Dr. Bennett delivered the curriculum report, summarizing three items: a student film festival on middle-school challenges, career-technical education (CTE) programming at another district that partners with Sinclair Community College, and employer emphasis on industry credentials.

The film festival — presented as the Friends for Friends Film Festival — featured student-made short films addressing topics such as cyberbullying, dating abuse, peer pressure and anxiety. Dr. Bennett said students earned awards across many categories, and the festival films are available on YouTube.

Dr. Bennett also summarized a Kettering City Schools program that offers 15 career-technical programs and a multimillion-dollar grant supporting advanced manufacturing training, where students earn credits at Sinclair Community College while learning welding and CNC machining skills.

Why it matters: Dr. Bennett said employers increasingly view industry credentials and real-world skills as essential and that “just a diploma is not good enough anymore.” The board discussed whether the district should expand offerings the career center provides or create similar school-based programs because the existing career center is at capacity.

Board members noted scheduling challenges for joint programs and said legislative proposals on calendars could affect coordination among districts. The superintendent and other board members suggested exploring joint programming and calendar alignment so students wishing to remain at their home high school could still access career-technical training.

Dr. Bennett closed the update inviting questions; board members asked no substantive follow-up during the meeting.

Ending: The district will continue to explore ways to expand access to CTE credentials, including potential joint programming with the career center and internal high-school offerings.