Published: May 07, 2008 02:18 pm         

Skilled scholars

More April Skilled Scholars

At Century Career Center each teacher will nominate two students throughout the year to receive the title of Century Career Center Skilled Scholar.

All Century Career and technical education students in grades 10 through 12 are eligible and must be exceptional in some way — for example, have completed a unique project, done an outstanding good deed either in class or out of class, have demonstrated outstanding or improved grades, attendance, attitude, positive work ethic, effort, most improved, etc.

These students will be a top skilled scholar in their career and technical class and an example for others to follow.

Students must be nominated by their Century Career Center instructor and they must have a GPA of 3.0 or higher in their Century Career Center class. Students will receive a plaque, have an article written about them in the Pharos-Tribune and have their name engraved on a plaque in the main hallway at Century. In addition, at the end of the year, a banquet is planned in honor of the skilled scholar students and their parents along with this year’s sponsors.



Student: Chris Harmon

Instructor: Ron Geik

School of: Manufacturing

Class: Welding



Chris Harmon is taking a class in manufacturing with a goal to own his own welding shop.

What he likes most about these classes at Century Career Center is “it gives me an opportunity to learn a trade while in school to better prepare me for the real world.”

His plans after high school are to go to Vincennes University for their welding program.

He believes this class is helping him prepare for the future because “it gives me an idea of what to expect and what is expected of me not only in college but also in my career choice.”

Chris will be receiving an AWS D1.1 welding certification.

He belongs to the Logansport High School Bowling Club and enjoys bowling and fishing in his spare time.

Asked about his favorite teacher, he replied, “Mr. Geik, because he expects a lot out of me, and he drives me to excel in everything I do.”

The person Chris looks up to the most is his grandmother because “she has stood behind me in every decision I have ever made 100 percent.”

His proudest moment would be when he won sectionals his sophomore year going into the stepladder final as the last seeded bowler.

Advice Chris would give to other students about career planning is “take advantage of the opportunity you have in the career center. It will help you make your decision in making a decision in what you would like to do after high school.



Ron Geik is Chris’s instructor in the manufacturing program.

He believes Chris’s greatest strength is his good work ethic and good welding skill.

“Chris deserves this honor because he has worked hard and has made substantial progress,” he says.

His greatest accomplishment is he should be certified to AWS D1.1 structural welding code by year end.

Some major tasks Chris has learned through this class include being a part of a trailer build project among a variety of other projects.

His goals for Chris are to get his welding certification. “Chris is a good worker and has accomplished well above average,” he says.



Student: Scott Hickey

Instructor: Mr. DeGrief

School of: Business

Class: Advanced Computer Programming and Software Development



Scott Hickey is taking a class in advanced computer programming and software development.

What he likes most about these classes at Century Career Center is “the hands-on learning, interesting topics and fields, and you actually get to see what you can create with the knowledge you acquired.”

His plans after high school are to go to college at Indiana Tech and major in Computer Security Investigation.

He believes this class is helping him prepare for the future because “it gives me a chance to learn my field of study that I would really like to do later on in my life, and I get to be hands on and not reading out of a book every day.”

He is involved in the bowling club, and his hobbies include reading, friends, bowling and gaming.

Asked about his favorite teacher, he replied, “Mr. DeGrief. There are more things than this space allows, but he really takes his teaching to heart and goes out of his way to make sure we understand something. He goes beyond the books in his classes.”

The person Scott looks up to the most is his dad because “he is always there for me encouraging me and pushing me to do my best. He has shown that if you work hard enough toward your goals, anything is possible.”

His proudest moment would be this year in AP computer science when he got his first computer program project working.

Advice Scott would give to other students about career planning is “take multiple career classes, get your hands into as many things as possible, because it will make choosing a career a lot easier and then chase the one you enjoy. These classes will help prepare you to do a job like it in the real world.”



Mr. DeGrief is Scott’s instructor in the advanced computer program.

He believes Scott’s greatest strength is his drive to understand what he does not yet know.

“He has been so much help in my classes. He is a class leader, mentor and helper,” he says.

His greatest accomplishment is he has a great future ahead of him.

Some major tasks Scott has learned through this class include various code types as well as preparing for his computer science AP exam.

His goals for Scott are that he pass his AP test, go to the college he desires, succeed and have a great life. He thinks if Scott ever wanted to, he’d be a great teacher.