Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Twenty-four middle school students are better prepared for careers after high school, thanks to an innovative program at a local industry.
R.R. Donnelley & Sons' Middle School Project, in its second year, Tuesday night recognized the 24 graduates of its program.
"These are the people who'll be running our plants and our companies in the future," said Grant McGuire, Donnelley's Warsaw division director.
The students were divided into classes - advanced web page design, catalog page design and hands-on training - and for six weeks, two hours per week, learned their trade at the hands of the experts, Donnelley employees who volunteered to teach.
"I think technology is such a big part of our lives that they need to understand it and how to use it," David Hite, Donnelley systems analyst, said of the students in his advanced web page design class.
"It's fun and it's exciting - we're shaping the world. I'm here to give them the foundation; they can build anything they want on that foundation," he said.
The students said the classes were "great" and "fun."
This is the second year R.R. Donnelley has offered the program to middle school students, said Pat Outlaw, human resources professional at Donnelley. Outlaw also initiated the program.
Each student's work was shown Tuesday night, and each also received an award for his or her participation in the program.
Participating students were: Edgewood Middle School - Brooklyn Baber, Philip Burkus, Dietrich Eherenman, Noah Kintzel and Tyler Lutes; Lakeview - Chapin Chappell, Meagan Dorell; Milford Middle School - Simon Baumgartner, Natalie Garcia, Megan Pachynski, Michael Stiffler; Tippecanoe Valley - Carlos Herrera, Trenton Newsome, Austin Rovenstine, Anthony Young; Triton - Brittany Cook, Kyle Whiteman; Wawasee - Mike Gunderson, Troy Harper, Chris Medlock, Andy Wolf; Whitko - Brian Lardino, Joshua Licata and Joshua Thompson.
Project leaders were: Douglas Cripe, Susan England, David Hite, Darvin Lafferty, Joyce Randall, Richard Cripe, Michael Harrell, Stephen Hoover, Sandra Matson and Mark Swinger.
