GreatNews.Life Student Voices: Spring has come to the ACC

What’s recently happened?

The Area Career Center (ACC) recently had its annual National Technical Honor Society (NTHS) induction ceremony. Students that average a 3.0 or above grade point average, good attendance and demonstrate a good work ethic in class were invited to join.

“NTHS is a national organization that recognizes students who are in career and technical education programs,” said Amy Ford, College and Career pathway coordinator at the ACC. “We had about 115 students who met the requirements.”

At the beginning of the ceremony, the president and vice president were appointed. The induction included a candle lighting ceremony to symbolize the principles upheld in NTHS. There are eight candles, one for each attribute: knowledge, skill, honesty, service, responsibility, scholarship, citizenship, and leadership. Afterwards, every new member said the pledge and took photos with their friends and family.

What’s coming up?

The ACC is going to the Skills USA state competition. Through April 10-11, students that qualified for state are traveling down to Indianapolis where they will show off the skills that they’ve learned throughout the school year.

“I believe in my skills; I’m confident that I’ll do well,” said Logan Martinez. “At Regionals, I felt like I didn’t do that well, but I kept telling myself to keep a level head. For State, I feel more prepared and I plan to still keep cool.”

If the students place in the Top 3, they have the chance to make it to Nationals in Atlanta, Georgia.

Staff spotlight:

Kristy Johnson is the Dental Careers instructor at the ACC and has been teaching for about 20 years, with eight of them being at the ACC. Before working at the ACC, Johnson worked in a dental office for most of the week while teaching at Indiana University Northwest on Fridays.

“College kids are a lot more independent; they don’t need as much guidance to keep them on track,” said Johnson. “When I began to teach high school students, I realized I had to incorporate more projects because they need that extra bit of visualization.”

Johnson enjoys teaching high school because of how grateful and eager they are to learn. Her favorite part of teaching is watching her students after they leave her class – either in action or for a visit.

“Not everyone stays in dentistry, but most of them do. To see where they’ve gone with it is amazing, ” said Johnson. “It makes me cry with joy to see how far they’ve gotten.”

Johnson has always known that she wanted to enter the dental field. She spent a lot of time at the orthodontist, though the one she had wasn’t the nicest. This sprouted her desire to be more compassionate in the practice.

“Whether my students stay in dentistry or not, I want them to have empathy, be professional and accepting,” said Johnson. “You never know what someone has going on at home.”

Johnson is also a grandmother, and in her free time, she enjoys spending time with her grandchildren. Her hobbies include crocheting and playing piano.

Student spotlight:

Adriana Hernandez is a capstone student in the Cosmetology (cosmo) class at the ACC. Growing up, Hernandez spent a lot of time with her great-grandmother, who was a beautician. This inspired her love for cosmetology, so she decided to enroll in the ACC for her junior year.

“In my sophomore year, I really started thinking about what I wanted to do in the future,” said Hernandez. “I knew I didn’t want to go to college and always had a passion for everything cosmetology, so when I found out about this program, I decided to give it a try.”

After she graduates with her cosmetology license, Hernandez plans to take barbering classes in order to get a barbering license. Then, she plans to work in a salon and eventually own her own business doing wedding hair and makeup.

Originally, before she settled on the cosmo class, she was also curious about criminal justice.

“I thought about doing criminal justice because I wanted to be an FBI agent for a long time,” said Hernandez. “It was a hard decision, but I realized just how much I didn’t want to go to college, and I’m really glad I chose cosmo.”

Her favorite part of the class is being able to learn about all aspects of the industry, especially the ability to explore more about a particular thing if it piques interest.

“We’ve done a lot of dyeing and hair styling, and I’ve learned more about nails,” said Hernandez. “I’ve even learned a lot about the human body that I didn’t think I would ever need to know. It’s good to know in case something goes wrong in order to refer a client to a health official if necessary.”

In her free time, Hernandez works and exercises at the gym when she can.