NORMAL — Now that summer maintenance projects are nearly complete and new contracts are in effect for staff, McLean County Unit 5 is ready to open its doors to students on Aug. 16.
NORMAL — Now that summer maintenance projects are nearly complete and new contracts are in effect for staff, McLean County Unit 5 is ready to open its doors to students on Aug. 16.
Unit 5 Superintendent Kristen Weikle said the district's operations and maintenance crews have been at work over the summer to install fences, repave driveways and parking lots, and take fresh paint to schools and facilities, as well as basketball and pickleball courts.
Although maintenance projects are nearly finished, Dayna Brown, director of communications and community relations for Unit 5, said there will always be road construction projects near Unit 5 schools. Therefore, she urged parents to be alert when dropping off students and urged the community to be aware of students walking to school.
Unit 5 also will be entering the school year with new contracts for Weikle and collective bargaining unit members of the district.
Last month, the school board approved a four-year contract for Weikle with an annual salary of $206,093. She would be eligible for annual salary increases based on certain performance indicators.
At the time of Weikle's hiring in 2020, she was given a three-year contract with an annual salary of $185,000.
The board also signed four-year contracts with the Unit 5 Education Association and the Unit 5 Support Professionals Association.
Starting this academic year, the base salary for members of UFEA, which represents roughly a thousand Unit 5 educators, would be around $40,000 and would grow to about $42,600 by the end of the contract. This doesn't include contributions to the Teachers' Retirement System.
Under the support professionals contract, paraprofessionals would start at a base hourly rate of $18 an hour in the 2023-24 year and $19.48 an hour in the 2026-27 year.
The new contracts come three months after voters in Unit 5 approved a referendum to increase the tax rate for its education fund, which advocates said was necessary to avoid hundreds of job losses and program cuts.
Weikle said the district is still looking to fill openings for a number of positions.
"We're always looking for substitutes of all kinds: substitute teachers, substitute teaching assistants, substitute custodians (and) substitutes in food services," Weikle said.
Unit 5 also is in need of special education staff speech language therapists, school social workers, school psychologists, paraprofessionals and teacher's assistants.
Including substitutes, Brown said the district has around 2,650 staff members. Without substitutes, the total is around 2,050.
Brown said as of Friday, there are about 47 classified positions available, which include paraprofessional positions, custodian and maintenance positions, administrative assistants and interns. There also are around 18 open certified positions.
However, these numbers often are in fluctuation, Brown added.
Weikle said the school district will be seeking community input about the best practices of the district later in the year.
"We are going to start strategic planning," Weikle said. "Later this fall, we will communicate this to families and communities to get their involvement in the process."
Contact Drew Zimmerman at 309-820-3276. Follow Drew on Twitter: @DZimmermanLee
ABILENE Texas State Technical College’s aviation maintenance program draws students for different reasons a Friday news release said.
At Abilene’s campus, TSTC offers Aircraft Airframe Technology and Aircraft Powerplant Technology allow students to choose a path into the industry. Many students have jobs lined up before they graduate, and that has become a factor in many students’ decisions to enroll in the program.
In observance of National Aviation Day on Saturday, Aug. 19, students recently discussed their experiences in the program. National Aviation Day was established in 1939 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to honor the birthday of aviation legend Orville Wright.
James Tyler, of Abilene, is attending classes at TSTC and is one of several students working for Eagle Aviation in Abilene.
“It is a good experience for me because I can take what I learn in class and apply it at work,” he said. “I can also take what I learn at Eagle and use it in class.”
Ross Jones, an aviation maintenance instructor at TSTC’s Abilene campus, said the partnership with Eagle Aviation has helped the program grow each year.
“It is one of our major selling points to students because they will be able to walk out with a degree and not travel far for their career,” he said. “Eagle is important for us because they keep us updated on what is happening with the industry.”
Abner Romero, who is originally from Puerto Rico and now lives in Abilene, said being part of TSTC’s dual enrollment aviation classes led him to enroll full time to pursue his Associate of Applied Science degree in both Aircraft Airframe Technology and Aircraft Powerplant Technology.
“I found the program interesting while in high school,” he said. “I learned the basics of the airplane in my dual enrollment classes, but I wanted to have a better understanding of how the planes operated. I wanted to learn it all.”
Romero has long been surrounded with aviation discussions at home because his father works for Eagle Aviation.
“My dad would always tell me stories about what was happening at the airport,” Romero said. “I thought it would be something I would like to do as well.”
Josh Gonzalez, of Arizona, said he wanted to study aviation at TSTC after touring the hangar and talking to instructors.
“The instructors walked me through the hangar and detailed what I will be able to learn,” he said. “I have always enjoyed learning how things operate and knew that this was a good career path.”
