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Buckeye unveils plans for tech, energy academy

DILLONVALE – A new conversion community school in the Buckeye Local School District will help area students earn a diploma as well as an opportunity to join the shale industry work force.

Educators, legislators and trade union officials met at the district office on Wednesday to unveil the Ohio Valley Energy Technology Academy, which is set to begin at Buckeye Local High School during the 2015-16 school year. Members of the OVETA board of directors and school district shared details about the free program.

It is available to pupils in grades nine through 12 and includes a flexible and customized curriculum of blended learning with courses accredited through the International Association for Drilling Contractors, plus an opportunity to receive a high school diploma, college credit options through Eastern Gateway Community College and industry certification. In addition, OVETA is partnering with local trade unions and gas and oil companies to provide students with the opportunity to transition into the work force upon graduation.

Board President Rich DeLuca said it is a secondary education program accredited through the Ohio Department of Education, and the hope is to facilitate the needs of the oil and gas industry. While it will be lodged at the high school, the program will be open to pupils in Jefferson, Harrison and Belmont counties.

“We will be enrolling during the next few months,” said DeLuca. “We think, based on what we’ve heard, that we’ll hit our mark and we’ll hit the ground running.”

“This is a very exciting day for OVETA. This is a very exciting day for Buckeye Local. This is a very exciting day for the Ohio Valley,” said Buckeye Local Superintendent Mark Miller, OVETA’s interim director. “Today we’re unveiling a new way to educate children and a new way for communities to prepare for the oil and gas industry in the area.”

Miller added that OVETA was very student-driven and would provide a blended learning atmosphere and incorporate core courses with an added education to prepare students for the work force. Students would participate online, on-site or both and attend during alternate days or half days. Courses are offered through PetroEd and the Virtual Learning Academy.

Angela Hicks, director of federal programs for Buckeye Local, has worked to procure funding and form partnerships to assist the academy and its students. One new connection is Think BIG Program through Ohio CAT, which allows two seniors to be trained at Owens Community College in Perrysburg and work with an Ohio CAT dealership. To participate, students must have a minimum 3.0 grade-point average, miss 10 or fewer days’ from school per year and complete an employment application and interview process.

“Ohio CAT is committed to no less than two graduating seniors to get an associate degree and guarantee a job upon graduation,” she commented. “We want to create a product to help facilitate students for oil and gas and industry at large.”

Hicks added that local trade unions were also contacted to become partners and those from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers 246 and Laborers Local 809, both of Steubenville, were eager to join. The trade officials approved of the program, saying it would help them help the companies. Kyle Brown, business manager for IBEW Local Union 246, and Jeff Neilly, field representative for Laborers Local 809, said they want to serve the oil and gas industry and look for dedicated people to work with them. As a result, those workers receive great pay and benefits by performing the skills they learned.

State Sen. Lou Gentile, D-Steubenville, and state Rep. Jack Cera, D-Bellaire, commended officials for creating OVETA and offered their assistance to help make the academy a success.

“It’s proactive,” said Gentile. “It says we want to start at an early age, so if they want to get a job in the oil and gas field they can get training.”

“We strive daily to encourage the oil and gas industry to hire local people,” Cera added. “Having this at the high school level is a great thing. As the program develops, we will have trained people.”

Ben Keeler, legislative liaison for U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Marietta, echoed those sentiments and said it was an issue that everyone supported.

“This is one of those things where democrats and Republicans get together and everybody in the valley is on the same page,” Keeler said, adding that it provided another option for students who may not go to college.

OVETA will operate under ODE guidelines and requires a minimum of 25 students to operate, while officials are seeking to fill two posts as director and instructor. The board has worked with the Jefferson County Educational Service Center, which sponsors the Utica Shale Academy at Southern Local High School in Columbiana County, to bring the latest program into fruition.

The OVETA board of directors also includes Don Moore, Jeremy Vittek, Marvin Schooler and Larry Piergallini, and an all-volunteer advisory board may be added in the future. A website is being created, officials explained. For information, contact (740) 769-7395 or send an -mail to ovetaschool@gmail.com.

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