Shifting the focus from school to
education and shifting the responsibility
from school to community
October 2015 • Vol. 1, Issue 4
Character Education Week
Celebrates Connections
The 2015-16 character education theme is “Connecting Orrville with Good Character.” According
to Beverly Waseman, Character Education Committee
chairperson and Orrville Elementary School principal,
this year’s theme focuses on the positive connections
between Orrville’s schools and community.
Character Education Week kicked off the morning
of Sept. 18 with an Orrville Area Chamber of Commerce Breakfast Before Business in the elementary
school cafeteria. The business leaders learned more
about how good character is incorporated into the
school day and how the schools can help them encourage good character within the workplace.
The home football game that evening kicked off the
week for the rest of the community. As football fans
from both teams entered the gates, they were greeted
by volunteers with stickers promoting the character
theme. The half-time show included students from
all grades carrrying the character words banners
across the field.
Throughout Character Education Week, elementary
students were awarded special tickets when they were “caught” demonstrating good character. All the character tickets were placed in a
bucket and two winners from each grade were selected for the good character pizza party. Fifteen high school students hosted the
55 character ticket winners for the pizza party,
which included fun character education games.
Each year, the Character Education subcommittee of the Heartland Education Community,
Inc. develops a theme to incorporate the
character education words of the month into
the curriculum for all grade levels of the
Orrville City Schools.
From left, Emma, Lesley, and Ashley get ready
to take the field for the half-time show with
June’s Character Word of the Month.
Kelly Ryan, OES student program coordinator,
explains the work of the third-grade students’
Character Council to the Breakfast Before Business crowd.
From lower left, Courtney, Evan, Ryan, Sarah,
Deon, and Kevin enjoy the end of the week
pizza party.
Did you know?
OrrViews is the community’s
nonprofit source for the good news that happens in the schools
and around town. There’s still time to sponsor OrrViews for
2015. Send your tax-deductible contribution to OrrViews, P.O.
Box 405, Orrville, OH, 44667. You also can donate online at
www.heartlandorrville.com.
www.heartlandorrville.com • 330-682-0200 • [email protected]
Shifting the focus from school to
education and shifting the responsibility
from school to community
October 2015 • Vol. 1, Issue 4
Heartland Partners with Chamber
on Workforce Development
Wayne County is fortunate that it has one of the lowest unemployment rates in Ohio. The
challenging aspect of this good news is finding skilled workers to fill the available job openings
at manufacturers in the area.
Heartland Education Community partnered with the Orrville Area Chamber of Commerce
to form the Workforce Development Task Force. The group has been discussing the issues
facing hiring managers today and how both organizations could support manufacturers and
those seeking employment.
Step one involved learning firsthand what issues managers feel are most important. The task
force members sent an email survey to HR managers and planned the Orrville Area HR
Networking Forum at which to present the findings.
According to the survey results, the biggest challenge in recruiting employees is finding applicants with the necessary technical skills. The
biggest challenge in retaining employees once
hired is that employees violate the attendance
policy.
When asked what would be most helpful in
their human resources role, 61 percent of respondents said networking with other local HR
professionals. Fifty-two percent felt that soft skill
training for employees would be helpful to their
companies. This included supervisory training,
conflict resolution, and coaching.
More than 30 area human resource
professionals attended the Sept. 24 breakfast
Participants voted for their top three concerns
meeting to hear the survey results and share
during the HR Forum.
their own experiences.
Summer Fun
Thirty students in grades 2 through 6 attended the
building block camp, July 27-31, and 23 children in
grades 1 through 3 attended the Summer Learning
Adventure, Aug. 3-7. The children were all smiles during
the programs, and, based on our evaluations, parents
were happy, too!
“What a great experience for our two children to
attend! They loved every minute of it. Our HUGE
thanks to the Wayne County Community Foundation
for funding this event. In the past, we had seen this
event advertised, but due to the cost could not afford
to send our children, despite their expressed interest. What a blessing to be able to attend gratis—we
can’t thank them enough! Thanks also for all the free
product. That, too, was a surprise to be able to keep
the models they made in class. This was a well-done
event. Great job!”
Above, Zoe made “corn on the cob” cupcakes.
Below, Tate and Matthew are concentrating
on their building block construction projects.
Heartland Priorities
2015-16
Character Education - Continue to
promote character education in the schools
and throughout the community, while
connecting character education lessons to
life through activities and practice.
English Language Learners - Enhance
communication and strengthen the
relationship between the Orrville School
District and English Language Learner
students and their families.
Science, Technology, Engineering and
Math (STEM) - Help the Orrville City
School District with efforts to increase
academic success in STEM subjects.
Provide connections with area businesses
and community leaders to demonstrate
real-world, practical applications for STEM
subjects.
Workplace Ethics - Reinforce the
importance of ethical behavior beyond the
classroom. Work with area businesses to
address training needs and build programs
that incorporate character education within
the workplace.
OrrViews - Continue to support publication
of OrrViews community paper.
Coming Soon to
Heartland Point
Kids’ Day - Friday, Oct. 16, Grades K-3
Art, science, cooking, crafts and stories
make this day off school a special fun
day at Heartland Point. Children can
come for one session or all sessions. The
first session begins at 9:30 a.m.
Healthy Snacks - Thursday, Oct. 29
Tomeka Smith from Aultman Orrville
Hospital will demonstrate healthy snack
ideas like caramel corn, whole wheat
pita chips with spinach and chickpea dip,
and cornmeal and blueberry mini muffins. 6 to 7 p.m., $10
Winter Wicks - Thursday, Nov. 5
Let the spirit of the season glow with
light from handmade candles. Karrie
McAllister will teach basic techiques
for making a variety of beautiful and
creative candles for holiday centerpieces
or gifts. 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., $15
www.heartlandorrville.com • 330-682-0200 • [email protected]