Since 2015, Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Kokomo has partnered with the students of the Kokomo Area Career Center on numerous projects. We have contracted both the BUILDING TRADES and WELDING classrooms to build a custom, one of a kind table for our conference room. The craftsmanship of the table is first class and built to the exact specs we had asked for. We were unsure of the type of wood and base structure we would need but both classrooms used their knowledge and skills to create a gem that catches the eye of each visitor we have in our boardroom. Our team has contracted the creative minds in the GRAPHIC DESIGN lab to create custom point of sale material we present to customers and consumers for special marketing projects. In 2017, we were looking to update our corporate logo and the students created a unique design our team was extremely happy with. In 2018 our company began producing a podcast available on iTunes and were in need of a original logo and asked for a cartoon type design. The students created an animation graphic which we receive compliments on nationwide.
Our company has had tremendous collaboration on projects and ideas in the past and will continue to use the imaginative design and artisan skillset of these students for future projects. Cheers!
Brandon Bishop, Market Manager, Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Kokomo
“Now, more than ever, schools are experiencing a renewed interest and appreciation for the importance of career education. Public education is charged with the mission of preparing every student for either college or to be career-ready. As Superintendent, I am particularly proud of the ongoing work being accomplished by the staff and students at the Kokomo Area Career Center. Students are learning about careers, while receiving specific technical training as they learn valuable skills that will help them succeed in whatever career they choose.
These skills include financial literacy, entrepreneurship, marketing, business ethics, and much more. Our Creating Entrepreneurial Opportunities (CEO) class is in its 5th year of helping students learn about commerce in our community, while making connections with area business leaders and eventually designing a business from the ground up; our culinary arts program learns the business side of operating a restaurant on campus and running a community confectionary candy store weekdays after school; our welding and advanced manufacturing programs create products for sale while doing custom work for public sectors (including area school districts and city government) and private sectors; and our various design classes create products as well as complete videography services for several community clients. These commerce activities introduce students to career opportunities they previously may not have considered.
I also am very proud of the fact that our career center administrators reinvest the profits from these many endeavors either into the career center programs or by awarding scholarships to career center students who wish to pursue advanced technical degrees at area post-secondary schools, such as Ivy Tech Community College, Indiana University Kokomo and Purdue University Kokomo, as well as other nationally-recognized schools, including the Hobart Institute of Welding and the Culinary Institute of America.
Patrons can see from these many examples that Kokomo has multiple reasons to be proud of the work being done at the Kokomo Area Career Center. Want to know more? I encourage everyone to schedule a visit and learn about the many ways to be involved at the Kokomo Area Career Center.”
Dr. Jeff Hauswald, Superintendent of Schools , Kokomo School Corporation