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LEETONIA -- The Leetonia school district has received a five-year grant for nearly a million dollars.
The grant from the Columbiana County Educational Service Center will see the district receive $196,400 annually for five years, totaling $982,000, to offer career exploration opportunities for Leetonia students and potentially others in Columbiana County as part of the Innovative Career Exploration program. According to a press release, Innovative Career Exploration (ICE) will begin Oct. 9 through the end of April, with up to 100 summer hours available as part of the program.
ICE sees middle and high school students encouraged to take online self-assessments called YouScience, which take approximately 90 minutes and help match students with careers that may interest them. Students will then be paired with a local business partner to shadow a career in that field; with the release noting a student with interest in the culinary arts would be paired with a local restaurant.
"YouScience is a self-assessment tool for our kids to figure out what they are going to be interested in their future, it's not necessarily a test, nothing is graded, and there is no pressure, it's just going to give us an idea of what's going to gage their interest so we can make this a very successful program," said Ryan O'Donnell, ICE site coordinator.
The release also notes that in addition to partnerships with local businesses for career shadowing field trips and guest speakers are being organized in conjunction with the Leetonia Industrial Park and the Columbiana County Business Advisory.
"The primary goal is for students to develop and create career opportunities with hands-on experience and applied learning. Our hope is to develop pathways for the students with this program. The career exploration is without the risk of commonly associated fears with career placement and or replacement. I also envision this program assisting students on how their core and elective classes in school can be applied and used in the real world," said Leetonia Superintendent Dennis Dunham.
According to the release, the program will be available to 50 Leetonia students in grades 7 through 12, and if all 50 spots are not filled, the program will be offered to students throughout Columbiana County. The program will feature flexible hours with afternoon, evening and weekend hours and transportation options.
Any local businesses interested in becoming a partner or students who want to sign up should contact Ryan O'Donnell by phone at 330-427-6594 or 330-853-9419 or by email at rodonnell@leetonia.k12.oh.us.