Career Exploration Mobile Unit Ready to Roll in Columbiana County

LISBON, Ohio – Columbiana County’s new Career Exploration Mobile Unit is designed not only to get students interested in STEM and skilled trades careers, but also to challenge them to think.

Jack Scott, president of Vista AST LLC of Youngstown, which specializes in education and creating maker space projects, created the carts that will be inside the mobile unit. The design for the carts are different than what Vista AST usually creates. They usually have laser cutters and 3D printers, Scott said.

But John Dillling, educational consultant at the Columbiana County Educational Service Center, and Jeremy Corbisello, assistant superintendent of the Columbiana County Career & Technical Center, envisioned something different, something that challenged students with problem-based learning and hands-on experiences.

Each cart built by Vista AST for the mobile unit has a project challenge. For instance, one that emphasizes agriculture and landscaping includes learning to use GPS and soil samples to determine suitable crops and the feasibility of developing a community garden on a vacant property.

Another cart, the automotive challenge, includes learning safety precautions for changing a rear tire and using an OBD-II scanner to diagnose what a check engine light means, determining where that part is located on the vehicle and making necessary repairs.

A third cart challenges students to use a virtual MIG welder, and a fourth renewable energy cart teaches students how to measure the output of solar panels in a variety of conditions and configurations. The final cart includes advanced manufacturing and machining.

The carts include interactive parts and videos that can explain how they are relevant to careers and training options for getting where students want to go. And there will be more carts representing more careers in the future as sponsorships or additional funding becomes available.

“I’ve been a supporter for a long time of making career and tech education an equal choice, not the other choice,” Scott said about his involvement in the project.

A person who has hired a lot of engineers, Scott said what makes a good engineer is not their excellence in math but the ability to use their math skills to solve problems. Scott believes students need to be challenged more and encouraged to be creative and innovative.

“Success to me would not be whether a kid or a student, as a result of this, decides to be a welder. Success would be: Did he explore welding as a potential option?” Scott said, adding even if the student finds welding is not for them, that is a success. “Success is: Will these carts, this program, encourage students to look at more options before they make up their mind about what they want to be?”

The mobile unit was developed in partnership with the CCCTC and the Columbiana County ESC, along with the Mahoning Valley Manufacturers Coalition and the Columbiana County Business Advisory Council to the benefit of the nine CCCTC partner school districts in Columbiana County.

Since 2022, the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce provided career centers with career exploration funds, which were used in 2022 to support the robotics program. The next year, that funding, in conjunction with funds from the Mahoning Valley Manufacturers Coalition, was used to create the mobile unit project, Corbisello said.

Corbisello credited Dilling with the idea, saying he has always championed bringing career exploration to younger students. The mobile unit is geared toward middle school students.

“This project is the result of a collaboration between a lot of amazing people,” Corbisello said.

Alex Hertzer, interim executive director of the MVMC, said the organization’s founder recognized that talent was going to be the biggest hurdle for the growth of manufacturing and the region in the future.

“We know that our most viable pipeline of talent is our young people,” Hertzer said, adding it is not just about preparing them for the workforce, but also getting them interested in those opportunities at an earlier age. “The MVMC is very proud to be able to support initiatives like this that will go directly to our students, really taking it to them and helping them understand all these future career pathways they can take at places like the Columbiana County Career & Tech Center.”

Youngstown State University President Bill Johnson, state Sen. Michael Rulli of Salem, R-33rd, and state Rep. Monica Robb Blasdel of Columbiana, R-79th, attended the launch of the mobile unit Thursday. Each took the opportunity to talk about the importance of helping students find their passions and getting them excited about their futures. Johnson said the hope is that they will stay in the Mahoning Valley while being able to work in good jobs, enjoy their lives and raise their families.

The launch of the mobile unit was not the only thing happening at the CCCTC on Thursday. Students at the school got a chance to attend a daylong career fair, which Michelle Fitzsimmons, student services coordinator, said included 72 employers and organizations representing health care, manufacturing, landscaping, salons, colleges and military branches.

Pictured at top: Craig Richards, left, technology director at Vista AST, the company that designed and created the career exploration carts for Columbiana County Career & Technical Center’s new mobile unit, demonstrates the robotic technology cart for the Columbiana County Port Authority’s Robert Ritchey, recovery coordinator; Haedan Panezott, private sector group specialist; and Penny Traina, CEO.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.