Senior year is just around the corner… such a relief, & yet still kind of scary. I hope my senior year will be one to remember with just the right balance of hanging with friends, & accomplishing my goals. It’s weird to think that I only have one more year of school left. I guess that’s just because I’ve spent year after year going back to school at summer’s end. I do think though, that Ohio Hi-Point is preparing me to make the transition from High School into college easier. Because of the more independent environment of Ohio Hi-Point I feel like I have been able to discover myself as an individual, apart from my identity within my group of friends at my home school. I plan to take full advantage of my senior year in every way possible,  go out with a bang, and really make it count.
The school year is officially coming to a close. I won’t be blogging a whole lot this summer because I have a lot of plans. I’m going to be working a lot, but I also have some fun things planned as well. At the end of June, I actually have an opportunity to attend Ohio Business Week Camp, and I’m being sponsored by Ohio Hi-Point. I’ll get to explore a lot of new concepts in the area of business and it will be a good learning experience for me, so I probably will blog to you guys about that. =) Also, I’ll be attending our school’s annual Band Camp at Bluffton University! Call me a geek, I LOVE band camp. One thing I love about OHP  is that they are very flexible, so I get to do marching band and I don’t have to miss out on all the good times. I’m sure this summer will fly by, and I’ll be back at this again, blogging away to you guys! Until then, peace. =)

Hey! My senior journey has been a blast. I couldn’t have asked for more between all of my friends, a great school, and all of the new opportunities that have been opened up for me. I spent time doing things that every senior could dream about doing. Working at my job, doing what I love in Information Technology, looking for the right college to go to and the field I want to stick with for the rest of my life. OHP has helped me out so much. It made me decide what I like to do, what I wouldn’t want to do, made me mature and become completely ready for the rest of my life.
I have a lot of friends getting ready to graduate back at my home school, and they still don’t even know what they want to do. They don’t know what field they want to go in, what school to go to or anything. I feel I am so far ahead of everyone because not only do I know what I want to do, but also I’ve already been doing it for two years. It gives me confidence and experience to do what I love. I had the next 4-5 years of my life planned out, but unfortunately some things have come up and I wasn’t able to go to the school that I was originally accepted to and was on the path to go to. I will be going to Clark State for Cyber Security and Networking Administration for the first year and hopefully by the next year I will be financially stable enough to move around to Columbus State Community College for the same field. I couldn’t be more sure that Ohio Hi-Point has made me who I am today and has opened my life up for so many more opportunities. Even though I am graduating I will still be checking up on the site. I hope I have made a positive influence on you and how you choose to start off the beginning of your life. Have a good summer!

Ohio Hi-Point has been a good experience for me thus far because it allows me an opportunity to learn differently than I would at my home school. In our classrooms we get hands-on learning, and are able to actually put what we learn into practice. It’s preparing me for a career, so I don’t feel like I’m wasting time with something I will never use. One of the things I love about my lab in particular is that I can explore different aspects of something that I’m interested in (technology), and kind of decide from there where my talents fit best into that broad field. For me, it’s combining communication, technology, and art to get Digital Media. But not only do I get the opportunity to decide that before I get to college (so I don’t have to switch my major 6 times to figure out what I like), but the other benefit is that I’m getting credits in other areas of technology that might count toward my general education electives requirements in college, and I’m also getting certifications that can help me in the future to secure a job until that perfect opportunity for a job I’d like to keep until I retire comes along.

At Ohio Hi-Point I have a very unique opportunity to get real world experience in what I’m studying. Two or three days every week I leave OHP at 1:30, and I get to go work without penalty to my grades or attendance through a program called School-to-Work.  I work for Royer Realty Ltd. as an office assistant.
At my job I take care of all the tech problems we have, and I also practice basic office skills such as filing. This experience so far has been great, and has helped give me experience in a professional setting, and it has helped me to build my resume so I can be a great candidate for future employment in an office setting.

Juggling school and work can be slightly difficult on many different occasions. All of your “high school plans” have to revolve around your work schedule. You have to make sure you are responsible and do your school work, and you have to make sure you are professional and responsible at your job.
I work at a local supply store in many different departments. The main departments I focus on are being a cashier, sales associate, and I work on computers to help me gain more experience in my field, which is information technology. It gives me plenty of experience on working with customers and computers all at once. While having to deal with customers and their satisfaction every day it prepares me for everything that OHP is trying to teach us. They teach us to be responsible and to ensure that you are doing everything you can to make your employer/ customer happy.

Hey guys! My name is Shelby Shafer, and I’m a junior from West Liberty-Salem High School attending the Ohio Hi-Point  Information Technology lab.  I’ve recently been chosen to be added to the student bloggers and I’m SUPER STOKED! =) I can’t wait to share my day-to-day journey at OHP with the people of cyber space! lol.
I really enjoy being able to show people the true picture of Hi-Point and dispel all the rumors people hear. I’ll be blogging about my classes, activities, and just different aspects of my life here. There’s always something fun and exciting to share! Ohio Hi-Point provides SO MANY incredible opportunities, which I can’t wait to share with you as you follow my journey!
Peace until next time!

We haven’t really been at school a lot this month. So much snow has caused all schools to close causing some of us to stay home and still continue to work. Although I haven’t been at school, I’ve been working more and more on my college options.  I’m trying to plan as far ahead as possible for my future. Being in Information Technology I plan to stay in that field of study when I leave for college this coming fall. I will be working mainly on Computer Information Technology with a degree in Network Administration. I’m very excited for my future and plan to stay on track to get there.

This past week my lab had a “Women in Technology and Engineering” event. This was with girls from local schools interested in Information Technology. We had 10 girls show up and they went to different sessions for the whole day. Several labs participated in it, including Information technology, Electronics Engineering, and Architectural and Mechanical Design. There were also some women teachers that participated as well. There was a movie dealing with different IT fields, and a crime scene investigation including testing (fake) blood and urine to find out who was guilty of the crime. It was really fun to show girls that females can do just as good as a job as a male can!

Hey guys I’m back!! I seems like it’s been forever since my last blog! We have been working hard on all sorts of things at Hi-Point. It’s mainly the time of year where we are focusing on our senior projects. My senior project is creating the website for Logan County Family and Children’s First Council. I am doing this with the help of my lab teacher and our IT teacher, Ms. Blackburn.

I started out with having to install a program on their host that would allow them to easily update their content once I was through. Then moved on to finding a template that did just what they needed at the time. Then moved on to adding their pictures and all their content. I have met with them several times since so we can check on progress and discuss whether they want any changes. Recently they have decided that the original template they didn’t like so I am in the progress of finding a new one. Templates can be extremely hard to work with because you can only change certain things. These changes may not always be something you want to change. They cause problems such as not being able to change something. I am still working out the bugs.

Overall senior projects are a big part of our senior year at Hi-Point. It is a graduation requirement that helps you show off what you really learned. Every lab does it different though. At the end of the year I get to present mine to judges to be graded. Wish me luck! It’s been really something working on this project. It has made me think about whether I really want to do web design or not in college.

Hey everyone! I’m working on starting to set new goals for the new year. I think I’m really going to focus on more stuff that’s going to affect my life in a more positive way that will help me when I leave high school and start on my own. Some of the goals I have been thinking about are to really work on my school work, be more of a positive influence everywhere I go, work harder while at my job, and to be someone that people can look up to for anything they do. Hopefully it’s not too much of a challenge and I can strive everyday to achieve. Have a nice winter break! And Happy Holidays!