More than 200 to graduate from Adult Education and Literacy programs

More than 200 adult graduates of OCM BOCES' adult education programs will be recognized for their accomplishments in the organization's annual Adult Education graduation ceremony to be held Wednesday, August 5, 2015, at Onondaga Community College’s SRC Arena (4585 W Seneca Turnpike, Syracuse). The event will begin at 6:30 p.m. The public and media are invited to attend.

Graduate Mamie Pinkston (pictured) will speak about her personal and educational struggles that led her to OCM BOCES. The Augusta, Georgia, native came to OCM BOCES in 2012 and, despite many obstacles, successfully completed the National External Diploma Program this year.

The following students are among those being recognized for their accomplishments:

Kailyn Aanonsen, Darius Adjei, Cory Anthony, James Antonacci, Andrew Babbitt, Paul Barbagallo, Damian Bartowski, Mieya Baxtron, Kristie Beaulieu, David Binet, Sarah Bivens, Amanda Braley, Chris Brothers, Rachelle Brown, Cathy Brown, Norman Bryant, Jaylon Butler, Ruth Cadwell, Anthony Camardella, Nicholas Carno, Brenda Casnave, Porcha Chairs, Alex Charland, Shantea Chatman, Jordanne Conklin, Brandon Conway, Nisa Cooper, Patrick Culeton, Dalton Curinga, Krystal Curry, Taylor Dahlin, Shantise Davis, Timothy Deblois, Joseph Demar, Douglas Dever, Landon Dietz, Spencer Dino, Christopher Dolce, Anja Donohgue, Miranda Edlin, Tammi English, Christophe Ennis, Donna Fairbrother, David Foley, Joseph Freitag, Kristina Gilman, John Giuseppetti, Joseph Goldthwait, Lori Goodall, Russell Gribnau, Cortny Hanke, Katelynn Hanson, Ieshia Hardy, Jericka Harke, Erica Hart, Tabatha Hemingway, Yolanda Hemphill, Jonathon Hess, Matthew Hilliker, Nicole Holder, Ashlee Hunt, Kathleen Hurry, Jonathan Hurst, Heather James, Kenneth Jamison, Magic Johnston, Wyatt Kaljeskie, Samantha Kastler, Karen Khammar, Brianna Kite, Larissa Knodel, Erik Kurz, Matthew Lagrow, Kara Lawn, Vicki Lawrence, Alissa Leeman, Samantha Lindgren, Brittany Lloyd, Sara Lopedito, Tyler Lowe, Katherine Lowengard, Brian Magruder, Aaron Malay, David Mallon, Valerie Marr, Phillip Mattiaccio, Robert McGregor, Quiana Mcmillan, Lisa Melendez, Stanley Memmelaar, Edith Mendoza, Travis Michaud, Michelle Mourey, Ashley Nguyen, William O'Donnell, Jesse Olcott, Tahisha Osbourne, Bobby Paige, Adam Partin, Brandi Pendergast, Michael Perry, Sonya Perun, Mamie Pinkston, Jake Pizzi, Kelsea Pop, Everett Presley, Jeffrey Proper, Christopher Prusinowski, Carlos Ramos, Megan Renicker, Chyna Robinson, Patrick Rogers, Justin Ryan, Albert Sanz, Liesl Schanz, Reed Schuster, Rebecca Scott, Michael Shelley, Bradley Short, Alexis Sincerbeaux, Stephanie Smith, Erin Soldo, Seth Spadter, Victoria Sparks, Genevieve Spencer, Mark Squadrito, Rachel Stanton, Ashley St. Denis, Anthony Sucapani, Chris Sweeney, Lenyka Sykes, Nicholas Thompson, Mike Tielbaard, Ben Turner, Jaquan Tyler, Benjamin Tyrrell, Michelle Valentino, Katherine Vassar, Kimberly Vitello, Steven Ward, James Warner, Denelle Waugh, Alicia Weaver, Joseph Wede, Shelby Wilkerson, Alethea Williams, Thompson Willson, Laura Young, Chyenne Youngs.

For more information about Adult Education full-time training programs, Continuing Education, Literacy programs or the annual graduation celebration, contact OCM BOCES at (315) 453-4400.

