Students Of The Month: April, 2025
- Penny S. Jenkins
- Apr 9
- 2 min read
The Washington County Career Center honors its April students of the month, Makayla and Owen.
Makayla is a Fort Frye senior enrolled in the Sports Medicine & Exercise Science program. She is the daughter of Scott and Amy of Lowell.
At the Career Center, she is a member of the SkillsUSA youth organization, student council, and is class parliamentarian of her technical program. She competed at the state level for SkillsUSA in the category of job demo open.
She has been on the Career Center’s honor and merit rolls. At Fort Frye, she was a varsity cheerleader in her freshman and sophomore years.
In her academic and technical classes, she has earned or is working on earning industry-recognized credentials, certifications, and college credit for careers in health care, exercise science, first aid-personal safety, health & fitness foundations, intro to exercise science,
introduction to human disease, introduction to nutrition, medical terminology, resistance training, and statistics.
She is taking course offerings and learning skills for athletic injuries & prevention, exercise & athletic training, nutrition & wellness, and sports exercise psychology. Sports Medicine & Exercise Science instructor, Lauren Copen, commented, “Makayla is very helpful to her instructors and other students. Her work ethic excels in both the lab and classroom.”
She is currently employed at Right at Home as a caretaker for the veteran’s program. She plans to attend the Career Center-Adult Technical Training to obtain certification as a certified nursing assistant.
Owen is a Fort Frye senior enrolled in the Masonry program, and he is the son of Drew and Sally of Beverly.
He is a member of the Career Center’s SkillsUSA youth organization and is class vice president of his technical program. He has been on both the Career Center honor and merit rolls. At Fort Frye High School, he is a member of FFA. Through Washington State College of Ohio, he is a member of Educational Talent Search. Additionally, he has been a member of 4-H for seven years and shows cattle at the local fairs. This past year, he received grand champion at the Morgan County Fair.
He has earned industry-recognized credentials for National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) – Core & Level 1 as well as for Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 10-hour training. He is taking course offerings and learning skills for concrete & residential masonry, construction safety & crew leadership, construction technology – core & sustainable construction, and masonry – brick & block. Masonry instructor, Casey Strahler, commented, “Owen has an outstanding work ethic. He values friendship and teamwork. He gets along well with everyone and believes in providing quality work.”
He is currently employed with Mondo Building & Excavating as a laborer through the Career Center’s early placement program, which he hopes to continue after graduation.