The Last Day of School

These are the two images that I like to keep in my memory from the last day of school this year, which was last Wed. The top picture shows Mr. Kessler with one of his Auto students, comparing their rebuilt cars.

The second image is, of course, that evening at the Toyota Center, where the graduation ceremony was held. In this picture, our graduates are about to move their tassles over to signify their new alumni status.

Graduation Day!

Here we are at the last school day of the year, a day that is short for underclassmen (dismissed at 11am), but long for the faculty, staff and graduates. However, the long day is worth it to participate in our wonderful graduation ceremony.

I've listed the post-secondary education plans of some of our M/T graduates below:

1) Aaron Callis, Auto: Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology
2) Luiz Diaz, Collision: Universal Technical Institute (UTI)
3) Josh Hisey, Diesel: University of Northwest Ohio
4) Kurt Lippy, Auto: Universal Technical Institute (UTI)
5) Jesus Lopez, Collision: Universal Technical Institute (UTI)
6) Kyle Noel, Welding: Pennsylvania College of Technology (Penn Tech)
7) Chris Rodriguez, Collision: Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology

Spotlight Awards Program

Tonight was the exciting Spotlight Awards Program! It was an all-school awards program to celebrate some of our most accomplished students. Many received scholarships, gifts cards, and/or tools for their trade areas in celebration of their achievements. The following list recognizes the Man/Tran students and the awards they earned:

Future Leaders of York Award: Devin Eckert (Auto)

Academic AllStars (top ten in the senior class): Kyle Harrison (Metal Machining)

Welding Awards: Jamie Bange, Kayota Beck, Cory Eid, Eric Trent, Rachel Styers, and Taylor Koller

Bud Landis Memorial Scholarship: Kyle Noel (Welding) and Cheyenne Brown (Diesel) - $1000!!!

Bud Landis Memorial Awards: Kyle Noel (Welding), Aaron Callis (Auto), Kyle Harrison (Metal Machining), Josh Hisey (Diesel), Chris Rodriguez (Collision), and Garrett Brown (Power Equipment)

Manufacturing/Transportation Academy Award: Kyle Harrison, Metal Machining

Masters of Machining Award (Tools): Kyle Harrison

Kunkle's Service Center Top Collision Student: Chris Rodriguez

Kunkle's Service Center Top Auto Mechanic: Franklyn Ramos

AASP Top Automotive Students: Aaron Callis and Kurt Lippy

Diesel Award ($50 Sears gift card!): Alec Raffensberger

Still Working....

I was so pleased that just a few days before the end of the school year, I walked through the shops and still saw students hard at work. This is exactly how it should be! It's also great to see how our 9th grade students have grown and matured. In the top picture, you see two 9th grade Metal Machining students working on one of the machines. In the bottom picture, you see three 9th grade Collision students working on repairing some structural damage.

Tonight is the Spotlight Awards program, so be on the lookout for news about Man/Tran winners in the next day or so.

May Board Meeting Honorees

Tonight, the Man/Tran students of the month were honored at the JOC monthly meeting. Those two students are both from the Dover School District.

1) Christian Marks, 11th grade, Metal Machining

2) Jared Lucas, 9th grade, Collision Repair

In addition, there were many students from across the school honored tonight due to their successes among different competetions. Chris Rodriguez (Collision Repair) was presented as a 2nd place Skills USA winner. Plus, we had a surprise appearance at the board meeting from alum Deavon Brown, '10 (Auto), who attended to support a friend from another academy who was being honored by the JOC. What a great night!

Athletic Awards Banquet

Last night was the 10th annual YCST Athletic Awards Banquet, and what an awesome evening! It was so well planned (thanks to Mrs. Hoyle, Ms. Brown, and Mrs. Parks in collaboration with Mr. Caruso and the staff of the Praise Center/Heritage Hills)... and then so many students were honored. Mr. Caruso emphasized that YCST, for the 5th year in a row, exceeded the maximum number of students who had participated in athletics.... we were well above 400 students participating in sports here. That's over 25% of the student population!!! Again, it was great to honor the partnership we have with Jim Mustard and the rest of the staff and students at York Country Day. This partnership has been so beneficial to the students of both schools.

Man/Tran students cleaned up! It doesn't hurt that Man/Tran had a HUGE increase of participation in athletics this year.... our junior high teams were PACKED with Man/Tran students.

First, there were door prizes. Here are the Man/Tran students who won door prizes last night: Ben Aldinger (Auto), Kyle Harrison (Metal Machining), Stephuan Montouth (Welding), Christian Marks (Metal Machine), and Dakota Ross (Welding).

Another highlight of last night was seeing Luiz Diaz (Collision Repair) present the Players' Choice Coach of the Year Award to Coach Graham. He was so mature and well-spoken on the podium.

Right before the presentation of Coach Graham's award, the entire boys' track team was honored for being the district III champs in YAIAA this year. Some of the M/T students on the track team who were present last night were: Luiz Diaz (Collision), Ben Aldinger (Auto), Deante Weldon (Auto), and Calvin Savary (Welding).

Dani Aikens (Metal Machining) not only won the Outstanding Athletic Achievement Award, but it was also announced that she was the YAIAA co-softball Player of the Year - as only a 10th grader... WOW!

Here's the list of the rest of the Man/Tran students who won awards last night:

1) Male Outstanding Athletic Achievement Award - Luiz Diaz (Collison)

2) Freshman Male Renaissance Positive Athlete Award - Cody Thompson (Auto)

3) Player of the Year in Golf - Nick Houston (Diesel)

4) Bowling Champion Award - Cheyenne Brown (Diesel)

York Tech Family - Auto Edition

You may think - what's so special about these pictures? It's just the morning and afternoon shop groups of Mr. Kessler and Mr. Merges... but if you look closely, you will see a properly uniformed visitor - Mr. Kessler's daughter, standing next to Mr. Kessler. She spent the day with us yesterday, as Mr. Kessler was out of the building on Bring Your Child To Work day, and his daughter really loved spending time in the shop last year. The students were on their best behavior with a second grader around, and they treated her with the utmost respect. Just another reason why this place feels like such a family.....