03-03-2026 — Skooled

Howdy all. Temps above freezing. Yippee. Rain. Of course. Oh well.

This morning I was browsing my FaceBook pages and noted that my housekeeper was on Facebook this morning, being the proud mother, writing that her son got into the local vocational high school (Auborn Career Center) for construction training.

This is the same school, but a new name, that I went to in 1971-73 for Data Processing. It was Lake County Joint Vocational School back then. It had been open for a few years and was the dumping ground for the losers from Perry, Madison, and Painesville, high schools.  It is strange that it is now “cool” to be be accepted there when we were considered the dummies who couldn’t hack real high school.   There were about 300 total students.

That was even though I was still getting A’s in the few college prep classes I was taking at the “real” high school while doing the vocational program and working almost full time.   They offered things like auto mechanics, cosmetology, data processing, drafting, electricity, machine trades, and welding. The D.P. course had no computer or even any real programming courses, just obsolete IBM unit record hard-wired equipment. At least the drafting, and auto-mechanics provided the most useful skills.

Nowadays, they have both high school and adult coursework and offer useful skills like HVAC, electrician, construction, Medical assistant.  And many other trades where people actually do something and get paid well.

Quite impressive.

They are working with well over 2000 students now. And the school reports a 98% graduation rate and the same 98% post-program placement rate for high school students (within 6 months of graduation). I wonder how much better that placement rate is to the normal high school during the same period.

The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce recently released the 2025 Ohio School Report Cards, and it shows that Auburn Career Center has once again earned 5 stars, the highest rating possible, indicating that the Concord Township-based vocational school is “significantly exceeding state standards.”

I am impressed by their growth and success. I hope all students, and facility alike, Enjoy Life