Four county high schools will participate in a new e-commerce training program designed to build the technical skills needed in today’s new economy.

Thursday, April 12, 2001

Four county high schools will participate in a new e-commerce training program designed to build the technical skills needed in today’s new economy.

Plus, the program will boost the area’s potential in drawing new technical industry, school officials said.

The Appalachian Center for Economic Networks (ACEnet), a community economic development non-profit organization in Athens, is making its innovative Computer Opportunities Program available to high schools in the Sixth Congressional District, thanks to a development conference hosted recently by Ohio University Southern Campus and U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland, said Don Washburn, technology curriculum supervisor with the Lawrence County Educational Service Center.

"Students and teachers jointly design and participate in the dynamic curriculum that results in computer and entrepreneurial skill building," Washburn said. "As a result, students can gain employment in or ownership of a technology based business, or pursue higher education in business or computer sciences."

Local high schools include Dawson-Bryant, Ironton, Rock Hill and South Point.

Through entrepreneurial projects, students in the ACEnet class become proficient in dealing with computer software, including word processing, graphics, spreadsheets, databases and web design, and understand how these computer skills relate to creating and running a successful business, he said.

Students also learn to work in groups, and develop leadership, communication and presentation skills required in today’s job market, he said.

The curriculum is one year in length but consultants are working on a two-year plan.

The educational service center, OUSC and high schools hope to work with the Ohio Department of Education and Tech Prep to grow the ACEnet curriculum into a two-year Tech Prep class program, Washburn said.

"This is a great example of how our area’s educational agencies and schools are working together through Tech Prep and other initiatives to provide a highly skilled pool of graduates, both technically and academically, with hopes of attracting employers to southeastern Ohio," he said.