion Technical College she was employed as an Admissions Counselor for Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College in Indiana where Jane received her bachelor’s degree in Marketing.

Jane has served Marion Technical College as an Admissions Counselor, Assistant Director of Admissions and her current position, since 2010, as the Coordinator of Admissions.  In this role she is responsible for the recruitment plan for targeted groups including traditional students, adult students and veterans.  She also oversees the application process and supervises the admissions counselors, support staff and student workers.

But the real reason Jane was nominated for this award is because of her work with the Marion area high school students, including the students attending Tri- Rivers Career Center, and community organizations to promote 2 year community and technical colleges.  Jane has been a presenter at our Tri-Rivers Scholarship Night and she has helped us with our Financial Aid FAFSA night where we help families complete their FAFSA online in our computer labs.  This has been a tremendous help for some of our students to realize the dream of going to college.  Jane has often been our contact person when we have individual students or sometime whole classes who want to visit and tour Marion Technical College.  The past two years we have held a mini college fair here at Tri-Rivers and it has been Jane that comes over from Marion Technical College and sets up her table for students to visit and learn more about post-secondary education options.  This year, Jane also agreed to hold several sessions at our Exploring Careers Day and spoke to students about what they needed to do to “Plan for College” and in past years and for many years Jane has been a tremendous help in planning and coordinating our 8^th Grade Tours experience.  Bottom line Jane Galyk has been our “go-to” person at Marion Technical College for many years!

A couple other important pieces of information about Jane is that she graduated from Marion Catholic High School and earned her Master’s Degree from Bowling Green State University in College Student Personnel. Jane continues to give back to the community by volunteering for various events including St. Paul’s Neighborhood Supper, Boy Scouts of America, Red Cross, and Turning Points 5K run.   Jane and her husband Mike will be celebrating their 25^th wedding anniversary this summer and they are the proud parents of two young men: Michael and Erin who are both students at Marion Technical College.

Thank you Jane Galyk for ALL that you do for Tri-Rivers Career Center and for the Marion Community!

 • Scott Potter of Marion Technical College, introduced by Jodi Gaietto, Director of Academics

Scott Potter has served as an MTC faculty member and Dean of the Arts and Sciences for over 17 years, the department has worked together with Tri-Rivers to establish a great partnership for students.  We have established a Dual Enrollment/Dual Credit program that allows Tri-Rivers students to earn college credit without leaving the campus.  MTC offers a nice selection of college coursework for students pursuing any college major, including those interested in the health fields.  English Comp I and II, Sociology and Psychology are courses that are in just about every bachelor degree program and students at Tri-Rivers can also earn college credit in Anatomy and Physiology I and II.  With the help of faculty at both institutions, we ensure that students are getting a high quality college education. The partnership between Tri-Rivers and MTC has created a great opportunity for the students.

All of the courses that are offered at Tri-Rivers are part of the guaranteed transfer system.  This system has two parts, TAG (Transfer Assurance Guide) and OTM (Ohio Transfer Module).  This guaranteed transfer system that Ohio has in place has been great for college students in Ohio. It has enabled them to start at the local two-year college with the knowledge that their course work will transfer to any other state colleges and universities.  Since two-year colleges are often less expensive, this has saved students and families thousands of dollars.

Scott Potter is a member of the Sociology TAG faculty panel and the Social Sciences OTM panel. As a panel they review courses that have been submitted from all the state schools in Ohio.  The panel then decides if courses meet the rigor and guidelines of the TAG and OTM.  Scott is the MTC liaison for the TAG and OTM.  He works closely with the Ohio Board of Regents to ensure MTC courses are submitted properly and meet the rigor and guidelines to ensure they meet the faculty panel approval processes.  MTC has submitted and received approval on over 70 courses for TAG and/or OTM.

An interesting fact about Scott is that he is also a board member of the Ohio Supreme Court “Unauthorized Practices of Law.” This board reviews cases to decide if a non-lawyer has practiced law (or a lawyer without a license) and recommends a penalty to the Ohio Supreme Court.

Scott was joined by his wife, Dr. Jill Welch, for the evening of celebration.

