BELLEFONTAINE, Ohio – The Ohio Hi-Point Career Center unveiled the new Dr. Sloan Smart Technology Center to community members, business, industry and educational partners as well as local and state politicians Wednesday evening.
Dr. Sloan Smart Technology Center was created to address the growing industry needs in the district's local communities.
"When the US 33 Smart Mobility Corridor was announced – directly impacting our communities from Marysville to Indian Lake and surrounding counties – we knew we had the opportunity to implement a one-of-a-kind career training space that we could teach the skills needed by the industry," said Superintendent Rick Smith. "We are excited to host our Applied Manufacturing and Smart Technology Engineering programs in this state-of-the-art space next fall, focusing on autonomous vehicles, setting the standards for these types of programs around the state."
Within the new space, students will work with industry standard equipment to develop the skills and earn industry credentials through a partnership with the Transportation Research Center and The Ohio State University. The program will also provide students the opportunity to gain college credit to area institutions like Clark State Community College.
Several community partners were involved in making the Dr. Sloan Smart Technology Center possible including the Dr. Sloan Foundation and Trustees; the project construction team consisting of Freytag & Associates, Thomas and Marker, Honeywell, Vaughn Electric, and Regal Plumbing; as well as equipment, curriculum, and design partnerships with Honda Transmission Manufacturing, Clark State Community College, the PAST Foundation, Transportation Research Center, Rittal North America, and the Ohio Hi-Point Board of Education staff.
"The Dr. Sloan Smart Technology center is the start of our vision for what we want to accomplishment with our proposed permanent improvement levy, which will be on the May 8 ballot," said Superintendent Smith. "Our goal is to provide these types of learning environments for our career programs and academic classrooms on the Bellefontaine Main Campus as well as upgrade the equipment, technology, and tools within our district satellite programs." finished Superintendent Smith.