Dorothy Blaner, who served for more than 40 years as executive secretary at the Jefferson County Joint Vocational School, and Terry Burdick, who taught at the school for 25 years, enjoyed spending time together during Tuesday's 50th-anniversary celebration at the school. (Photo by Gallabrese)

BLOOMINGDALE — Dorothy Blaner has a simple way to describe why the Jefferson County Joint Vocational School has been a success that has spanned decades.

“It’s a great place to work — the community has always supported it,” she explained.

Blaner was among the hundreds of area residents, current and former students and faculty past and present who visited the school Tuesday afternoon as part of its 50th-anniversary celebration. They had the chance to tour the facility, learn more about its programs and enjoy meeting up with friends and former colleagues.

“We are truly grateful for the support we have received for this 50th-anniversary celebration,” said Ted Gorman, who became the school’s seventh superintendent last August. “Seeing our alumni, community members, faculty and students come together reminds us of what the JVS is all about — this school has always been about people, and you can feel that in this room.”

The school has been providing vocational and technical training to local students since it opened its doors in September 1975. Its enrollment today stands at 356 students, who are studying a wide range of career fields, from cosmetology to health technologies, from culinary arts and criminal justice to animal science.

“I think the quality of education here is amazing,” said Heather Hoover, the school’s principal. “What our students are learning in their labs and the skills they are going to leave here with will prepare them for the future, whether they’re doing post-secondary work, they’re going into the military or they are going right into the workforce.”

Blaner, a Toronto resident, served as the school’s executive secretary from 1978 through 2021. She worked with the first six superintendents — George Hargraves, John Oguich, Burchard Sheehy, Dana Otis, Dale Edwards and Todd Phillipson.

Its graduates, she added, have had a big impact on the community and beyond, landing jobs as local mechanics, electricians and stylists, and organizations including Hyatt Hotels, SeaWorld and the Ohio State Auditor’s Office.

“There are countless people locally who were employed because of the trades they learned here,” Blaner explained.

She was joined by many former staff members, including Terry Burdick.

A resident of the Smithfield area, Burdick taught English at the school for 26 years, from its opening in 1975 through his retirement in 2001.

“I loved it here,” Burdick said. “Those kids were really good. I did a lot in my English classes. I taught a lot of job skills, things like interviewing and resumes.”

He didn’t have a real curriculum to follow when the school first opened, he explained. That allowed him to improvise, using Reader’s Digest magazines and copies of the Herald-Star that were delivered to the school as part of the Newspapers in the Classroom project.

“That was a big part of my classes,” Burdick said. “We’d use them to read and do presentations.”

His former students remembered those lessons, with several approaching him during the afternoon, looking to talk about old times. He added that more than a dozen of those he had taught are working at the JVS.

Teaching was just a part of Burdick’s contributions — he said he also served as an adult education supervisor, and helped to administer tests for EMTs and other certifications. That adult education program was started in January 1976 and offers a wide variety of classes that help area residents expand their skills. This year’s offerings ranged from small engine repair to floral design and basic crochet.

Changes that have happened at the school during the past 50 years have been good, Burdick said.

“The building has been well kept, it’s up to date,” he said. “It’s funny when you listen to the news. Vocational education has always been here, and they’re now just finding it. They don’t push students into four-year education like they used to — it’s vocational.”

Programs offered at the school have changed during the years — and that’s helped to ensure its growth.

“Still, today, the education is relevant — maybe even more so, with the internet and computers,” Burdick added. “We used to have a business program where you just typed. But now with the internet and all of the other things they have going on, there are more programs that are relevant for today. I think we are just as relevant as we have ever been.”

Blaner, Hoover and Burdick agreed that the dedication of the teachers and the desire to learn shared by the students makes for a good environment at the JVS.

“The teachers spend time with their students,” Blaner said. “Some of them visit their homes. The teachers would speak to the kids one-on-one, and there would be small classes. Here, the students were treated as adults who could take responsibility and learn their craft. They could embark on competitions in their skills or trades. They learned what they wanted to learn, whether their parents had a background in it or not.”

Hoover said things really seem to come together at the school.

“I think that we have excellent programs, excellent staff and I think our students want to be here. They apply to come here and I think when they get here, they are excited,” she said.

It’s a perspective Burdick was reminded of during a meeting.

“A parent summed it up well in one of my conferences when they said, ‘I don’t know what you guys do with my kid out here, but my kid talks about school and is excited,'” he said. “They like it out here — they’re doing something they like to do.”

Blaner added that the JVS has helped provide direction for generations of students.

“I think the best thing about the school is that it gave you a trade and it gave you a future,” she said.