The students said the best part of the program is learning from qualified instructors who are in the hangar daily, showing them how to improve.
“They have a lot of experience in the field and share their stories with us,” Gonzalez said., “We are going to be ready for our career because they are providing us with the knowledge to be successful.”
The need for aircraft mechanics and service technicians in Texas was forecast to grow 16% between 2020 and 2030, according to onetonline.org. The average annual salary for a technician in the state is $67,680, the website stated.
TSTC offers Associate of Applied Science degrees and certificates of completion in both Aircraft Airframe Technology and Aircraft Powerplant Technology at its Abilene, Harlingen and Waco campuses.
Registration for the fall semester is underway. For more information, visit tstc.edu.
Michigan continues to lead electric vehicle industry development in the U.S., creating and sustaining EV-related jobs and training that are critical to serving consumers and businesses – both in Michigan and nationwide. As I shared with you earlier on these pages, Michigan’s EV Jobs Academy is at the forefront of these efforts and Monroe County Community College and its partners are working hard to build from scratch the tools and networks to teach, train and maintain Michigan’s developing EV infrastructures.
Reports continue to show that EV vehicle design/development, battery production and charging planning/maintenance (for both EVs and e-recreational/commercial vehicles) will be growth industries throughout the 2020s and into future decades. They will join other clean fuel efforts in hydrogen, compressed natural gas (CNG) and biofuels – as well as efforts to optimize efficiencies in current fossil fuel use and distribution (gas/diesel use for passenger commercial vehicles and reliable, efficient electricity generation – essential for any future EV industry success).
In a recently released report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (a unit of the U.S. Department of Labor), authors Javier Colato and Lindsey Ice show double-digit percentage growth in software development (to optimize EV performance with real-time vehicle software updates) and chemical engineering (for battery design/production). Smaller, yet noteworthy, gains are projected to be achieved in training electricians (to install/maintain EV charging infrastructures and be liaisons for utility companies), construction workers (to support new construction and modifications to fueling locations receiving EV charging), electrical line workers (to upgrade/maintain existing electrical power grids/equipment) and community/urban planners (to support the need to, according to the report, map out where to place public charging to support the projections that one public charger is needed for every 10 to 15 EVs, even with drivers charging at home).
Not mentioned in the Colato/Ice Report but worth noting is the role of U.S. mining companies and the national/international mining industry to source and supply copper, lithium and other precious metals needed in battery production. The report also doesn’t discuss in detail maintaining EV motors and related components, although it does reference a decline in traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) maintenance (saving $8,000-$12,000 over the vehicle’s lifetime – excluding tire and brake maintenance which would not change significantly from current maintenance/cost levels).
Michigan’s EV-related course curriculum will be managed via the Michigan Workforce Training & Education Collaborative (MWTEC). According to Dennis Bona, MWTEC’s director of manufacturing and mobility programs, and Amy Lee, the Michigan Community College Association (MCCA) executive dean of collaborative programs, MWTEC will build upon successful efforts started in 2010 when five Michigan community colleges got together to teach X-ray and MRI courses in a program named the Michigan Radiologic and Imaging Sciences Consortium (MIRIS). The program was an instant success. In its very first year, MIRIS graduated and placed 100% of the student cohort and collected more revenue than expense for the operation of the program.
MIRIS later became Michigan College Online in 2015 and was operated by MCCA. Nursing was added along with eight other health education programs, and the number of schools expanded to 16 when the program was renamed Michigan Consortium for Educational Programs in Collaboration (EPiC). In 2022, because the EPiC model was so successful, especially with smaller, expensive curriculum/instruction programs that often employ emerging technology and/or new occupations, it was decided that EPiC needed to grow beyond health care programs.
EPiC’s EV curriculum will allow Michigan’s small community colleges like MCCC to add EPiC-delivered courses and develop/share new courses in partnership with other Michigan community colleges that are EPiC members. Courses like the new battery technician course might not be possible without MWTEC’s infrastructure and support.
Tom Adamich is president of Visiting Librarian Service, a firm he has operated since 1993. He also is project archivist for the Greening Nursery Co. and Family Archives and the electric vehicle awareness coordinator at Monroe County Community College.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Tom Adamich: Variety of jobs support electric vehicle growth
Range Resources Corp., Fort Worth, Tex., is targeting a maintenance program for the year, with production expected to come in relatively flat at 2.12-2.16 bcfed, with about 30% attributed to liquids production.
Second-quarter 2023 production was 2.1 bcfed, comprised of about 68% natural gas.
In this year’s second quarter, the company turned-in-line a total of 11 wells of 61 planned for the year with 41 wells remaining.
