ACOVSD seniors showcased in regional workforce development call

Logan Caldwell and Nina McCann put Adams County in the middle of a regional workforce conversation on April 23, when the two Adams County Ohio Valley School District seniors spoke on the weekly GRIT Project call. The session centered on the 5-Step Process for career success, and both students had already moved through the first two stages, a sign that their postgraduation plans are already taking shape.

That matters in a county where school leaders and employers keep returning to the same question: how do you keep young talent local? GRIT, short for Growing Rural Independence Together, began in Adams County and now operates in 32 Appalachian Ohio counties. Co-founded by Adams County Drug Coalition Chairman Randy Chandler, the program was built to combine federal, state and county resources into a high-demand workforce strategy for Adams, Brown, Highland, Pike and Scioto counties. A 2021 report said the effort initially aimed to reach 5,000 to 6,000 residents from January 2019 through January 2021.

Caldwell and McCann were able to point to more than ambition. Both participated in Shawnee State University’s Bear Tracks program over the summer, which gives high school juniors and seniors a residential training experience, hands-on time on campus and a chance to earn industry-recognized credentials before graduation. Shawnee State says the program lasts three or four weeks, offers full scholarships through GRIT and is designed to help students launch careers or move on to further education. For families weighing college, trade school or immediate work, that combination of training and credentials is a practical bridge, not a vague promise.

The April 23 showcase also fit a pattern that has been building in Adams County. In 2024, West Union High School senior Morgan Rhoades used a GRIT Future Plans Assessment to pursue a mental health counseling internship with the Adams County Health Department. More recently, Adams County students have completed Foundations of the Trades and other certification-based programs. Together, those examples show a county trying to create a repeatable route from classroom to credential to job, with local institutions like ACOVSD, Shawnee State University and the Adams County Health Department all playing a role.

For Adams County, the significance is larger than one call or two seniors. Caldwell and McCann represented a workforce pipeline that starts in high school, connects to regional partners and gives local students a reason to build their future without leaving the county behind.