• Megan Vertucci of Marion Technical College, introduced by Jodi Gaietto, Director of Academics
Originally from Northeast Ohio, our next recipient, Megan Vertucci,  now lives in Dublin, OH with her husband (Paul) and their two kids.  (Nick is 3 and Samantha is 19 months).

Her background is in Sociology (undergrad from Hiram College and Master’s Degree from BGSU), she teaches Sociology courses as well as works with the early college program.

Since working with Tri-Rivers, she has served as a liaison for the dual enrollment courses.  From speaking at the information nights, to registering students, to assisting in computer access, to communicating with high school faculty, she tries to ensure that the dual enrollment students at Tri-Rivers are successful in their early college experience.  In addition to Tri-Rivers, she works with 17 school districts in Marion and surrounding counties to offer early college opportunities.

Megan also serves as a faculty advisor for PSEO students who come to campus.  As a faculty advisor, she works with students in selecting courses that will meet requirements or expose them to different majors.  In these meetings, they discuss the role of transfer credit in their college experience, how to enroll in specific programs at MTC, and how to navigate a college life.  Megan says it is amazing to watch the early college students develop and mature into young men and women ready to tackle their lives beyond high school.

Megan was  joined by her guest this evening, Mr. Jon Beard.

• Larry Wood, Retired From Whirlpool Corporation, introduced by Ritch Ramey, Tad Douce and Brad Pottkotter
Larry Wood has lived his entire life in the  Marion community. He retired from Whirlpool Corporation in Marion after 35 years, but is probably busier now than ever. While at Whirlpool Larry started out with a 5 year Maintenance apprenticeship where he earned a Journeymen Card. He was a maintenance electrician for about 15 years and then promoted to Maintenance Engineer and Senior Engineer. When he retired in 2000 was the Lead Engineer at Whirlpool Marion and was in charge of purchasing all the large automated machinery. During his years at Whirlpool he was the welding instructor for the maintenance program and  taught hydraulics and electrical wiring, blue print reading, and press troubleshooting. He has been on the National Standards committee for Stamping Presses standards in the United States.

After retiring from Whirlpool he started his own company called Press Man Services. He is a Press room consultant and works with many companies to improve their press operations.

He has also worked 9 years for Toledo Press as Lead press engineer importing stamping presses from China for the Ford Motor Co., Dana Corp and General Motors. Larry helped engineer and install all the presses for the GM Hummer H 3 project.

He also worked at TRCC as a sub and adult education..

Larry is the President of Rock and River fishing club for the past 20 years. He is also the Web Master for Mid Ohio Classic Scooters. Larry collects Old Cushman scooters.

Larry and his wife have been airplane pilots for over 45 years.

Family members attending the celebration included:  his 90 year old mother Grace Wood Mack, his wife of 45 years Pat Converse Wood and their 2 daughters Dr. Karriann Wood and Angie Wood Franklin RN.

The Marion area is nationally becoming known as the “Home of Robotics Education.” It has taken many good people with determination, dedication and vision working as a team to make this happen. Our very first National Robotics Challenge was in 2003. Larry was at the first contest. We had him run the Sumo Rink. It was a crazy scene. Larry took over and organized the rink area and he has helped every year since then. He has been invaluable to the NRC.

Honda contacted us a 4 years ago. They were interested in supporting our contest. We needed to take a veteran judge that could talk with their technical staff about the judging process and to help recruit a few judges. Because of Larry’s enthusiasm and charm we got 30 Honda judges per day for 3 days. Many Honda associates tell us every year they look forward to those 3 days of judging and Honda has more requests to help than they able to let participate.

We started the RAMTEC Vex Robotics League a few years ago and needed a judge to help interview the students about the robotic notebooks and designs. Larry volunteered and has been to about every contest since. When I call a few judges they say they will work if they can team up with Larry.

Larry Wood, the NRC, Vex Robotics League and the next generation of technicians thank you for your volunteer spirit.

 John Kuzio, Teacher at Elgin, introduced by Ritch Ramey, RAMTEC Coordinator

John Kuzio grew up in West Virginia near the Ohio and Pennsylvania line. He graduated from Fairmont State where he played college football and earned his teaching degree in Industrial arts. He starting teaching at Elgin in January of 1979. Ramey said, “I first met Mr. Kuzio during winter conditioning of my sophomore year. When he came to our first weight lifting he was a giant of a man that it was rumored that he had played for the Pittsburgh Steelers. But, as soon as you meet him you know he is a very nice and caring individual.”

