- For 30 years the State College community Land Trust has
been creating a community where the people
who work here can afford to live, grow, and belong.
We've created and preserved 56 permanently affordable homes,
opening the door to home ownership for more than 80 families
with energy efficient upgrades, green building
and clean energy investments.
Our homeowners enjoy lower utility costs
and affordable homes that last for generations.
Our programs serve low to moderate
and middle income individuals
and families who want to live in state college.
None of this would be possible without our extended
community of dedicated staff volunteers, local businesses
and banks and our nonprofit partners Join the movement,
donate, volunteer, leave a Legacy through planned giving,
share our story.
Visit SCC land trust.org.
- The CACJ is a nonprofit focused on restorative justice,
a system of criminal justice
that focuses on the rehabilitation of offenders
through reconciliation with victims and the community.
It's justice with the goal to heal rather than punish.
Our five programs are Pretrial Supervision, youth aid panel,
the youth counseling pilot program, mediation
and community conferencing.
Our program Save Taxpayers over $400,000 per year,
empower individuals
and groups to resolve their own conflicts and are affordable
and accessible to the community.
To learn more or to make a referral,
visit our website or give us a call.
- You are watching CNET Center County's Government
and Educational Access Network,
- All the Board of Commissioners meeting to order at 10 0 1.
All those are able, please rise with the Pledge
- Of Pledge Allegiance to the flag
of United States of America
and to the Republic for which the stands,
one Nation under God, indivisible,
with Liberty Justice Overall.
- Alright, do we have any public here for comment?
For items not appearing on today's agenda?
Seeing none. Any additions to the agenda from the board?
I don't think so. No. Okay.
Moving on to our meeting minutes.
If they're good, we'll take a motion
to approve the minutes from the meeting held
on January 20th.
- So moved. Second.
- We have a motion and a second
to approve the minutes from the meeting held
on January 20th.
All those in favor do so by saying Aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed?
Nay. Motion carries.
And we have an announcement,
the 2026 Hometown Hero Banner program.
And I believe possibly a parade too. Oh, alright.
So take it away. As long as it's
not this week, you're all right.
Yeah, no, wouldn't do it this week.
So take it away, Brian and Deb.
- Okay. I am here on behalf of Historic Beltcon Incorporated
and the Hometown Hero Banner Committee.
We are proud to say that this is year will be our sixth year
of sponsoring the Hometown Heroes
by placing banners throughout our downtown.
And we are extremely excited to share with everything
that is happening with that dedication.
In the past, we dedicated the banners on
Veteran's Day, November 11th.
- Mic. Is it on?
It was, but Oh,
- You want me to start over?
- Maybe. Why
- Don't you do that.
All right. I'm here on behalf
of Historic Bell Fund Incorporated
and the Hometown Hero Banner Committee.
We are proud to say that this is our sixth round
of sponsoring the hometown hero banners for our downtown.
We're extremely excited to share with everything
that is happening with this dedication.
In the past, we dedicated the banners on
November 11th, veteran's Day.
This year, HBI, the Hometown Hero Banner Committee,
along with DBI are proud to say that
with America celebrating its 250th birthday,
the combined groups are putting together a patriotic parade
on Friday evening, July 5th at five 30,
after which there will be the dedication
of the hometown hero banners
and a 75 minute patriotic concert
with a combined community bans of Beon and State College.
I want the public to know that with the banner applications,
which will be available starting this weekend,
they will be available for download
from Historic Beon Incorporated website,
Beon Borough website, the Beon Hometown Hero Facebook page,
and they will be available for hard copy pickup
at the Beon Borough offices, the Bellmont train station,
and Carrie Bening Hoff's office.
And hopefully I can get a few more places to put hard copies
and also attach the links
to the applications from our websites.
I want to clarify, and this is on the applications,
that in the past, they were able
to take the completed applications to the train station
that no longer can happen.
The applications are to be taken
and dropped off at the Beon Borough office on Spring Street
or to Kerry Benning Hoff's office on High Street.
