BLANCHESTER — A group of Blanchester High School students have received praise for the impact they’ve made at the school, thanks to their business and marketing credential pathway course.

Andy Hamm, who teaches the course, told the News Journal the course helps prep the students for skills they may need in the workforce.

“A lot of employers are using these skills for team-based problem solving and looking at making processes a little more efficient,” said Hamm. “We teach the material to as many groups as we can. Then each group of students is tasked with coming up with a process that needs to be improved or a problem that they see, something that they can fix.”

Rachel Purdom, district curricular director involved with the Remote Ed Ex grant which was used for their contract with Maxwell Potential, and Emily Ledford, assistant director of student services, advised that the class came about through a grant that awarded them $26,000. The class was organized by Purdom, Ledford, principal Pandy McCarty, and guidance counselor Bess Long.

In this class, the students work together to decide what they want to focus on. They’re taught a system that shows them how to measure a situation, figure out the root cause of the problem, and how to solve it.

“They work with not just their group and me, but they’ll also bring in leaderships like Mrs. McCarty and (superintendent Randy) Dunlap. Because ultimately they gotta make sure that whatever they come up with fits into the parameters of the school,” said Hamm.

Through this class, the students would be able to earn their Lean Six Sigma green and yellow belts.

“When they go to apply to Ford or GE they use these team-based problem-solving skills, but more importantly, they see you’ve got your certification and that’s something they don’t have to train you for,” said Hamm.

Hamm showed interest in the class and wants to see it be successful.

It is a volunteer class, unless they need a pathway to graduate. But most of the students volunteered.

Nathan Campbell, a high school student and group leader, thought it would be an interesting class to participate in.

“My group remade the bathroom pass fill-out. We felt it was too long, so we shortened it down. Then with the help of Mr. Hamm, we also made a student hub where you could look up all info in one centralized location,” said Campbell.

The pass was a form but there were questions they felt were unnecessary, so they condensed and removed those questions to help make it more accessible.

To complete this task they surveyed students, talked about what should be addressed first and when it was done they did follow-up research.

Campbell said he found it enjoyable.

“It wasn’t that bad at all. We had a lot of fun with it. It’s a long time to do it but we put a lot of hard work into it,” he said, adding he recommends the course to others.

Hamm told the News Journal he was impressed at how well the students performed their tasks and hopes more students take part in it.

Reach John Hamilton at 937-382-2574