During the first week of May, students at the Delaware Area Career Center signed letters of intent and announced their plans to enter the workforce, enroll in additional education or enlist in the military.

A series of Signing Day events were held at the DACC and featured seniors in the school’s various programs, announcing their plans and thanking their teachers for their support as they prepare to graduate this month.

Nick Vaughn, a senior from Genoa Christian School in the automotive collision repair program at the DACC, said he plans to study automotive technology at Columbus State Community College after studying cars at the career center.

“I wanted the knowledge of auto collision and auto-tech,” Vaughn said. “I love learning about cars. I learned a lot over the last two years about how to work on cars.”

Vaughn said he enjoyed participating in the event and hearing about his classmates’ plans.

“I like that we got to share everything about what we’re doing in the future,” Vaughn said. “I enjoyed seeing classmates go into other careers.”

Moira Lewis, a Hayes High School senior studying in the DACC Pharmacy Technician Program, said she plans to attend the Doctorate of Pharmacy program at the University of Findlay after graduation.

Lewis said she was able to get hands-on experience working in a pharmacy during the school day and said at the end of the year she will be a certified pharmacy technician because of the DACC program.

“This is a huge opportunity since not a lot of techs (especially in retail) have this certification, and it opens up many doors,” Lewis said. “DACC helped me prepare for the Doctorate of Pharmacy program at the University of Findlay. For med schools or programs, there is an interview portion where you need to provide experience and without participating in DACC, I would have zero pharmacy knowledge. Working in a pharmacy with the help of the program is already pushing me so much further ahead of my peers in college!”

Lewis said Signing Day was “a great experience,” and it was “awesome” to see her peers that she doesn’t normally get to interact with in the classroom.

Andrew Clase, a Buckeye Valley senior in the law enforcement program at the DACC, announced his plans to join the United States Army and said later this year he will compete five-and-a-half months of basic training before beginning his deployment. Clase said he chose to enlist because of the discipline required to succeed in the Army.

“I like the drive to make myself better,” Clase said. “I want to make the most of my training and become the best man I can be. I’m looking forward to the training and pushing myself as hard as I can and seeing that results I can get and making a career out of it to see how far I can go.”

Clase added he’s thankful to the DACC for helping him physically prepare for enlistment as well as teaching him about teamwork.

Gabby Beaver, a fellow BV senior in the law enforcement program, said she plans to study criminal justice at Columbus State this fall and plans to continue working in her current security position at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium.

Beaver said she was thankful for her time at the DACC because of the hands-on learning experience.

“It helped because it gave me so many more experiences that I wouldn’t have gotten at a normal school,” Beaver said, especially highlighting the job shadowing opportunities she had at the school. “It allows me to see the reality of jobs.”

Glenn Battishill can be reached at 740-413-0903.