And all of that information is on the applications, along
with the banner applications.
At all of the places
that I had mentioned, they were available.
The registration to be part of the parade will also
be available because this is America's 250th
and Beon is the county seat and home to seven governors.
We really want to show our patriotic spirit
with a tremendous celebratory parade.
So please, we are asking all types of groups that like
to party, to come and party with us on July 3rd.
Twirling groups, dance groups, athletic clubs, scout troops,
church groups, civic organizations, any and everything.
We want them to celebrate with us.
The parade is going to go downhill from,
from the high school at Bellon to Tally R Park.
So the little twirl is do not have to march up the hill.
With all of that being said, I have a couple of favors
to ask of the Commissioners.
First, I would love it if you would make a proclamation
proclaiming Friday, July 3rd Beon day
to celebrate America's 250th birthday.
Secondly, if there happens to be any grant money laying
around unclaimed I could apply for,
I would greatly appreciate you letting me know
that we can make this something that Centre County
and Bellefonte can be proud of.
I wanna thank you for your time.
Please come out and help us celebrate this wonderful
milestone for America and also to honor the heroes
that will be displayed through our downtown.
- Cool. Great. Well, thank you.
Deb, did you have anything you wanted to add, Brian?
The parade's gonna be the third,
- Friday the third?
Yes. Friday, July 3rd is the parade. Okay.
- Yes. And do you have a rough kickoff time
- At five 30?
Five 30? Yep. In the evening it will step off at five 30.
It's too hot to do a parade in the afternoon
in July parade. Yep. Yes.
- Yep. That's a problem we'd like to
- Have.
Yes. Yes. Oh, today, yes. It would be It.
Hard to think about that now. Yeah.
Well remember that this day. Yeah.
- The downhill part of the Bellon parade was always nice.
Yes. The Snow Shoe parade is uphill the whole way.
- Yep. Yes. So it was our homecoming parade,
which is why it's easier to go downhill. Okay. Thank you.
- Well, don't go away. Did there anything
else you wanted to add, Brian?
No, I, no, you're good. She always carries everything. Okay.
Alright.
- Better than I was gonna say and we are working on,
but it, it hasn't come together just yet.
Yeah. To have different civic
and church groups, put ethnic food tables around.
Tally ran since we are the melting pot, that's
how we became America to have different tables
of ethnic foods around there.
We're just starting to work on that.
So hopefully that can all come together.
- Well, that sounds great.
There's a number of Beon restaurants.
I'd love to have staffing tables there, including Beon, wok,
bonos, et cetera, et cetera.
- Yep. Well, if we can get the church groups
and the civics groups to help us out Yeah.
That they can make some samples
of things would be great. Alright.
- Wonderful. Well, thanks Deb for organizing everything as,
as Brian mentioned, and appreciate having the banners
and looks like you've got a lot of stuff now planned for
July 3rd, which is a Friday.
- Yes, it is. So that will, yes. And a holiday for a lot.
Yeah. Holiday for
- A lot.
And I would recommend getting ready to apply
to the Happy Valley Venture Bureau.
Okay. 'cause this does seem to be a, a fit
for the Tourism grant program. Perfect.
- So great. - That'd be great. Thanks again. And
- Yeah, sounds like a great event.
Yeah. And I think, yeah,
that's a good point about the Tourism grant program is a,
seems like a good fit for, you know, an application there.
And we do that. Yeah.
Really just thanks to all the people
who are gonna be putting effort into
making this happen. Was
- Gonna I that there's gonna be lot, a whole lot
of hands behind the, the scene.
- Yes. Yeah. Thank you.
- Well, well most
of the festivities occur down at
Tally R at the end of the parade.
Is that kind of the idea? Correct.
- Okay. Yes. - Correct. So the parade will start probably
up by the high school and work its way down from
Tand Park. And that's where the,
- And I am working because of parking limited.
I am working at getting some buses to be able to transport.
If people wanna park it, I'm gonna try to find a church
or I, we can't use the high school
because that's where the parade will be for me.
