Terra State and Vanguard-Sentinel partnership gives students head start

A new partnership between a local career school and community college is expected to save local families a lot of time and money.

Terra State Community College and Vanguard-Sentinel Career and Technology Centers officially began a partnership to help develop better career pathways for their students on Wednesday.

The goal is to give these students a head start for potential jobs of the future.

"The other side of the issue is you look at our schools with over 30 percent remediation, we need to figure a better way to train our children so that they've got something that they can go forward with school," said Bill Reineke, state representative for Ohio's 88th District.

The program streamlines eight programs that both institutions already offer from auto technologies to criminal justice, and health and medical.

It allows the classes that students at Vanguard have already taken to be acknowledged as complete by Terra State.

"It was our way to eliminate some of that duplication, and making sure that we can find a way to save students, parents, families money in the end," said Greg Edinger, superintendent for VSCTC.

After each year of the three-year program, students will receive industry certifications.

After taking courses their senior year at Terra State, the students can graduate high school with an associate's degree.

"You now have college credit, you now have obtained maybe three industry credentials. So, you're work ready by the time you finish your junior year," said Ron Schumacher, interim president of Terra State Community College.

Both entities have a bit of administrative work to finish up this summer, but the program will be up and running by the upcoming school year.