Superintendent of Clearview Regional School District John Horchak is pleased to offer students a challenging engineering course, and provide better protections for them and faculty members.
By KRYSTAL NURSE
The Sun
Clearview Regional School District Superintendent John Horchak saw the district’s need to upgrade its security system to protect the staff and students, and a need to alter curriculum to better serve students interested in the engineering field.
“The auto shop room sat idle for a couple of years and we decided that we want to move into a robotics setting because we have two years of engineering, architecture and AutoCAD, and we felt that it would be a natural fit,” said Horchak.
Horchak said the school received funding for renovations through a referendum in 2015. It included not only plans to change the auto shop room, but to also provide costs of various pieces of equipment students will use throughout the day such as a 3D printer, welding station, drill presses and a plasma cutter.
The high school’s robotics teacher, Ruth Barreiro, was trained in Buffalo over the summer and learned how to do plasma cutting on various types of metals, which she now teaches to her students.
“It was really cool that we have 3D models that we can create on the computers, send to the printer and have it done within half an hour,” said Barreiro.
Horchak and Barreiro both added that the students are also given experience with old-fashioned woodshop equipment, by the recommendation of other schools with robotics courses, to provide them with the necessary skills for their futures in engineering and robotics.
“I’m excited that students are now able to experience this class and can learn some vital skills for their future colleges and they can apply it to their studies,” said Barreiro. “We have one former student from Robotics II who is now enrolled in Widener’s engineering program, and it pleases me to see the students flourish in their futures.“
With high enrollment in the courses, the school expects the program to remain successful and to hopefully branch out to other sections. Science Supervisor of Clearview Regional High School Kate Pereira would like to see how the school could partner with Rowan University in the future to better serve students.
“It would be great to reach out to them, and get their support and guidance in our programs to see what students need to succeed in their engineering program,” said Pereira.
To get a full view of the high school’s robotics room, someone would have to enter the school. Upon entry to the district’s campus, School Resource Officer Patrick Morris, of the Harrison Township Police Department, said every person is on camera.
“With the upgraded system, we now have a 360-degree view of multiple areas of the buildings,” said Morris. “I can go left to right; zoom into the room and see the clear details of the floors; ‘stand up’ and see people’s faces; spin the cameras around — live — and see the entire area.”
Visitors enter Clearview Regional High School through the main entrance, are stopped by a staff member and asked to enter their information, whom they’re meeting, and scan their driver’s license or other government ID into the Lobby Guard system.
The system issues a single-use visitors pass, and visitors must wait for assistance from either Morris or an administrator. However, if someone has any felonies in any municipality, it will refuse a pass and instead print a “void” ticket.
“I then get a text and an email, all administrators receive an email and text, our IT department receives it and likely our local detective receives it, too,” said Morris.
Morris said that he, administrators and a member of the school’s IT team are able to be at the front entrance in less than 10 seconds and meet with the person who is trying to gain access. At that point, they are vetted in person and, if appropriate, are turned away.
The district also introduced strict automatic disciplinary actions for anyone who ignores the posted signs and props doors open for others on any exterior door.
“If we catch somebody doing that, it’s going to be an automatic suspension or detention,” said Horchak. “It compromises our (schools’) safety.“
With school safety being the responsibility of everyone in the Clearview Regional School District, Horchak said the district is very fortunate to have an open dialogue with both the Harrison Township and the Mantua Township Police — whose boundary line is directly across the street.
