Watson

SALINEVILLE – Utica Shale Academy Superintendent Bill Watson is building his network for creating successful students by participating in the Excellence in Education Executive Coaching (EC3) program.

Watson completed the program in September after attending an event with 19 others in Alabama, plus he traveled to Wisconsin for a similar activity this past July. It was delivered through the National Coalition of Certification Centers (NC3), a value-driven organization and future model for career and technical education. He became involved after attending an NC3 Leadership Summit last year where he earned a leadership award. Watson commented that NC3 has also been a longtime partner with USA by providing certifications for the community school’s students.

“I was part of a group that’s toured and seen things throughout the state. I went to Alabama to see how the partnerships work. We toured facilities, met with collaborators, saw the how and why of the educational process, and held roundtable talks.” he said. “Most of NC3’s certification is college-based, so it’s nice that our kids are getting the same certifications here as they are at The Ohio State University.”

So far, about 120 to 130 students have gain certifications at USA and he said the cohort has given him further insight into how to help more pupils prepare for success in the workforce. Watson was paired with a representative from Hawaii and had an opportunity to network with other career-tech officials on hand.

“When you get to see what they’re doing with career-tech, it’s nice to bring some of that home and you don’t have to reinvent the wheel,” he added. “Our economies are different but we share some of the same problems. I think as we see Amazon and other places go to automation, we’re going to have a paradigm shift.”

Watson said it was a diverse group of people but they worked to solve problems together and learned to create new ideas to solve problems on their own. The program also included eight months of studying and a blend of online and in-person training, plus he met the president of 3M in the process. He noted that past and prospective cohorts also took part.

“It builds a network of people who are able to help think of ideas and it might come from different vantage points because they are not all necessarily from Ohio,” he said. “I’ve been looking at implementing ideas such as a Flight Works USA program curriculum to introduce them to using hand tools and also building foundational skills.”

Meanwhile, he may attend another event set for January in Michigan.

Watson received a letter of recognition from cohort President Dr. Bryan Albrecht and NC3 Executive Director Roger Tadajewski, who served with the EC3 coaching team, stating that he successfully completed the program.

“This initiative creates highly skilled, job-ready professionals through a growing network of educational partners and global industry leaders,” it added. “As a value-driven program, our focus remains on key initiatives that drive success for education, industry, the national workforce, and, most importantly, students.”

The correspondence continued that the goal of the EC3 program is to provide proven leaders the opportunity to excel in their professional careers through three strategic directions: Going beyond partnerships and establishing relationships; identifying positive personal actions and growth; and creating leadership trust and confidence through practice and experience.

“We commend you for your dedication to growth as a leader with a mission and thank you for your commitment to advancing education and workforce innovation,” the letter concluded.

The Utica Shale Academy includes more than 170 students in grades 7-12 and is a dropout recovery and retention facility that focuses on career-tech education for at-risk pupils and provides certifications to enter the workforce. For more information about USA, call 330-679-2000 or go online to uticashaleschool.com.