OCM BOCES program receives PEB Partnership of the Year award; Four students receive Student of the Year nominations

The Media Marketing Communications program at Onondaga-Cortland-Madison Board of Cooperative Educational Services (OCM BOCES) received the Partnership of the Year Award from Partnership for Education and Business, Inc. (PEB) at the organization's Annual Awards ceremony held June 10 at Le Moyne College. Additionally, four OCM BOCES students, Kimberly Cusson (Culinary Arts), Alizabeth Knout (Health Occupations), Hunter Moore (Graphic Communications) and Kristin Rogers (Laboratory Technology) were recognized at the event for receiving prestigious Student of the Year nominations.

L-R: Debbie Stack, Director of Education and Community Engagement, WCNY Public Broadcasting; Colleen Viggiano, Assistant Superintendent, OCM BOCES; Phil Grome, Director of CTE, OCM BOCES; Michael Kaminski, OCC Instructor/Department Co-Chair Electronic Media Communications

The PEB Partnership of the Year award is given to successful partnerships that have clear and well-understood goals, are committed to continuous improvement, are characterized by curriculum which integrates academic and workplace skills, and demonstrates the partnership’s effectiveness through documentation of outcomes. The Media Marketing Communications Program is a partnership between OCM BOCES, WCNY, and Onondaga Community College. There are currently 10 students in the program, which began at the start of the school year in September 2014.

The two-year program offers a rigorous high school and college level of study that pairs hands-on learning in a real world setting at WCNY, Central New York’s public media organization. WCNY’s Broadcast and Education Center serves as a 21st century classroom for students under the instructional guidance of OCM BOCES, Onondaga Community College and WCNY professionals. In this course, students work alongside WCNY staff on projects across TV, social media, radio, web and print platforms, learning firsthand the fundamentals of the work of broadcast media, marketing and communications.

L-R: Kristin Rogers, Alizabeth Knout, Hunter Moore (not pictured: Kimberly Cusson)

Another integral component of the program is the dual credit courses offered through Onondaga Community College, where students begin building their transcript by taking college courses on-site with college instructors. Students are also eligible to earn a Career & Technical Education Endorsement on their diploma by successfully passing an industry-based technical assessment.

“The awards are intended to increase the quality and effectiveness of school/business partnership activity in the CNY region in order to enhance the career preparation of our students," says PEB Executive Director Joe Vargo. "At the same time, the awards provide an opportunity to recognize the level of commitment that many schools and businesses share for the benefit of youth in our community."

PEB’s Partnership of the Year Award has been a traditional part of PEB’s awards for more than 20 years.  PEB was incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1993, one of its original programs was the “Adopt-a-School” program—a partnership between local businesses and organizations and schools within the Syracuse City School District.  For more information about PEB, visit their website, macny.org/partnersforeducationbusiness.aspx. For more information about OCM BOCES, visit ocmboces.org.

OCM BOCES to open Cortland County New Tech high school in Fall 2016

The Onondaga-Cortland-Madison Board of Cooperative Educational Services (OCM BOCES) will open a New Tech high school in Cortland County in September 2016. The school will serve area high school students in grades 9-12, and will provide an innovative learning environment that aims to improve students’ college and career readiness through project-based learning, collaborative workspace and technology.

The school will also serve to equip teachers with resources that facilitate the creation of engaging curriculums with relevance to the needs of the 21st century. The new school, which has not yet been named, will be located at 240 Port Watson Street, Cortland.

“Not only will this be a school for students, but it will also be a place where teachers from all OCM BOCES districts will come to learn about project-based learning and innovative practices,” says OCM BOCES Superintendent J. Francis Manning.

There are currently more than 150 New Tech schools in 29 states across the country. This new school will join Innovation Tech High School, which OCM BOCES opened in Liverpool last fall, as the first and only two New Tech schools in Central New York.

Manning recently invited local school district leaders and local business partners together to the OCM BOCES McEvoy campus to discuss the Central New York Regional Vision for College, Career and Citizenship Readiness and ways in which both groups can collaborate and work together to provide engaging projects, shadowing opportunities, and internships for students that will be attending the new school. Cortland business leaders provided input and guidance about which employee skills and attributes would most benefit their organizations and the Cortland community.

The Central New York Regional Vision for College, Career and Citizenship Readiness represents a steadfast commitment to preparing students for their future as lifelong learners, as skilled workers or entrepreneurs, and as global citizens.

The New Tech Network and the CNY Regional Vision share three main tenets, which are “instruction that engages,” “culture that empowers,” and “technology that enables,” a philosophy which strives to empower students with engaging instruction and real-world learning opportunities, while providing a collaborative, interactive, technology-based learning environment.