Junior High Classes Underway at Utica Shale Academy
SALINEVILLE, Ohio – The Utica Shale Academy has welcomed more students into the fold for the 2024-25 school year with the addition of its junior high program.
About 25 students in grades seven through nine are enrolled this year, bringing the community school’s overall total to about 130. The program includes blended learning for grades seven through 12, with the younger students focusing on career exploration before obtaining a more hands-on education as sophomores.
The seventh and eighth grades are located at the Williams Collaboration Center, which includes classrooms, administrative offices and more programming in partnership with Youngstown State University to expose the junior high students to career-tech opportunities. It also provides medical services with certified health workers and licensed therapeutic behavior support counselors from organizations such as Compass 247, Avis Drug-Free World and Alta.
Grades nine through 12 are housed nearby at the Hutson Building, and all students undergo a blend of online education through the Virtual Learning Academy by the Jefferson County Educational Service Center and hands-on learning in various trades. Courses include megatronics, hydraulics, pneumatics, AC/DC electric, programmable logic controllers, diesel mechanics and horticulture to train both students and adults. Additionally, the campus features an outdoor welding site along East Main Street, as well as the Utica Shale Academy Community Center on Church Street that includes a gym and community services.
“The junior high kids are excited about some of the flexibility and freedom they have here, and they are working with career-tech teacher Matt Gates and classroom teacher Mariah Hart,” said Laura Krulik, assistant superintendent. “They hope to get through the exploration and safety procedures so once they get to [high school level] they can get ready for the workforce.”
The students follow a structured schedule similar to a traditional school. They also learn time management and split classes with Gates – on career exploration and National Coalition of Certification Centers certification – and Hart, who facilitates online lessons through the Jefferson County Educational Service Center’s Virtual Learning Academy. Hart also teaches employability skills and, as a certified health worker and tutor, provides further assistance to meet the students’ needs. Students may work in groups or one-on-one with an adult to complete their academic lessons and also focus on living skills.
“I think it’s going very well,” Hart said. “With the new opportunities come new challenges, and they are adjusting very well to the online curriculum and the new setting. I have had several kids successfully complete their career-based credentials. They have really enjoyed working on the virtual welders, as well as the online learning.”
Gates said there has been a lot of interest among junior high students in specific trades, and they complete introductory assignments into all of the career paths to see if any others appeal to them.
“We have received mostly good feedback, and they love the virtual welding machines and the special projects they partake in with me to see where they are at with their hands-on skills,” Gates said. “With regards to all of the students, they ask why they have to learn about safety, so I try to make it as fun as possible and show them some videos on workplace safety and what can happen if you’re not safe.”
Krulik said the “goal is when kids go to [the high school] program, they have already had the prerequisites. When they get into 10th grade, they are ready to step into labs and do hands-on work, and later we can help them obtain jobs. If they can get a job before they graduate, the career-tech teachers can act as job coaches so they are prepared to go to work.”
Seventy-five percent of the graduates leave with competitive employment or are enrolled in a career-tech program, college or the military.
The Utica Shale Academy “gives kids the opportunity to get a job and make a living wage, and the staff should be recognized for the work they’ve done to help,” Krulik said. “They’re really doing a lot for the kids.”
Pictured at top: Utica Shale Academy students.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