But try to find a parking lot somewhere to put some cars
that we can take and transport people down
because of parking limits. Yeah.
- Okay. Perfect. Okay. - Thank you. Wonderful. All
- Right, great.
- Don't go away. Tim, do you have any questions?
The parade, the events, banners, all.
Alright, wonderful.
Well thanks again Deb
and Brian for arranging the Hometown Hero banner program
and announcing the parade in befor.
We, we missed it. Yep.
There are always good stories from the Befor parade.
- Absolutely. - Always food down at tally ramp.
- Good memories from childhood. Yeah.
- Great. Well thank you so much. Okay.
- Thank you. Thank - You. Thanks Deb.
- Alright, now moving on to proclamation number five.
Proclaiming February as career
and technical education month in Centre County
and Aaron, do you want me
to announce these in the order You have 'em written.
- That's just, it's up to them.
I figured you take them up in groups.
- Right, right.
Alright, so the first one we have on the list
is State College.
I, I believe you must be Ben. I am. Yeah.
Why don't you just sit over there
and that way everybody can get
good angles. For Tim and CNET,
- Tell us about career and technical education today. Yes,
- Thank you.
Well, today we have a little bit of snow we're dealing with,
so didn't notice, unfortunately we had a
couple students lined up to be here.
Yeah. But we're not able to do field trips like where
that are before were to show up to school.
So it'll just be me today. Alright.
So yeah, at the State college right now we have 15 different
programs and we have a, this year we're a little over 1800
of our students are enrolled in one of our CTE programs,
which is vast majority.
Yeah. So we have about 2300 students
and a lot of them are going to be run as electives.
It's gonna help them kind of get a, a good foundation
and figure out what they wanna do with their life
and get some good life skills.
And then as they get into like their 11th to 12th grade,
now we'll get more into the approved CTC programs
where they can end up with a certificate
and industry credentials and things like that.
- Well it's a tremendous program.
Ben, my, my son went through that program
and he now has a very high paying job in it.
And I think the first certificate he received was a Cisco
certificate from your program.
And of course I've toured the program areas many times.
The car repair maintenance area is amazing.
The food's always great.
I will, I'll also praise the food at CPI too.
They're both great, but really
appreciate everything you're doing there.
Working with the teachers, working with, with the students.
And a massive percentage of participation,
I think you said 1800 out of 2300 students. Correct.
- Yep. And there's a lot of great like afterschool programs
as well, like clubs and activities
and it's just a really, you know,
well-rounded opportunity for students.
- Yeah. Commissioner Concepcion is
something of an expert on this.
- Yeah. Yeah. Thanks for being here.
This, these programs have just been, you know, tremendous
for our students in state college.
I know that the,
there's been discussion about why state college runs its own
CTC program and it really has come down
to be the students being able to take those classes
as electives rather than committing to, you know,
being there moving locations for part of the day.
And so that was a big part of the decision making
that went into the design for the new high school
and, you know, building out those program spaces.
And I think it's, it's been a tremendous success.
So, yeah, my son also went
through the architecture drafting program in the CTC
and now he's a fourth year architecture student at Penn
State and really enjoying it.
And I think that program really gave him a sense of
what the field is and, you know, going into
a college level program, he already had a lot of the skills
that he would be building his first year.
So he really felt, you know, extremely prepared
because he had gone through that program.
And another one of my kids has done the, some of the
computer graphics program programs
and those are, you know, kids are really able
to build skills that they're able
to use like immediately when they finish school.
And so it's great for them to be able to see,
have those programs that really connect their future with
what they're able to do now.
So, yeah. Thank you
- Mr.
- Well I think there's, there's several things
that artificial intelligence can replace,
but one of 'em is not hands-on repair of, whether it's HVAC
or electricity plumbing
or, you know, the, the, the skilled, the skilled arts like
that that really make a difference.
And, and even to be in a situation where you can get a taste
of that, those are life skills that
will serve you literally forever.
And I, I think it's fantastic that,
that those are available to so many young people.
