By ABBEY NICKEL
STAFF WRITER AT THE COURIER
Walk the halls of Millstream Career Center, and you’ll soon realize you’re touring a hair salon, a casual sit-down restaurant, and an auto repair shop all at once.
This atmosphere is what draws hundreds of students to Millstream every year, Director Chris Renn said. “This facility has really taken Millstream to the next level,” Renn said of the building that opened in the fall of 2012. “It’s like you’re on a college campus.”Renn said combining all of the programs that make up Millstream into one facility has made an impact on how many students can b e served, and the progress they make. Renn said Millstream has 18 different programs and represents 12 different careers. Millstream currently serves 15 school districts, including Hancock County high schools, Carey High School in Wyandot County, and four districts from Putnam County: Pandora-Gilboa, Ottawa-Glandorf, Leipsic and Miller City. Enrollment is about 550 students, Renn said, with that number expected to grow. Renn said that over the past year one thing he, along with other administrators, has pushed for is higher dual enrollment with Owens Community College. “We have over 100 students enrolled (in both) and that’s a great number to have. That’s something we’ve worked really, really hard (for) and the greatest benefit of this is that we’re saving these students thousands of dollars in college tuition through this,” Renn said. Renn said technology purchases have also been a highlight over the past year at Millstream. One of the purchases was a $38,000 robot for use in the engineering and Computer Aided Drafting technology program. Renn said that over the next year, Millstream plans on making more major technology purchases for the CNC program to help students with hands-on learning. CNC is a computer-controlled cutting machine. 
“Many of the students here are hands-on learners, and having equipment they can use only works in their favor for their learning,” Renn said. Renn said Millstream’s most popular programs are medical technology and welding. The medical technology program typically gets around 60 applicants a year, and the program has 24 seats, making it highly competitive, Renn said. Welding is another big draw for students because there’s a 100 percent job placement rate for welding program graduates. Millstream is adding another program to the list for the next school year, a senior-level manufacturing class that will be called robotics. The purpose of the program is to help prepare students for future job openings in manufacturing facilities, Renn said. “The reason we are pushing for this class right now is because we will have hundreds of jobs open in Hancock County before we know it because of retirements, and we need to have students ready to fill those positions,” Renn said. Renn said he hopes students seriously consider the program because of the opportunities that will start becoming available. He also hopes that the stigma about factory jobs can be fixed. “Parents like to say that they would never want their kid to work in a factory, but they’ve never been in these factories and they’re telling their kids these things before they even see it and realize the opportunity they could be missing out on,” Renn said. Renn said as Millstream continues to grow, he’s confident that more and more students will be able to find a career they not only enjoy, but can make a reasonable living from after high school because of practical programs such as welding, auto technology, and medical technology. “Let’s just put it this way: The kids that make the decision to go here and do well usually find themselves in satisfactory situations after graduation,” Renn said. “You don’t find that very often.”
Original Article: http://thecourier.com/local-news/2015/02/28/progress-millstream-career-center-adds-equipment-programs/
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