He was a baseball, track, basketball and football coach. He was even the Central District Football Coach of the Year in the 1990s. John’s wife, Cheryl, has been a fixture in his life since ever since I have known him, said Ramey.  “He has raised two very bright and strong sons John and Paul. I have had the pleasure of working on his coaching staff and getting to know his great family. He is the teacher that most of us that had him as a teacher would want to be— kind, dedicated, organized and thorough. Since the first class I had of his in drafting I have always wanted to be an engineer and drafter. In 1987 when I had a chance to become a drafting teacher at Tri-Rivers Career Center, I modeled my course from my life experiences and my excellent school experiences.”

Ramey said since 1990 he has had in his class more than 70 students that had Mr. Kuzio as a teacher as well. “He has always sold our program to all his students as if it were the 4^th year of the engineering track at Elgin. This year was one of our smaller groups of 10 student of which 4 are Elgin seniors. Next year we have 35 signed up and 19 are Elgin students. The students are always well prepared and also John makes sure they have proper academic courses to succeed in the field.”

John has also taught part time at TRCC the last few years—Computer-Aided-Drafting to our Carpentry, Precision Machining and Welding students. When asked if he wanted to learn CAD, Robotics or Electronics, he has given up countless hours he could have been on his pontoon boat at Indian Lake. But he does it to help make the Elgin students better technicians. He is always striving to better himself and his program. Whether coaching, teaching or mentoring students he brings a passion to his work. He is a true craftsmen and TRCC is better off today because of John Kuzio.

Outstanding Alumni Awards
The Tri-Rivers Outstanding Alumni awards recognize Career Center and Adult Center graduates who have contributed to their communities, are outstanding in their career fields and/or have furthered their educations.
These individuals are Tri-Rivers Success Stories. They are exemplary in their  career, community and character
This year’s recipients will receive plaques and their portraits will join other outstanding alumni on the Tri-Rivers Wall of Service & Recognition.

Melissa Bentley, Director of Research for Occupational Health & Safety at the National Registry of EMTs, introduced by Richard George, Director of Adult Education

The mission of Tri-Rivers Career Center is to prepare secondary and adult students to contribute, advance and succeed in the 21st Century workforce…to be responsible community members, and to embrace learning as a life-long process. “We are proud to be recognizing one of our Adult Education Alumni who has certainly fulfilled that mission,” said George.

In 2007, Melissa Bentley had already completed a Bachelor of Science Degree from Kent State University when she applied to Tri-Rivers/Marion General Hospital School of Paramedicine. While at Tri-Rivers she completed her Paramedic training, passed her National Registry and became certified as a Paramedic.

Ohio is known to be the home of many internationally known companies and organizations and it interesting to note that the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians, NREMT is headquartered just south of here in Columbus, Ohio. The same year that Melissa graduated from Tri-Rivers School of Paramedicine, she became the third Research Fellow to enter into the NREMT Research Fellowship Program.

Ms. Bentley has continued her life-long learning by completing a Masters in Science in Environmental Health Science from The Ohio State University and is currently finishing up a Doctoral Program in Epidemiology at The Ohio State University.

Her love of research and writing is evidenced by her many published articles and research studies. She has continued to advance in her career and is now the Director of Research for Occupational Health & Safety at the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians.

You can see why we are proud of our graduates, said George.

Jeff  Houser, Houser Racing, Introduced by Ritch Ramey, RAMTEC Coordinator
Jeff Houser grew up with engineering. His dad, John, is the former Dean of Engineering at MTC. When he came to Tri-Rivers his Senior year, he was in the Engineering program. He was also very active in in ATV racing and was winning a lot.

Born from a true passion for ATV racing, HOUSER Racing was founded in 1998 by Jeff and his dad. The company is a division of John Houser & Associates, a consulting engineering firm that has been designing high-speed equipment for Whirlpool Corporation for the past 20 years. So even before they got involved with ATVs, the Housers understood the need for speed. Whirlpool makes about 18,000 dryers a day, so the equipment designed for them really needs to kick out the parts.

