Community Involvement Enriches Education

College Tech Prep actively involves business, community agencies, churches and others to help students prepare for careers.

Programs bridge the gap between school and work, helping students develop relevant skills through employer-validated curriculum, youth apprenticeships, mentoring experiences and service learning projects.

Outstanding Collaboration

• The National Tech Prep Network (NTPN) has selected the Akron Area College Tech Prep Consortium's Advancement to Nursing program to receive a 2006 Exemplary Work Site Learning Award. The program is one of three national winners that received the award.
   

• The Kent Tech Prep Consortium partnered in AIM/AIM High engineering program with General Motors Metal Stamping Plant.
   

• Employers gathered for a February 2006 Biotechnology Business Summit in southwest Ohio to share employment trends and requirements. Omeris, Ohio’s Bioscience Accelerator and Bio-Start, its regional agent, collaborated with the Greater Cincinnati Tech Prep Consortium.
   

• West Central Ohio College Tech Prep Consortium partnered with Rhodes State College's KnowledgeWorks to initiate the West Central Ohio Advanced Manufacturing Consortium. Tech Prep students are able to earn basic, intermediate and advanced manufacturing certifications for college credit and access to consortium manufacturing employers.
   

• Miami Valley Tech Prep Consortium IT mentoring program, in collaboration with the Greater Dayton IT Alliance, has grown to involve more businesses serving more students.
   

• The North Coast Tech Prep Consortium is supported by the Greater Cleveland Growth Association. GCGA participates on the Governing Board, assists in finding companies interested in hiring College Tech Prep students, participates in marketing development and has co-sponsored the Scholarship Awards and Recognition Ceremony. The GCGA represents over 1,000 businesses in the greater Cleveland.
   

• The Greater Cincinnati Tech Prep Consortium is working with the Allied Construction Industries trade organization to identify projects for inquiry-based instruction. More than 100 employers recently attended a breakfast meeting designed to stimulate collaboration.