We appreciate that
- And we've really enjoyed the dinners that
the culinary program puts on throughout the spring.
- Speaking of life skills, yeah.
- That's a great life that are open to the public.
Those are a great opportunity
to see what kids are working on.
Yes.
- So JJ
and Aaron, did you envision that we would do a photo
for each school?
- Whatever y'all would play? Yes. Yeah. Yes. Alright.
- Okay. Let's, let's - Do it, let's do it at the
end. That's,
- Well I'm thinking maybe we could do three separate ones.
That way each school can kind of show their, their group.
So why don't we start with State College
and then we'll segue the CPI
and we'll do the motion at the end.
- Alright. - Sorry, it's a little extra
- Work on J Chain here.
- Alright, settle - On
- Center on State College - Here on your map.
- Move toward - Me, man. Oh yeah,
- You're covered it.
- Three, two fun. Everybody's motto.
Appreciate it.
Okay.
- Alright. And now we have a number of highly regarded,
medium sized school districts in Centre County,
including Befor, Penns Valley and Bald Eagle.
Did I get all of them? Okay.
And so they are represented at the high school level
by CPI and we have the, is it executive director?
Ooh, I'm, I'm, I'm, that's pretty good.
Really rolling here today. Maryanne Boulders.
And we have a couple of students.
I have Jessica, is it Verne? Colson.
Okay. So I know one of you is an instructor
so if you would they're all students.
- No, j Jessica. She took over for me.
Well actually two of 'em are, she's our principal.
- Jessica's, yeah, I was saying I thought Jessica
was not a student anymore. And
- We also, we also have another instructor among us.
Well can we pull it? Yeah.
- But, okay. Alright, well why don't you come around
to the side here and stay here.
Yep. So now we'll, we'll talk about
Central Pennsylvania Institute, which also has a number
of great programs that the high school students
and even adults enjoy.
So I don't know who's kicking this off.
Is that Jessica? Sure
- I will.
Yes. So thank you for having us.
My name's Jessica Martin, I'm the Vice President of CPI.
It's of secondary ed.
Years ago I was an instructor there,
but now I took over from Maryanne.
So thank you so much.
We are so grateful that you are recognizing the importance
of career and technical education at CPI.
We take pride into training our future workforce,
which we know CTE is the backbone of America.
So thank you for that. We have Marianne
and I brought two outstanding students with us today.
We have Colson
who is a high school student in collision repair
and we have limber who is a post-secondary student in
welding and then on ER's free time.
He also is the employee of CPI
and helps us out with our maintenance staff.
So I'm gonna turn it over to them
because I know that's who you really wanna hear from.
So limber you wanna go ahead and start? Yeah,
- Of course.
Any questions before I begin?
- Eventually would you potentially be looking for a job?
We could always use people. He already has one.
He has Don't be stealing, don't be stealing them away.
Maybe he needs another one first. Yeah,
- I could work three.
Yeah, that's, that's there you go.
Something I learned while being in CPI
and also being employed there is that the staff,
the faculty is just amazing.
Downright, they treated me just like family day one
and down to my teacher who taught me everything I know as
of right now, just an amazing class
and something I look forward to every day.
I'm excited to go to class
and I wouldn't replace it for anything really.
- Wonderful. Well I know welding is
a fabulous skill to have.
Are you actually potentially doing some
of the welding on the, the big pipes for the natural gas?
- I'm really looking for more of a fabrication job. Okay.
For example, Spicers is a company
that I've been really looking forward to join.
Alright. For a co-op opportunity. Yeah.
But if it was an opportunity for me to do that, I would.
- Alright, so more more into manufacturing. Yep.
Welding's a very flexible skill. Wonderful.
And Kohl set. What would you like to add?
- Well, so I'm in the collision repair program
and I will say when I first came to CPI,
I had no clue on what I wanted to do.
So I walked in the building
and I got greeted by all the faculty
and all the staff members
and they treated me great from day one.
And ever since that I loved the place.
So I was like, well I have to come here.
So I ended up going to collision repair
and the instructor, Brian Humble opened, opened right up
to me and gave me everything I need to know.