When Jeff began participating in ATV hare scrambles and motor cross races, both he and his dad caught the bug to win and to find new ways to do it. Like most racers, they pumped up the motor and went a little faster, but they soon realized that having a strong motor wasn’t enough.

To really improve speed and performance, it was going to take the kind of suspension upgrades that empower an aggressive rider. But when they started purchasing high-performance chassis components, they encountered a number of difficulties. Delivery time on some items, like A-Arms and shocks, was in the four- to six-month range. Unfortunately, when they finally did receive the components, they often wouldn’t fit due to poor workmanship. Even if they did fit, they often didn’t perform due to poor design. Many products were missing some very basic engineering concepts.

Frustrated with their inability to find the type of quality parts the father and son began to design and produce components to maximize the performance of their own ATVs. They started with a set of A-Arms for a Honda 250X. They created the design on the computer, designed and built a fixture, then created and welded the parts and finished them with powder coating. The A-Arms worked great! As time went on, more and more of their friends wanted to buy the growing list of innovative products they were making.

Today, the company that got its start as a father and son team trying to find ways to push the limits of performance on their own ATVs has become a leader in the industry. As they continue to grow, Houser Racing has grown into larger facilities two times. They now have state-of-the-art equipment like CNC (computer numerical controlled) lathes, CNC mills, powder coat paint systems, robotic welders, and TIG welders. Their expanded facility includes separate assembly, customer service, steel receiving, engineering and shipping departments.

They also hire Tri-Rivers graduates and work closely with Tri-Rivers, said Ramey.

Staff Sergeant Steven Blankley, introduced by Kerry Beckel, his former Landscaping Instructor and Current SRC Coordinator at TRCC
Steven Blankley graduated in 1999 from the Landscaping / Garden Center Program. Unlike many of the recipients of this award he did not go on to accomplish outstanding achievements in the Landscaping/Garden Center field. “I can’t say that he’s made significant contributions to the green industry either, though I’m sure he can still identify a Silver Maple from a Norway. After all, he did travel all the way to Florida with us and compete in the National Junior Horticulture Contest about 15 years ago. I’m sure he still enjoys working in the garden and working with plants but I probably can’t tell you he’s a superstar in the Landscaping profession. You see this award is presented to our graduates who have excelled in their fields, contributed to their vocations and to those who are outstanding citizens who have fulfilled the mission of Tri-Rivers Career Center.”

For those who don’t know, the mission of Tri-Rivers is to “prepare all secondary and adult students to contribute, advance and succeed in the 21st century workforce, to be responsible family and community members, and to embrace learning as a life-long process.” Without a doubt, Staff Sergeant Steven Blankley has done all that and more. Sergeant Blankley served 13 years of active duty in the US Army including two tours in Iraq during which time he earned his Combat Action Badge for actively engaging or being engaged by the enemy.

Beckel said, “I remember getting a few calls from Baghdad during some of my classes and he was so interested in how things were going back at Tri-Rivers with the students I was teaching at the time”  Following his tours in Iraq, he served as a US Army Recruiter and, in that capacity, he has helped to guide, coach, and mentor over 200 recruits.

He has helped students enroll in college and insured that they received tuition assistance and Montgomery GI Bill benefits. He earned the highest award in recruiting, the Glenn E. Morrell Award as recognition of his excellence in recruiting. He completed training to qualify as a Suicide Prevention Counselor for the Army and completed the Master Resilience Training in addition to being a Middle School Baseball Coach, Salvation Army volunteer and mentor for Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts.

“Steven lives in Ashland now but he usually makes a point to stop in and see me whenever he visits Tri-Rivers,” said Beckel. “On several occasions he has taken the time to talk with whatever students I’m with about the importance of paying attention, staying in school, and working hard. He never seems to be talking with them in order to recruit someone, rather, he genuinely wants to help them learn some of life’s most important lessons whether they ever intend to join the military or not.”

Staff Sergeant Steven Blankley epitomizes the ideals we hope for in all of our graduates—service to both his country and community, dedication, leadership and excellence in his chosen profession. “I’m so proud to say that he was one of my students,” said Beckel.