photo by: Emma Delk

Randy Kowalczyk, WVU Industrial Extension’s Manager of Continuous Improvement, gives a presentation to Marshall County Schools career and technical education students.

Career and technical education students at Cameron and John Marshall high schools received insights into the workforce to use before and after graduation during their first Professional Learning day.

The program was created through the partnership of the West Virginia Department of Economic Development and WVU Industrial Extension to give Marshall County CTE students leadership insights and problem-solving skills

The 80 Marshall County students in the CTE program gathered at the John Marshall High School Fieldhouse on Thursday to participate in the program.

Randy Kowalczyk, WVU Industrial Extension’s Manager of Continuous Improvement, led the comprehensive student development workshop. The workshop included a two-hour morning session focused on process thinking and a two-hour afternoon session centered on leadership and problem-solving strategies.

Kowalczyk said the workshop covered “broad topics” of process efficiency, leadership and problem-solving that can carry over into “any industry.” He noted the insights he shared with students Thursday were the same he offered at an industrial plant the day before.

Marshall County CTE students were already brainstorming how to apply the organization lessons they’d learned in the morning session to their work in the CTE program.

JMHS sophomore Levi Whetzal said he would apply the organization lessons to his role of monitoring the vending machines at the high schools. Kowalczyk’s insights helped Whetzal come up with ways he could make his job of restocking the machines less difficult.

“I noticed that transporting stuff to the vending machines is a little tedious since I have to go back and forth to take out the money,” Whetzal said. “Often, when I take money out of the machines, I’m not prepared, so I end up not finishing and a teacher has to finish it for me, which can cause problems like money overflowing or a machine not working very well. I’m thinking about setting a certain date to take out the money from all the machines to avoid that tedious process.”

JMHS juniors J.J. Brown and Ash Roth also found Kowalczyk’s words to resonate with them as leaders within the JMHS Media Broadcasting program

“This has made me think a lot about organization and problem-solving,” Brown said. “He (Kowalczyk) talked about if there’s something in the way in a workspace that no one’s moved, it’s better to get it over with and move the item rather than let it stay there, which I want to start doing.”

Roth said he and Brown wanted to apply what Kowalczyk had taught them to their program, particularly the idea of keeping things organized regarding which students perform which jobs.

“I think a lot of people in our program can benefit from understanding they know their job better than anyone else,” Roth said. “I was blown away when Kowalczyk talked about that, and I like to think that everyone can do their job as long as they’re given a chance to.”

JMHS Automotive Tech teacher Jared Ulrich hoped his program students were learning ways to “make the shop more efficient” during the presentation.

“I tell my students every day that there are 18 of you and only one of me, so let’s find ways we can make my shop better,” Ulrich said. “Hopefully, this showed some of my students ways we can make things more efficient. These are lessons they can carry with them the rest of their lives.”