And we sat down and talked in his classroom for a while
and once I heard him talk about how good the program was
and how well he would do
and the certificates that he would provide, I decided
to take up the program and well now I'm doing stuff.
I had no clue that I, there was even existing. So.
- Well that's also a real valuable area
and kind of a little different job where
when you're done you wanna make it look
like nothing happened.
Yep. Yeah. So that's, that's very difficult
'cause I've tried a couple collision repairs
and didn't go well.
- Yeah, that's probably the greatest part of it. Yeah.
It's making everything look nice.
So, and then I'm probably gonna look into the insurance part
of it, so, oh, okay.
Look into insurance app, appraising app. Yeah.
And I'm looking into more eerie insurance. Oh yeah.
And I'm looking towards doing it, so
- Yeah.
That's great. Well that'd be great
'cause you'd have the background and you know,
how it's all done and how difficult the work can be.
Yep. Wonderful.
Well I've kind of been hogging the time commissioner. That's
- Okay.
Yeah. Thanks for sharing your programs with us.
You know, this really shows like the variety of paths
that students can go with career and technical education.
There's, you know, something like collision repair,
you know, that you could work in, in the insurance industry
as well as, you know, hands-on in the shop.
And welding I know is like very much an art as well as,
you know, the technical science of learning how to weld.
So yeah, it's great to hear about your programs.
I've really enjoyed when I've been able to visit CPI
and serving on the occupational advisory
board there as well.
Getting to hear, you know, the plans that you have
for the future, your strategy going forward that blends,
you know, both secondary
and post-secondary education
just provides tremendous opportunities
for folks in our community.
One of the things that I got to see last time I was there
was a new device in your medical sciences program,
which I think you were able to get with a grant.
Yeah. That is a, essentially like a large replica,
almost like, of an operating table that has
a computer simulation of a body on the table.
And you can go through all the different body systems,
all the organs, muscles, nerves, tissue, bones to be able
to really get a sense of the anatomy of, of,
of a human at like a really tuned it, like a level
that was like absolutely amazing level of detail. Yeah.
- So if you guys haven't seen it, please come out is the
tage table, it's six feet long, it's like a huge iPad
has loads up six cadavers.
They can delete the skin, see the organs,
see things flow throughout the body.
It's, you rotate it, it just really has
increased the rigor in that program even more.
Yeah. So these are devices that are used in med school.
So if you have a cha have a free time, please come out.
Really can, I'll show you around when
- You say rigor.
- Yeah. - Just
ask how Yep.
- Increase that. I would like to acknowledge
that Colson is also heading to our skills,
USA state competition
to represent CPI collision repair along
with 17 other students that we have.
So that is the beginning of April
and we look forward to seeing
how well he does at the state competition.
- Oh, that's awesome. I think all you have to do is drive
around on one of these snowy days
and you can probably keep yourself pretty busy.
It's going door to door. Right. And know Commissioner
- Dershem, you've had a long affiliation with
- CPI.
Yeah, it's your secondary program's. Amazing.
Your adult learning situation is just amazing.
You graduate dozens of, of, of LPNs every year.
I just don't, IIII don't know what to say other than ver
I can, I can attest that, that he's good at what he does
because when I had a problem
with a Christmas gift this year, I brought it out
and he tack welded my Christmas gift back
together and made it work.
So. Wow. So I think I, I,
I think if you're not an instructor,
I think you may be well destined to be one someday.
And we really appreciate you coming in.
Again, artificial intelligence can't take a lot
of these hard, hard, hard skills away.
I mean, you just, you know that these are things
that people are gonna need.
And someday when you're a an underwater welder
and you know, you're 500 feet under the ocean
and you're making things happen,
you'll think back on these days
and go, I learned it all here.
Right. But you know, the other programs and,
and I'm pretty familiar with some of your, some
of your adult education programs, your affiliation
with the natural gas industry and, and,
and so many other things that the CPI has to offer.
There's so many opportunities between, you know,
state College Center Hills and, and CPI.