Cash flow from operating activities was $127 million for the quarter. Capital spending was $175 million, about 30% of the year’s budget. Drilling and completion expenditures were $166 million. About $9 million was invested in acreage leasehold, gathering systems, and other.
During the year’s second quarter, the operator had net income of $30.2 million compared with net income of $452.9 million in second-quarter 2022. The lower net income in this year’s second quarter reflects the impact of significantly lower commodity and on a reported derivative fair value income (loss). Second quarter earnings results include a $124 million mark-to-market derivative gain due to decreases in commodity prices.
Revenues for second-quarter 2023 totaled $637 million and net income was $30 million. Adjusted net income was $72 million.
The all-in capital budget for the year is $570-615 million.
As of June 30, 2023, Range had net debt outstanding of approximately $1.63 billion, consisting of $1.79 billion of senior notes and $162 million in cash.
We took a look inside at the new designs and what it takes to construct a brand-new school.
GUILFORD COUNTY, N.C. — We've been talking about the nearly 2-billion-dollar bond and how it is paving the way to build new Guilford County Schools (GCS).
We even took a look inside at the new designs and what it takes to construct a brand-new school.
But what about the older schools left with problems needing to be fixed?
Bond money is also being used to make much-needed repairs.
Picture this: your home is 20-30 years old and at this point, it's time for needed repairs. You're going to need to replace the HVAC, and fix pipes, the roof, and windows, and the longer you wait, the more expensive it will be.
This is exactly what GCS is dealing with on a much bigger scale.
"As you can imagine a school district that has over 126 schools and 12 million square feet, it is very difficult to have that size of a funding budget just for our operations and our capital," Deputy Superintendent of Business and Operations, Dr. Julius Monk said.
Without the right upkeep, it has created a lot of problems over the last few years.
"Unfortunately, two years ago, I came back from the summer and the ceiling had come down on all my belongings," GCS teacher David Rogers, Jr. said.
The longer the maintenance was delayed, the more money went down the drain.
Katrinka Brown, Principal at Northeast Guilford High School, said that there is a leakage coming from the HVAC unit and eventually the pipes will get closed on the roof.
"It costs us not only from the capital side but also for the utility cost, each year has continued to rise because our equipment is not running as efficiently as it should," Monk said.
Crews have the money to get to work. Of the 1.7 billion dollar bond going to GCS, 500 million dollars is for deferred maintenance.
The district reprioritized the projects needing work first focusing on three categories:
Site and building systems, which cover HVAC, roofing, and paving projects.
Safety and security, like cameras, intrusion, and fire alarms.
Technology, like intercoms, telephones, and audio/visual systems for classrooms.
36 school projects and two administrative projects are included in this first phase.
One of the schools on that priority list -- Northeast Guilford High School, with a 5.9 million dollar HVAC repair.
"This is the prime time when the heat is kicking in. When you add about 30 bodies to a room, it becomes extremely unbearable," Brown said.
She says the HVAC has caused additional problems besides no cool air.
"The [dripping] is from our HVAC, which is concerning of course when we you have electrical panels in the same room," Brown added.
While the dripping issues keep filling buckets, maintenance crews are already at work. The goal is to finish maintenance work at the priority schools in six years.
"Our school is very old so just seeing the updates that are already occurring is exciting," Brown said.
The work is being done to get these schools up and running in time for the start of school.
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MISA Specialty Processing is now looking to hire production associates and maintenance technicians and no experience is required for the production associate position.
The company offers a $1,500 sign-on bonus, competitive wages, employer-matched 401k profit-sharing incentives, free gym access and education assistance.
Benefits also include medical, dental and vision with low premiums, free life insurance and short and long-term disability.
NSRP General Director So Hasegawa said that during the 55-day period, the refinery will completely suspend all production activities.
To minimise impacts of the suspension, the company has been proactively taking measures to reduce the maintenance duration but still ensure quality. It is also coordinating closely with relevant authorities to prevent the suspension’s impact on the domestic fuel market.
The NSRP believes that after the maintenance, the refinery will boost production and ensure the timely and stable supply of petrol and oil products for domestic enterprises and consumers for many years ahead, he noted.
The executive went on to say that general maintenance is an important part of the firm’s safety commitment, enabling it to continue guaranteeing production safety, stable and long-term jobs for workers, and supply of high-quality fuel products for the domestic market even amid global economic headwinds.
The NSRP hopes to contribute more to the national energy security and socio-economic development, Hasegawa added.
During the maintenance period, the company will sustain community supporting activities, which is always one of its top priorities to fulfill its social responsibility, he continued, saying that it has implemented a number of programmes helping with job creation, business, agriculture, education, water supply, training, and community health care, especially for residents in nearby areas.
