On Thursday, October 21, Upper Valley Career Center administrators, staff, and local business partners surprised Jeff Bertke and his students with the news that he was one of three recipients of a $100,000 prize from Harbor Freight Tools for Schools!

The award recognizes teaching excellence, and the money will be used for the UVCC electrical trades program. More than 700 applications for the program were received from 49 states, Harbor Freight said.

“I come to school every day with a smile on my face because I love what I do,” Bertke said after being surprised with the award. “We do amazing things and let’s keep shining that spotlight on us.” 

Miami Valley Today reported on the story, which can be read here.

Jeff is the President of the Ohio ACTE Trade and Industrial Division, involved in SkillsUSA and has won numerous awards throughout his teaching career, including being named the Ohio ACTE 2018 Outstanding Teacher in Community Service. He graduated from the UVCC electrical trades program in 1999 and started teaching in 2010.

Congratulations Jeff and the entire UVCC community!

Buckeye Career Center in New Philadelphia, Ohio, will be presented with the Compass Award on Tuesday, May 18 by Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague.

Established last year by Treasurer Sprague, the Compass Award program aims to shine a light on organizations, programs, and individuals across Ohio who are working to advance financial literacy and empowerment.

Through partnerships with local employers and higher education institutions, Buckeye Career Center exposes students to a variety of career paths that are available in their community. As part of building a well-rounded skill set, Buckeye Career Center prioritizes financial readiness education so students are equipped to understand and effectively navigate the decisions they will make in adulthood.

Congratulations to Buckeye Career Center!

We're excited to share the news that the Career Tech Workforce Education Program has won the Bowling Green State University Outstanding Advising and Mentoring Award his year.  The award specifically was given based on their work with new State of Ohio Career Tech teachers hired to teach in career tech programs.  

As a program, they received $2,000 to continue their work with mentoring and advising Career Tech teachers enrolled in BGSU coursework. You can read more about the program and the full story on the BGSU website.

Construction Technology Students at Buckeye Career Center are using their skills and expertise to give back to their community. They were featured in TimesReporter for their work creating boxes that hold the flags covering veterans' caskets at funerals.

The boxes are given to the veterans' families free of charge. Read the full story on the TimesReporter website.