Board of Governors Approves New Hires
During the June 15th meeting of the Mid-Ohio Educational Service Center’s Board of Governors, the Board approved two positions connected to the new Ready for Hire program, stemming from the $1.9 million grant recently awarded to SPARC by the Ohio Department of Education.
Amy Wood was hired as Director of Grants and Special Projects. Her primary responsibilities will be to organize, lead and implement Mid-Ohio projects that are grant funded or that fall into an innovative space; requiring the coordination of multiple stakeholders and partnerships for the benefit of Mid-Ohio ESC’s partner school districts.
Wood said her first goal is to implement the Ready For Hire project; a work based learning program that will serve high school students in Richland, Morrow and Crawford Counties. “Within that project, I will work to enhance the goals of the SPARC Council and Mid-Ohio Business Advisory Council’s reach,” she explained, “engaging business and education partners to identify and leverage new strategies, such as the use of new and emerging technologies like augmented and virtual reality, to enhance the student career readiness experience in new ways. Through partnership work, I hope to collaborate with a variety of school and community partners to identify, develop and implement new innovative programming and services.”
She said there is still room for more businesses to join and create work-based experiences for students. Businesses that are interested in collaborating with SPARC can email Wood for more information at wood.amy@moesc.net.
Kevin Fourman was approved for hire as the Crawford County Site Coordinator for the SPARC Ready for Hire Grant. His responsibilities include recruiting and enrolling students in the program, supervising program activities, coordinating family engagement activities, and developing workforce development partnerships and worksites.
Fourman said his entire educational career has been spent in Crawford County and that experience will serve him well in the new position as he reaches out to work with districts and students. “Right now, there are three Crawford County schools working in conjunction with [the Ready for Hire] program, and one goal I have would be to expand these opportunities for students in all the county school districts.”
Mid-Ohio ESC Superintendent Kevin D. Kimmel said Wood and Fourman have the experience to make this program successful. “Both Amy and Kevin have decades of experience in education and know how to reach students where they are. I am encouraged about the success of the Ready for Hire program with these two in such pivotal roles for its implementation.”