Did you know what you were going to do for a career when you were in high school? I didn’t. For me the future was big, empty and, in a sense, scary. My guess is that many high school students feel similarly.
This leads me to ask — are we as an industry doing enough to alert and educate high school students in particular, to the career opportunities in our green industry services industry? That question came to my mind upon receiving from the Ohio Nursery & Landscape Association (ONLA) remaining me of something we have to do more of — engage high school students, male and female, in a positive way to our industry.
ONLA on Nov. 2 hosted 250 students for its second annual Ohio High School Landscape Olympics. The event took place at Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute in Wooster, Ohio. The students represented 20 schools. Upon arrival to the small quaint city of Wooster in northeast Ohio they enjoyed a pizza party. Later that same afternoon they competed in 10 industry skill events, reconvening the following morning and spending the whole next day testing their skills against other students and schools. Many organizations and companies sponsored the Ohio High School Landscape Olympics. (Results of the competing and the generous sponsors that made it possible are mentioned at the end of this article.)
Plant installation at the Ohio High School Landscape Olympics. Photo: Ohio Nursery & Landscape Association
Of course the granddaddy of student engagement in the industry is the annual National Collegiate Landscape Competition. Put on by the National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP) — formerly known as Student Career Days – it has taken place every March since 1977. Last spring 750 students representing 65 colleges competed for three days in 28 different skill sets at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. This coming year’s event is set for March 14-17, 2018, at Alamance Community College in Graham, North Carolina.
It’s an incredible event, supported by just about every major supplier to the industry, and its Career Fair attracts somewhere between 70-80 companies in a virtual feeding frenzy for eager young talent. But the National Collegiate Landscape Competition, as its name signifies, is not an event for high school students.
But college is not for every high school students, including some of the most ambitious and smart students. The green services industry may be just the thing they are looking for — but never realized it was there for them.
Starting in 2002 and for several years I was one of five advisors to a horticulture program at a vocational school just southwest of Cleveland, Ohio. The school’s primary mission is to prepare 11th and 12th graders from six surrounding schools for careers in culinary, welding, dental and medical assisting, law enforcement, HVAC, cosmetology and, at that time at least, the green industry.
Ohio Hi-Point Career Center Team Photo: Ohio Nursery & Landscape Association
Although being asked to be an advisor admittedly, tickled my ego, I don’t want to puff up my role in the program. In truth, no heavy lifting was required of us advisors, and my office at the time was just across the street from the school. I could walk to our advisory meetings in a few minutes. Mostly what we advisors did, meeting every month or two, was to help the program’s advisor build or tweak the instructor’s curriculum and to keep him informed of emerging green industry trends and issues.
As I recall, there were about 12 or 13 students in the horticulture program each of the two seasons of my involvement. We advisors did not interact with them very much them. Looking back at our involvement, that was regrettable. We could have done a much better job of getting to know them individually.
Unexpectedly, my role as an advisor came to an end as the result of two unrelated occurrences — I began working from an office more than 70 miles from the school, and the horticulture instructor that we had been working with left the school for another position.
ONLA’s recent Ohio High School Landscape Olympics is, I believe, a true gauge of the enthusiasm that we can generate among young people in our industry if we increase our outreach and keep coming up with innovative and fun ways to attract positive attention to it. We’ve got a great story to tell and some great things to show young people – things that most high school students have never likely heard or experienced before.
Let’s get to know the programs in our local high schools, become acquainted with their career and academic advisors and let them know we’re available as sources not only for landscaping but also because of our knowledge of small business. We can do our local schools and their students — those truly looking for jobs leading to satisfying careers — a great service.
