Vo c at i o n a l U p dat e

Collinsville ARea Vocational Center

Often, when people think of vocational education they assume that means kids who are not planning on going to college. This is certainly not the case at the Collinsville Area Vocational Center. Throughout the year, CAVC continually works to bring in multiple representatives from colleges and universities to help our students be more aware of the opportunities available to them after high school. This year alone, we have had representatives from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Nursing, Lincoln College of Technology, Ranken College, Southwestern Illinois College, SanfordBrown, Ohio Technical College, Linn State Technical College, Devry University, The Art Institute, ITT Technical Institute, and Oklahoma State University for the Agrekko program. In addition, most of our classes provide free college credit through Southwestern Illinois College. For the thirteen programs offered at CAVC, a total of 84 college hours of credit are available at no cost to our students or their families. These credits provide a foundation and establish a GPA so many of our students start college already ahead of their peers. Our goal is to prepare CAVC students for their future, whether that future includes college, trade school, the military, or entering the work world.

CAVC Students are College Bound

Students Gearing Up for SkillsUSA and HOSA

Next month, 25 of CAVCs finest Health Occupations students will travel to Bloomington to compete in the Health Occupations Society of America (HOSA) state competition. Students will compete against schools all across the state in areas such as creative problem solving, medical law and ethics, epidemiology, pathophysiology, nutrition, forensics, and more. Students have been preparing for months by refining their knowledge and skills as well as fund raising for the trip. If a student places in the top three in the state, they qualify to go to Nationals which will be held in Orlando, FL this June. Ms. Modeer, Clinical Health Occupations teacher stated, "The State HOSA Competition exposes our students to approximately 600 students in the state of Illinois who are interested in pursuing health careers post-secondary. This networking is a wonderful experience for our students. Winning at this competition can potentially equate to scholarships and admission to schools not considered before competition. It is a huge asset for any student's resume to win at HOSA!" In addition, SkillsUSA members will also be competing this spring against students all across the state. This year we had 28 students take the initial on-line test. Students tested in construction, precision machine technology, CNC turning, CNC Machining, Welding, Criminal Justice, Early Childhood Education, Electronics Technology, Electrical Wiring, Collision Repair Technology, and Automotive Technology. This year we have 17 students who have qualified after Ryan Brunton at last years national the initial on-line test and will go to Springfield in April competition. This year he has scored 1st to compete against the other top students from across the place in CNC Turning and Precision Machining. He will now compete in the state!
hands-on challenge in Springfield!

CAVC Car Cruise

Saturday, April 12, 2014
10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Participation cost free Admission free Food will be provided by CAVC Food Service Face Painting provided by CAVC Child Care Traffic direction and monitoring provided by CAVC Law Enforcement Dash Placards provided by CAVC Machining Plus so much more!

Let your Spirit Soar

Every year, CAVC Early Childhood classes take on a project that will benefit the community. This year, they are hosting Let your Spirit Soar on Saturday May 3 in the CHS quad. Let your Spirit Soar is an opportunity for clubs, teams, and organizations to celebrate life and wellness. This celebration will be a carnival type event with lots of activities for families to participate in. Each club will have a booth with some kind of game such as knock the milk jugs, Football throw etc. or a service such as blood pressure checks, face painting, photographs, etc. There will also be demonstrations by local Tae Kwon Do schools and even Rams Cheerleaders! Each booth will accept donations for their service which will be used to support KAHOK strong and Kellsies Hope Foundation. The event will culminate with a balloon release at 3:45 in memory of those we lost and as a celebration of the lives we have. Join us on May 3rd from 1:00 to 4:00 to celebrate life!

Other Items:
Alumni of CAVC: We are trying to build a CAVC database of present and former students. If you would be willing to be a part of it could you please send your name, program, year, and current contact information to tblackar@kahoks.org. It is time we celebrated the success of our alumni!

CAVC Food Service supports Empty Bowl: We would like to give a special honorable mention to the CAVC Food Service class for their donation of five gallons of soup to the Empty Bowl fundraiser. This event is sponsored by the Collinsville Womens Club with donations going to the Collinsville Food Pantry. Great Job! Carla Petrillo Retiring: The CAVC staff would like to send our best wishes and to celebrate with Ms. Carla Petrillo. Ms. Petrillo has been a CAVC business teacher for just under 20 years. We wish her a happy and healthy retirement.