The company has been making substantial contributions to the Vietnamese economy. During 2018 - 2021, it contributed over 3.3 billion USD to the economy and helped save more than 260 million USD thanks to the reduction of fuel imports.
Hasegawa said stable energy supply is a stepping stone for Vietnam to consolidate its role as an important link in the global supply chain. With cutting-edge machinery and considerable contributions to national socio-economic development, the Nghi Son refinery is one of the key national oil and gas projects in the country.
The firm is confident in the path ahead and pledges to assist the Vietnamese Government, enterprises, and people to develop on par with international markets, he remarked.
Nghi Son is one of the refineries with the most modern, advanced, and sophiscated technologies in Asia. Its current processing capacity is up to 200,000 crude oil barrels per day, equivalent to 10 million tonnes per year. In particular, thanks to an optimised design with all the necessary petrochemical processing and production technologies, the factory is completely able to compete with others in the world.
The NSRP is a joint venture established by four major investors, namely the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (Petrovietnam), Kuwait Petroleum Europe of Kuwait, and Idemitsu Kosan and Mitsui Chemicals of Japan. Its factory is located in the Nghi Son Economic Zone in Thanh Hoa province.
It is the main provider of petrol and oil products for the Vietnamese market and also exports several petrochemical products to some regional countries. Its target is to help ensure the national energy security and make use of Vietnam’s strategic location in relation to major consumption centres in Asia to increase the export of important and profitable petrochemical products./.
VNA
9 August 2023
Last update:11 August 2023
Amman, 08 March, 2022 - In partnership with UNESCO and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Minister of Education, H.E. Prof. Wajih Owais launched the Ministry of Education (MoE)’s WebGIS School Maintenance System ahead of a planned Kingdom-wide roll-out set to start at the end of March.
The MoE will roll-out its WebGIS Smart School Maintenance Module (SSMM) throughout Jordan in all 42 Field Directorates and 4,002 public schools by the end of June 2022. In preparation for the roll-out, 14 MoE Master Trainers received specialized training enabling them to train their colleagues at the central, field directorate and school levels through a series of cascade trainings.
The SSMM allows for all school maintenance needs to be electronically captured, monitored, analyzed, and used to inform evidence-based decision making related to preventive and corrective school maintenance and budget planning. The SSMM was developed to complement the MoE’s Geographic Information System (GIS), which was first implemented in 2016 with the support of UNESCO and linked to the MoE’s EMIS to optimize planning of school infrastructure and resources at all administrative levels of the Ministry.
The SSMM does not only support the MoE school maintenance workflows, but also the prioritisation, tracking, reporting, visualization as well as quality assurance of the overall MoE’s school maintenance procedures and regulations. These functions will be critical as investment in school infrastructure in Jordan has been increasing over the years and is expected to continue growing. The SSMM is also available as a mobile-based application for Android and IOS users to ensure the full accessibility of the tool. It has also been integrated in the MoE’s OpenEMIS database.
His Excellency, the Minister of Education, thanked UNESCO and GIZ for their continued support, and for their efforts to assist the Ministry of Education in overcoming the important challenges it is facing in maintaining schools and improving their infrastructure. “The launch of the WebGIS School Maintenance Module comes at an important time where we as a Ministry are working to streamline our procedures related to school maintenance. The training that will take place during the roll-out will be a critical next step in empowering our field colleagues to carry out such procedures” he said.
Ms. Min Jeong Kim, UNESCO Representative to Jordan, congratulated the Ministry of Education for launch of the SSMM, saying “Deploying a school maintenance module in WebGIS will transform the efficiency, effectiveness, and sustainability of school maintenance requests in Jordan. UNESCO is happy to have the opportunity to continue supporting the MoE in further developing their existing WebGIS system to help the Ministry of Education in their efforts to make cost-effective and sustainable maintenance and infrastructure investments.”
The ongoing technical support provided by GIZ- Improving the Learning Environment at public schools in host communities (ILEPS) project in Jordan and Qudra 2 - Resilience for refugees, IDPs, returnees and host communities in response to the protracted Syrian and Iraqi crises programme, in partnership with UNESCO strategically aligns with the goals in the recently extended Education Strategic Plan (ESP) 2018-2025 to Improve school infrastructure in Jordan, as well as contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular SDG4, which aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all, and the Education 2030 Agenda.
The meeting was chaired by H.E. the Minister of Education, Prof Wajih Owais which was also attended by MoE officials, including, the Head of the Development Coordination Unit, Ms. Lama Al-Natour, the Director of the Queen Rania Center for Education and Information Technology, Engineer Ruba Al-Omari, the Director of the Department of Planning, Dr. Youssef Abushaar and the Director of Buildings and International Projects Department, Eng. Ibrahim Al Samama’a.
