EDITOR’S NOTE: This is one in a series looking at what Northeast Ohio communities, school districts and organizations experienced in 2024 and what is facing them in 2025. The opening of the Eastern Lake County Welding Hub at Perry High School was one of the outstanding achievements last year in the Perry School District. Superintendent Jack Thompson provided a summary of the district’s major accomplishments in 2024 and top goals for 2025. The Eastern Lake County Welding Hub began operating in Perry High School at the start of the 2024-25 academic year. Perry Schools partnered with Lake Erie College to launch the hub, which serves students from eastern Lake County. Lake Erie College welding instructor Bill Miller works at the hub with students who gain pathways to graduation by earning various welding certifications. Students in the welding hub also can earn college credit at no cost through the College Credit Plus program. The Eastern Lake County Welding Hub was funded by an Innovative Workforce Incentive Programming Grant awarded by the Ohio Department of Education. Thompson said it took about 1 1/2 to 2 years to plan and design the welding hub. “It’s not one of those things that you set it up and take off,” Thompson said. Creating the new welding hub involved architectural changes, as well as installation of new ventilation systems, he noted. Thompson said whenever a new building is constructed or an existing building is renovated, a lot of behind-the-scenes work is done “to get that project to the finish line.” “With the Eastern Lake County Welding Hub, a lot of people worked a ton of hours to make that available and ready to go by the start of our school year in August, and we got there,” Thompson said. “And it just was a wonderful thing.” Also in 2024, Perry Schools received a $952,335 grant to expand career exploration and technical equipment opportunities for students. The district was awarded an Ohio Career Technical Education Equipment Grant from the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce. Thompson said the district will use some of that grant funding to create a Career Exploration Lab at Perry Middle School. “It not only will help guide our middle school students to the needs of our workforce in America, but also to things they are interested in,” Thompson said. “Hopefully, It will also inspire them to want to come to school and enjoy the experiences they’re getting.” The safety of students and staff continues to be a high priority for Perry Schools, Thompson said. After updating and upgrading the surveillance system on the district campus, Thompson said Perry Schools is installing a new bi-directional antenna system for the benefit of first responders, such as police and firefighters. “(The bi-directional antenna system) will guarantee any of our safety forces who come into any of these buildings will have outstanding communication capabilities with their communication devices,” he said. The district also is working hard to continue its tradition of employing excellent teachers, Thompson said. “We were able to hire some outstanding new teachers before the start of the 2024-25 school year, and they’ve hit the ground running,” he said. “It’s been exciting and it’s brought us new energy, and so we feel like we’re making some pretty strong transitions (in replacing experienced teachers who have retired), and maintaining the excellence that’s come to be expected academically by this community,” he said. Perry Schools also is taking a proactive approach to learn more about how Artificial Intelligence could affect the district. “We’ve had a group of teachers who have willingly stepped up to volunteer and go through seminars, and train and explore and research artificial intelligence, so that we can be as prepared as possible for those things as they come down and start to impact us,” he said. Thompson said he and other Perry Schools administrators also will be paying close attention to the draft of the next Ohio budget bill that Gov. Mike DeWine introduces in 2025. “Perry continues to be very reliant on state funding,” he said. “So we continue to lobby with our legislators, so that we hopefully will continue to be supported and are provided with the resources we need to operate.”