The mission statement of the Educational Service Center of Medina County (ESCMC)states, “The ESC of Medina County will be the leader in providing services and products that promote excellence in education.” This statement is short and precise, but the staff of the ESC takes this mission seriously and consistently strives to provide valuable educational and support services to the school districts throughout Northeast Ohio who are served by the ESCMC. The ESC is committed to research and offers services that are high-quality and cost-effective for every district, continuously evaluating our level of service and exploring new avenues that will support and enhance our member districts.
The ESCMC is proud of the fact that we have been a provider of the Ohio Pre-Service Bus Driver Training Program since the inception of the statewide program in 1978. The Medina County program covers ten counties in Ohio that produce the most school bus drivers and van drivers in the state. During the 2015-16 school year our program consisted of 25 5-day classes where 977 school bus drivers were trained and 703 van drivers were certified. The purpose of the program is to ensure that all school bus drivers in Ohio are trained to meet all of the requirements as set by the Pupil Transportation Operation and Safety Rules. This program was recognized this past year as the School Bus Driver Training Program that ensures the highest level student safety in the United States.
Over the past several years the ESC has developed new programs that have become staples in our service offerings.
Once again, the Ohio Educators’ Symposium will be offered for four days in June. The keynote speaker will be Dr. Sylvia Rimm, noted psychologist and gifted and talented children’s advocate. This professional development opportunity for Ohio teachers and administrators will bring in top presenters from across Ohio who will conduct dozens of breakout sessions on gifted education, technology, diversity, and special needs. Two hours of graduate credit are available to participants through the University of Akron or Ashland University. Several hundred educators have participated in this offering over the past four years.
A new program that was launched this past August is “Project SEARCH.” This is a one-year internship program for students with disabilities in their last year of high school. The goal for each student enrolled in the program is to achieve competitive employment in the private sector at the end of the program. Each student in the program participates in a rotation of three internships within the host business monitored and guided by instructors from the ESCMC. The partner-host company for this year’s program is the Westfield Insurance Group. The Educational Service Center of Medina County is proud of the accomplishments of our member districts , and the role ESC has played in assisting them in their endeavors. The ESCMC will continue to research and explore new or expanded services to meet the needs of our districts, their students and their teachers.