Apollo students show off for grandparents
If the parking lot at Apollo Career Center seemed fuller than
normal Wednesday, your eyes weren’t playing tricks on you.
The career center held a Grandparents Day event Wednesday
afternoon from 1-2:15 p.m. This was at least the 20th year for the event.
“Each year in October we invite our students to have a little bit of an open-house in which they can
invite their grandparents on to campus,” Tasha Sheipline, principal at the high school, said.
After a brief welcome by Superintendent Keith Horner, students
had the opportunity to walk around school with their grandparents and show them everything they’re up to in classes.
“Very rarely do you see schools that have something for their grandparents to be able to come onto the campus,” she said.
Melinda Trinosky was there visiting her granddaughter Liberty
Dickerhoof, a first-year student in the health sciences program.
“My aunt [saw] it online and I came home and she told me,”
Dickerhoof said. “The next day I came to school and saw a paper and was like, ‘I’m getting one of these papers.’”
She described it as a cool event for kids to spend time with their grandparents, something she felt
not many students her age did as they got older.
Trinosky, who worked in home care for 15 years, agreed with her.
“I’m from Van Wert, so I don’t get over here a lot to do some of the things that… she’s involved in,” Trinosky said. “She’s in cheerleading and I come see some of her games and stuff, but I thought
[going to Grandparents Day] would be cool because then I could see where she goes to school.”
She said it was a great feeling knowing Dickerhoof wanted to pursue a nursing career.
“[The event] is something I’ll always remember,” Trinosky said.
Nate Buell was showing his grandparents - Deb and Ron
Schroeder - around a welding class after his mother (who works at the school) told him about it.
“I thought it was pretty cool,” he said. “Then I thought it would be pretty cool to show my grandparents what I do at school every day.”
“I’m happy about it,” Deb Schroder said. “I get to come and see my grandson, see what he does, get to
see the school and how things are going within the school.”
Schroder had previously heard what Buell did, but never had the
opportunity to see him welding in the classroom.
“College is not for every student, so this is great [for] students that like hands-on and they want to get
into the field right away and start working,” Schroder said. “This is gonna be good for them [so] they
don’t just have to sit in the classroom and waste away.”
Carter Bauer, a student in the robotics program, heard about Grandparents Day over the school
announcements and wanted to
bring Wendy and Mark Bauer to school.
Wendy and Mark heard about it during an open house before classes started.
“We wanted to see the program that he’s working in and get a chance to see what he does,” Mark Bauer said. “We saw the equipment this
summer because the teachers invite parents and students to come and see the program, but
it’s also an opportunity to see the equipment in [use].”
After touring the robotics labs, Carter Bauer showed Mark and Wendy where his classes were.
The Bauer’s already plan on coming back for next year’s Grandparents Day. And while Mark admitted he enjoyed the ice-cream deserts
served at the end of the event, he also liked seeing how robotics equipment worked.
“We’ve been impressed by the program here at Apollo, and Carter really appreciates being here,” Wendy Bauer said.
All in all, Sheipline viewed Grandparents Day was a success.
“I think for students it’s very empowering, it really kind of instills a sense of confidence in what they do when they can actually showcase that to other people,” Sheipline said.
Sheipline said 224 grandparents were at Grandparents Day, a typical number for the
event.
“We’re usually somewhere in-between 200,” she said. “I have seen 275 before, [but] we’re usually in that 200 range, give or take."