There's, there's, there's educational opportunities
that people just, I think you said it best.
You don't even know what you don't know yet
because there's so many opportunities out there
and we really wish you all the best.
I think the success of of the program trickles down
to being the success for so many people in our community
and we really appreciate that and, and, and
and your relationship.
And someday, maybe if all the stars align Oh yes.
We can continue our relationship with CPI out at our Emerge
or public safety training site with a new education building
that would be fantastic for the medical sciences as well.
So hopefully it'll all fit together
and it makes, makes our area that much more prosperous.
So thank you. And Maryanne, thank you
for the job you're doing, leading the team out there.
So thank you. Thank you.
- Didn't realize that as CPI students You can help save
a commissioner's Christmas.
- Yeah, it's all out there. There you go.
Do photo with them.
- Alright, any, anything else from the team at CPI?
- I think we're good. - Well you can join Mary
for the photo and Maryanne can join too.
JJ will send you the picture.
- Congratulations. Thanks man.
Appreciate. Thanks. Maryanne over to Ferguson.
Bring
you can get
- Are we, are we tight enough JJ? Or We
- Can tighten up.
We'll get there. Alright, we getting there?
Alright smile
five more.
Excellent stuff. Nice to meet you.
Good to meet you. Good luck with everything. Okay.
Meet you care guys.
Thank you. Thank you.
- I don't know if Aaron did this on purpose,
but we're gonna continue our progression now to South Hills,
which primarily deals with adult students.
And so we have Paul Maza and I believe one student
and two instructors.
Correct. Okay. So if you'd all come on over
and if you could try to fill the chairs in
'cause it it gives the TV cameras a much better. I,
- I will give you Steve, you stay seated.
I today No, that's fine. Much rather stand. That's fine.
Thank you. Down. Thank you so much.
- So South Hills has been around for multiple decades.
Very involved in the community with the music concerts
and the Gibe shelter fundraiser coming
up here in just a few weeks.
But you also provide a broad variety of programs for adults
to receive one to two year certificates.
And I know Centre County Government has been hiring
Southfields graduates for decades.
So hand it over to Paul, I believe.
- Thank you. Commissioner Higgins and Commissioner Conce
and Commissioner Dershem we're very grateful to be here
to take part in this recognition
of career and technical month.
As Mark said, we've been around for 56 years. Oh no.
It's, it's humbling to think
how many decades we've been able to participate in,
in the needs of the community
and providing for skilled folks to go into the workforce.
Our job, I I take my job as the president
and director of the school to keep tabs on
what the needs are and fill those needs
with program offerings that help our
employers keep their operations running smoothly.
I'm grateful to have this crew here with me today,
and I'm gonna speak very little and let them do the talking.
We have a, our medical assistant
program coordinator with us.
We have a medical assistant all soon to be graduate with us
and we have a new program that we're launching this fall
that our, I've brought the program director for
that program here today as well.
So I'll start off by introducing Bobby Brumbaugh.
Bobby is the program coordinator for our medical assistant
four term or one year program.
And Bobby's been with us for going on seven years
and I'll let her share about the program
and introduce her student.
- So my name is Bobby Baugh. Thank you for having us.
I am the medical Assistant coordinator
and I am an instructor.
I'm very passionate about my program.
Medical assistants are, and I did write my notes out.
I'm sorry. It's okay. I don't wanna miss anything
'cause I am very passionate about my program.
Medical assistants are trained to support both patients
and providers by handling a mix of clinical
and administrative duties.
They take vital signs, prepare patients for exams, assist
with procedures, give injections, perform the basics
of lab tests on the administrative side.
They schedule appointments, manage medical records,
handle billing, insurance, help keep,
they help keep the office running smoothly.
So in short, medical assistants are the versatile
behind the scenes professionals who help ensure safe,
efficient, compassionate, patient care every day.
As a medical assistant myself, I believe we all have a story
as to why we choose to be in this profession.
And mine is not much different than my students,
but I became an instructor
because I wanted to make a difference in the lives
of those that I teach.
