Indiana Interdisciplinary Cooperative Coordinators Association

GOSHEN — A new Student of the Month program has been initiated at Goshen High School to celebrate the top students each month in the school’s Cooperative Education program.

Headed by Cooperative Education Coordinator Brian Bechtel, the program is divided between two distinct classes: Interdisciplinary Cooperative Education  and Professional Career Internship.

“Right now we have 19 I.C.E. students and 13 internship students,” Bechtel said.

According to Bechtel, it was his wish to create the Student of the Month program to honor both the top student per month in each class, as well as the many local businesses and organizations that have agreed to partner with the school through the Cooperative Education program.

“I work with a lot of our local businesses,” Bechtel said, “as they employ students through our I.C.E. program, or provide internships in their businesses.”

The I.C.E. program is billed as a method of instruction for seniors that combines in-class instruction with on-the-job training experiences through employment, all with the goal of helping students prepare for and explore their occupational career objectives before graduation.

Through the I.C.E. program, students divide their time between classes and a paid position at a participating local business where they are required to work an average of 15 hours per week over the course of a full school year. Students can utilize morning, evening and weekend hours when accumulating their required hours per week.

With the Professional Career Internship program, juniors and seniors at the high school are given the opportunity to explore the career of their choice through a hands-on job shadowing experience while practicing specific occupational skills learned in their related Cooperative Education courses.

According to Bechtel, the internship program takes place over one full semester and requires students to complete five hours of on-the-job training — paid or unpaid — each week for a total of 70 hours per semester. Job training takes place each Wednesday and Friday from 8 to 11 a.m.

Local companies currently aligned with the Goshen High School Cooperative Education program are: Benteler Automotive; Fabric Services; Greencroft; Interra Credit Union; IU Health Goshen Hospital; Monteith Tire; Quality Driveaway; Vince and Pat Turner; Ancon Construction, Goshen Chamber of Commerce; Eby Ford Sales; First State Bank; Horace Mann Companies; Indiana Community Bank; Leatherman and Miller, Attorneys at Law; Cutting Edge Machine Shop; Packship USA Inc.; Robert Barker, DDS; and Teachers Credit Union.