FR to honor career-bound grads

FORT RECOVERY — The teachers and staff at Fort Recovery set a goal of preparing students for life after high school, no matter where it may take them.
So at graduation Sunday, administrators want to make sure everyone is honored.
They’ll announce college scholarships and give a nod to those entering the military, as they always do. But this year, they will also acknowledge those students who are heading straight into careers.
“After last year’s commencement ceremony, I felt like, ‘You know what, this isn’t really right, because we need to take some time to recognize and celebrate those kids that are going out into the workforce,” said Fort Recovery superintendent Shelly Vaughn. “Just because they don’t go to college, I don’t want that to feel like that shouldn’t be commended and recognized and celebrated.”
Three such students who will be immediately putting their skills to work are Austin Kahlig, Dustin Overman and Ray Siefring. And at least part of their post-high school focus will be on the family farm.
Siefring’s family grows grain as well as raising hogs and steers. Overman's father, Mark, farms mostly in Jay County, with 3,000 acres of corn, beans, wheat and alfalfa along with dairy cattle and hogs. And the Kahlig farm, 5 miles west of Coldwater on Ohio 219, spans 1,800 acres of corn, beans and wheat in addition to 11,000 hogs and more than 1,000 beef cattle.
For all three, farming has always been in the plans, and they hope to buy into and someday lead their family operations.
“It’s been there since the day they brought you home,” said Overman. “I don’t know what else to do.”
“It’s what we grew up with,” added Siefring.
But school has helped them develop other plans as well.
Siefring recently earned his welding certificate and is hoping to find a job where he can put those skills to work. And Overman has been building houses with contractor Mark Fullenkamp of Fort Recovery since the beginning of the school year.
Though they knew college wasn’t in their futures, they said high school has helped them prepare for their careers. They’ve learned skills from shop teachers Michael Gower and Joe Hawk, gotten better at keeping track of money and gained a depth of knowledge that they didn’t have before.
They’ve all been involved in FFA and have competed in agronomy, in which Fort Recovery finished second in the state this year, grain merchandising, soils, small engines, ag engineering and livestock judging.
“It taught us a lot about responsibility … working together,” said Kahlig, noting that FFA trips to state and national conventions provided opportunities he may not have otherwise had.

Principal Jeff Hobbs noted that while students follow a variety of different paths, his goal is that Fort Recovery helps mold them to be great at whatever they choose to pursue. For those heading into the workforce, that can mean becoming better communicators, enhancing organizational skills and fine-tuning what they may have already learned on the family farm.
And English teacher Ashley Lavy — “The best English teacher I’ve ever had,” said Kahlig — emphasized the importance of all students taking pride in their futures.
“If that’s meaningful to them, then that’s going to enhance their family farm,” she said. “It’s not going to be, ‘Oh, I just go out here and do it because that’s what I’m supposed to do, but because I have a purpose for it.’”
Siefring, Kahlig and Overman aren’t the kind to seek out praise. Overman even said he prefers to stay away from the spotlight.
“I think for all of us guys, it’s nice to be recognized every once in a while,” said Kahlig. “But we’re not all that upset if we don’t get recognized.”
But the symbolism of Sunday’s ceremony is not lost on them either. Each Indian who walks out of Fort Site Fieldhouse with a diploma is important, they agreed, whether heading to college, the military or the workforce.
“Everyone has their spot,” Overman said.