Electronic windows to career opportunities installed at Ohio vocational school

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Ohio (WTRF) — The days of school simply being about library books and watching lectures is long gone.

The internet has made information international, and a vocational school in Jefferson County is making sure it’s connected.

Whether you’re networking across the world or just sitting in class, Jefferson County’s Joint Vocational School is equipped with a $1 million grant for the 2024-25 school year to help make education a little clearer.

Cameras on both sides of the classroom.
Interactive screens that give teachers unprecedented control over their lessons.
And pathways to connect with higher learning institutions.

It’s all new for the upcoming school year, and part of the school’s commitment to what it calls distance learning, a way for vocational students to see and speak with experts in their field without leaving Bloomingdale, Ohio.

“You also have the opportunity to talk to other people who are in those fields and can help with science, with health, with multiple areas, criminal justice.”

Todd Phillipson, Superintendent, Jefferson County JVS

In effect, each classroom has now become a conferencing room, with microphones installed in the ceilings for talkback.

It’s the latest spring forward for a school that has spent a decade going wireless and flipping new switches.

Technology coordinator Ron Peach says with the help of partner programs and a 15-percent match from the school, there aren’t many more advanced boards to learn from than the ones they installed.

“The biggest and the best, the 98 inch displays, and then some of the classrooms have 86 and some have 75.”

Ron Peach, Technology Coordinator

For students in fields like cosmetology, carpentry and health technology, it’s a window beyond even beyond the valuable curriculum and certification experience.

Starting with their first day next week, they won’t just have the world at their fingertips, they’ll have it within sight of their desks.

“You have a whole opening of the world to the students, not just a perspective from one area or one teacher. It opens it up to everybody.”

Todd Phillipson, Superintendent, Jefferson County JVS

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WTRF.