The Zanesville City School District is opening its doors to the community as it pursues partnerships between local businesses and students at the newly completed Zanesville Community School Vocational Education Building.

“We’re looking at ways to redesign that high school experience, not only for our community high school students, but for our traditional students where they can gain some hands-on skills that make them very valuable to the workforce,” said Zanesville Superintendent Doug Baker.

The 7,200 square-foot facility sits empty on purpose behind Zanesville Community High School.

The building is intended to be a “plug-and-play” facility in which different organizations can host training seminars that involve local students.

“We want our community high school students to have first bite at the apple on this,” said Baker. “We’ve put a really big effort over the last several years of connecting our academics with careers, whether that be a profession or a vocation, so this is just a natural extension of that connection to take place.”

Zanesville Assistant Superintendent Steven Foreman said the district invites other school to utilize the vocational building, as well. 

“Zanesville City does not close their doors to others,” said Foreman. “We’re just trying to better the community.”

Describing potential uses for the facility, Foreman listed off welding, heavy machinery, screen printing and inventory machinery training as examples. 

“We want our students and the community to start building those great portfolios they can take with them and those great skills they can take with them as they look for employment in the region,” said Baker.

Director and principal of Zanesville Community High School Jeff Moore said the new building offers an opportunity for students to have better employable skills upon graduation.

“If we can get some people that learn some of the things before they have to train them and can go out and step right into a job, and again, maybe it starts them at a better wage right off the bat because they have some skills already and they’ve already gotten their foot in the door with that business,” said Moore. 

In addition to job-specific training, Baker said students will also be gaining valuable soft skills that will make them more employable in the workforce.

“One of the business leaders that I’ve talked to in the past mentioned that when they have a training program, that gives them something above and beyond that 15-minute interview,” said Baker. “If that training plan goes on for six-weeks, they essentially get a six-week interview to see if the candidate is the right fit for the job.”

According to Baker, potential employers will be able to see if students are coachable, reliable and hard-working employees.

Moore said he hopes programming will begin around the start of the new year, although nothing is set in stone at the moment. 

The district is still waiting to solidify plans with local companies and is open to any suggestions for potential partnerships. 

“We’re still looking for some ideas,” said Moore. “We have a big sandbox, and we need some people to come and get involved and play in the big sandbox.”

The Zanesville Community School Vocational Education Building is a $600,000 facility that was paid in half through a grant from the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission (OFCC).

Zanesville was one of only three districts in the state that qualified for funding based on standards set by the Ohio Department of Education.

Additionally, the OFCC grant covered the cost of a 625-foot addition to the existing community school, the renovation of classroom and hallway space, as well as the remodeling of a 2,162 square-foot professional development area.