WCCC E-News

On Wednesday, events around the nation commemorated the terrorist attack that shook our nation on September 11th, 2001. Lebanon hosts their own 9/11 memorial which includes a piece of steel from the World Trade Centers. Every year the site plays host to a memorial event and for the last four years, the Warren County Career Center Digital Media Arts program has been involved. Under the direction of Mr. Justin Deeter, a group of students has captured pictures and video of the ceremony, and for the first time this year will be involved with a live stream of the ceremony.

“This year, my class is collaborating with ICRC-TV station, offering students the chance to work directly with them on operating the mobile van for the local television and web channel,” Deeter said. “They will join us at the 9/11 event, where they will team up with the Digital Media Arts class to manage the production.”

ICRC is a community based media provider for 21 suburban Cincinnati communities. The channel covers a variety of events in these communities including government meetings and high school sports coverage, and more. The DMA program was joined by members of the WCCC Criminal Justice and Fire Science programs who were in attendance as well in addition to some students from the Graphics program who were taking pictures. The program is organized by Stand2Serve, a community of people who are dedicated to serving our first responders, medical professionals, military and veterans in our neighborhoods with community events that honor and remember their sacrifice and service to our nation.

The tragedy of September 11th, 2001 has not been lost on Deeter, who welcomes the chance to share the remembrance with his students, saying, “with family members in the military being sent overseas, the event made a lasting impression on me. Now, as a teacher, I am surprised to find that many of my students are unfamiliar with what happened on 9/11 and its impact on our country. Attending and documenting this ceremony will help them understand how profoundly it affected so many lives and transformed the world we live in today. It also provides the students with a valuable chance to experience the digital media field and connect with professionals and local businesses.”

With every new school year comes new faces, but this fall at the Warren County Career Center’s Atrium campus there’s a new face that stands out a little more. This year, Deputy Scott Williams joins the team at Atrium as the School Resource Officer with over 25 years of experience with the Sheriff’s Office. “We’re our own, self sustaining campus and with our emphasis on school safety, it made a lot of sense for us to have our own SRO, and we’re really lucky to have someone like Deputy Williams,” said Kim Gambill, director of the WCCC’s Atrium Campus.

A member of the county SWAT team and experienced in a variety of law enforcement areas, Deputy Williams is excited to be part of the team at the career center and views the role of school resource officer as one that’s not what it used to be. “This used to be a retirement gig for guys to end their career, but it’s not that way anymore. This is a role that people aim for because of the things you get to do and the impact you get to have,” he said. Deputy Williams will work closely with Deputy Ron Smith, the school resource officer for the Main Campus to help keep both campuses safe and secure.

Welding Alum Landyn Spivey, class of 2024, has wasted no time building his future. The 2024 graduate stays busy with work from a couple different areas. Spivey’s main job is as a welder for Fecon, an agricultural machinery manufacturer, in Lebanon.

“I love my job because of the people. Everybody I work with at Fecon is great. They aren’t afraid of helping you if you need any and they feel like a real family,” said Spivey. When he’s not at Fecon, he’s welding pieces in the shop and in the field for Spiveys Masonry and also selling heavy equipment attachments, with the goal of being able to weld his own to sell.

In addition to learning how to weld, Spivey said he valued the work ethic and attitude WCCC helped instill in him, including how to have a better attitude when things aren’t going well. Landyn is glad to have a great workplace and hopes that the next crop of students will see the value in it as well. When asked what he would tell the next class of welding students, he said, “there is so much more for them to learn… I’ve had to do many different kinds of jobs and each one teaches me so much.”