It's Been Awhile

As I woke up this morning, I thought about how long it has been since my last blog post.  I couldn't remember, but just knew it had been longer than my original goal of at least twice a month.  This afternoon, I was reminded (in a very friendly way) that it had actually been since August!  That's way too long.
Then I thought: "Well, it's been a crazy busy year so far!"  But that shouldn't be an excuse.  It actually should be more of a reason to keep everyone up to date on all of the amazing things our kids have been up to.  So I thought I'd share a little time-line of the events we're proud of since the last time I wrote an entry here.
We had a LOT of fog in September, including on Student Appreciation Day, when we delayed 2 hours.  Undeterred, our staff and students put together one of the most successful Student Appreciation Days I can remember.  We had dozens of amazing vehicles in the car show, dancing, and a giant football/bowling hybrid game that I was legitimately terrible at.  My awful display of arm "strength and accuracy" was much to the delight of all the students around the game who, despite what they may say, were just as bad as I was!  But that didn't matter, it was perfect weather and our staff got to get out and show our appreciation for all of our students (even more so than they do every day).
Then, on September 29, Vantage once again hosted the United Way Day of Caring Food Drive in our bus barn.  Over 38,000 food items were sorted and quickly sent to the Van Wert food bank for distribution to those in need around our area.  Well over 50 of our students got to participate and contribute to an amazing experience which was "eye-opener" for many.
Then, just a few days later (on October 3), we hosted an induction ceremony for over 30 students into the Vantage Chapter of the National Technical Honor Society.  It was one of our biggest inductions ever!  Each of those students honored that night earned their place by maintaining over 95% attendance, good standing with zero discipline incidents, and over a 3.5 GPA throughout their time here at Vantage (not to mention a rigorous application process after being nominated).  You may see them in your communities throughout the coming months volunteering their time and sharing what Vantage and NTHS are all about.  If you need volunteers for an event in your community, please don't hesitate to call or e-mail me.  We will be more than happy to help!
Finally, our student ambassadors once again led the selling and placing of miniature American flags into a flag field (constructed by our carpentry and auto body labs) in honor of Veteran's Day.  100% of this year's proceeds will go to the Ottoville VFW, and we plan on continuing this tradition and donating to another Veteran's organization in one of our communities next year.
Which brings me to one of the coolest things I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing in my time in education.  Earlier this week, two of our Ag juniors approached me about the possibility of flying the American flag today (November 10) on their vehicles, in honor of Veterans and active duty military men and women.  My response was simple: as long as it is "street legal", we will never have a problem with students supporting our country and our flag in that way.  These young men then took it upon themselves to organize well over a dozen trucks, cars, and SUVs who could legally fly an American flag to school today.  Many of these vehicles met in the Wal-Mart parking lot here in Van Wert (thank you!), then proceeded as a group (almost like a parade formation) to drive to Vantage and park together along our back row.  It was, quite frankly, an AWESOME display of support for our Veterans.  The best part is that our students deserve all of the credit for putting it together.
Please watch for the video of all these flags leaving our parking lot on social media.  You will surely be impressed!

There has been so much more going on here at Vantage, it would be impossible to list everything (like our Network Systems team's 1st place finish in the Network Design competition at Makerfest). We also greatly appreciate your support in the recent election, and will continue to strive to maintain the Vantage Will (#vantagewill)!  Thank you for your time, and have a great weekend!