Here are the results from the recent Ohio High School Landscape Olympics:
2017 Medalists
Sales Presentation
Gold: Stephen Dunham, Ohio Hi-Point Career Center
Silver: Joe Arms, Knox County Career Center
Bronze: Zac Gordon, Upper Valley Career Center
Irrigation
Gold: Cassie Rine and Hunter Pinyerd, Knox Country
Silver: Ryliegh Myosky and Lucas Crunkilton, Penta Career Center
Bronze: Creighton Bradley and Cody Board, Ohio Hi-Point Career Center
Truck and Trailer Operation
Gold: Konnor Locker and Zac Gordon, Upper Valley Career Center
Silver: Nathan Zimdars and Ben Vucelich, Delaware Area Career Center
Bronze: Aaron Blaney and Max Zugan, Auburn Career Center
Skid Steer Operation
Gold: Zachary DePew, Knox County Career Center
Silver: Jacob Toflinski, Auburn Career Center
Bronze: Blake Kessler, Marysville High School
Cost Estimation
Gold: Stephen Dunham, Ohio Hi-Point
Silver: Nathan Zimdars, Delaware Area Career Center
Bronze: Tony Dsuban, Talawanda-Butler Tech
Hardscape Installation
Gold: Eric Glaab and Jacob Schulte, Talawanda-Butler Tech
Silver: Libby Boyer and Ben Vucelich, Delaware Area Career Center
Bronze: Nolan VanBrunt and Kobe Heckman, Jackson High School
Compact Excavator Operation
Gold: Hunter Pinyerd, Knox County
Silver: Kobe Heckman, Jackson High School
Bronze: Jacob Schulte, Talawanda-Butler Tech
Landscape Maintenance
Gold: Joe Arms and Lane Browne, Knox County Career Center
Silver: Ben Vucelich and Nathan Zimdars, Delaware Area Career Center
Bronze: Norberto Morales-Botello and Andrew Gandolf, Auburn Career Center
Landscape Plant Installation
Gold: Nolan VanBrunt, Brooke McDaniel , Kobe Heckman, Jackson High School
Silver: Zac Gordon, Matthew Herron, Brenden Kinnel, Upper Valley Career Center
Bronze: Orion Horn, Ben Brunswick, Damien Masters, Ohio Hi-Point Career Center
Plant ID
Gold: Sierra Ganley, Portage Lakes Career Center
Silver: Madison Morra, Cleveland Botanical Garden
Bronze: Dylan Cozens, Auburn Career Center
Top Ten Individuals
- Ben Vucelich, Delaware Area Career Center
- Grant Kessler, Marysville High School
- Blake Kessler, Marysville High School
- Stephen Dunham, Ohio Hi-Point Career Center
- Zac Gordon, Upper Valley Career Center
- Joe Arms, Knox County Career Center
- Kobe Heckman, Jackson High School
- Nolan VanBrunt, Jackson High School
- Jacob Schulte, Talawanda-Butler Tech
- Max Zugan, Auburn Career Center
Top Five Teams
- Ohio Hi-Point Career Center
- Knox County Career Center
- Jackson High School
- Auburn Career Center
- Talawanda-Butler Tech
Participating Schools
Ashtabula County Technical and Career Campus
Auburn Career Center
Buckeye Career Center
Cleveland Botanical Gardens
Delaware Area Career Center
Gates Mills Environmental Center
GlenOak High School
Jackson High School
Knox County Career Center
Mahoning County Career Center
Marysville High School
Ohio Hi-Point Career Center
Patrick Henry High School
Penta Career Center
Portage Lakes Career Center
Talawanda-Butler Tech
Tolles Career & Technical Center
Trumbull Career and Technical Center
Upper Valley Career Center
Wayne County Schools Career Center
The Olympics received support from numerous green industry companies.
2017 Silver Sponsors: Columbus State Community College, Columbus State Landscape Alumni Association
2017 Competition and Bronze Sponsors: Benchmark Landscape Construction, Inc., Bobcat Company, Brian-Kyles Construction, Brightview Landscaping, The Davey Tree Expert Company, EMI – Environmental Management Services, Inc., GreenScapes Landscape Co., Grunder Landscaping Co., Hemlock Landscapes, Inc., Hidden Creek Landscaping, Ohio CAT, Ohio Chapter ISA, The Ohio State University ATI, Ohio Turfgrass Foundation, Peabody Landscape Group, Rice’s Nursery & Landscaping, Inc., Ryan’s Landscaping, Schill Grounds Management, Unilock, Willoway Nurseries, Inc., Wolf Creek Company, and Yard Solutions.
Additional Sponsors: A.M. Leonard Inc., Buckeye Resources, Inc., First Impressions Lawn and Landscape Co., Five Seasons Landscape Management, Inc., M.J. Design Associates, Inc.
The post We Can Become Great Career Resources for Our Schools appeared first on Turf.
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