I believe everyone deserves access to quality healthcare
and if I can pass on my passion to even a fraction
of my students, then perhaps I can help shape a new
generation of healthcare professionals, one
that is grounded in compassion and empathy
and genuinely care for their patients.
So at South Hills our students receive hands-on training,
hands-on training and vital signs, injections, EKGs,
phlebotomy, electric, electronic health records,
patient intake documentation.
And just as importantly, they develop teamwork
and adaptability because healthcare is ever changing.
They build these skills by practicing on each other,
their first injections they're giving to themselves
before they're ever allowed to give to anybody else.
They ensure we ensure that they're confident and prepared
before they even enter their 330
hour community internships in the classroom.
They're not just mastering their clinical
and administrative skills, they're discovering their passion
for patient care
and learning what it truly means
to serve others in healthcare.
Upon graduation, they are prepared to sit
for the A A MA certification examination.
Our students are actively serving in our community at
organizations such as University Orthopedics
and across many specialties within Geisinger, Mount NI
and Penn Highlands.
These experiences spanned areas including cardiology,
gynecology, urology, primary care, dermatology, neurology,
and that's just to name a few.
These partnerships give our students the real world exposure
and allow them to make meaningful
contributions to their community.
Many of our South Hills grads within
actually the last two years have a hundred percent,
I have a hundred percent employment rating.
So what that means is my students
that I've turned out from this medical assistant program
are actively working in the, in our community
as medical assistants.
So I'm gonna turn it over now
to my current student who's set
to graduate in June of this year.
She's currently out on her internship, this is Lena.
I'm gonna say her name wrong, min.
And the reason I say her name wrong is
because when I get in the beginning of her
term as a South Hills student,
I had classes here in State, state College and Altoona
and it, I always try
and find a way to remember my student's name.
And Lana's was one that I could not remember
and she said, just call me red.
So calling her red did not leave me much choice
but to only remember her as red.
So now I mess up her last name all the time,
but she is very passionate for what she does as well.
So I'm gonna turn it over to Lana now
and let her say a few words.
- So I've always had a big passion
and wanting to help others throughout my whole childhood.
I always dreamed of being a nurse of some sort.
At the age of 15, I became a volunteer firefighter
and I've been ever since, throughout all the calls,
the trainings, the classes,
my passion became stronger each time
and I just knew I needed to make, make a move.
I needed to go for it. In my high school years,
I was in a health professions program,
which was a three year long program.
We had a lot of hands-on skills, vital signs,
wound cares, we did a lot.
So I've learned a lot at South Hills.
They have taught me a lot within the nursing program.
I've sharpened my skills from school, I have,
I've learned a lot of medical terminology, which I struggled
with, but I did it.
I did vital signs, like Bobby said.
I did injections, phlebotomy, which I love.
And I always, I learned
that you always put your patients first,
which I love the most.
I'm currently in internship and I love what I do.
I love helping others whenever they need it the most.
Upon graduation, I would love
to utilize my skills in the medical
assistant nursing program.
I'm gonna work a few years as an MA
and then I would like to pursue my passion even further
and hopefully become a registered nurse
at some point in time.
Nice. Yeah. Great.
- Sounds like a very good plan.
And I believe, Paul,
you have a big announcement of a new program.
- I do, yeah. And, and I wanted
to also thank Lana for being here.
Lana actually is interning at Geisinger Reedsville,
so not technically part of Centre County,
but we'll, we'll accept a Mifflin County internship.
Lana lives outside of the mountain,
but I will say to Bobby's credit, and,
and I'm sure Elena is carrying this tradition on
whenever I go into the lab, when you reach a a certain age,
and I've reached that age and perhaps exceeded it, you need
to get lab work done every so often.
So whenever I go into the lab, I always make sure
that I have a South Hills grad drawing blood.
'cause I know I'm not gonna leave there
with a big welt on my arm.
I'm gonna be treated properly.
So thank you Bobby, for training them well,
but we do have an announcement.
It's not, it's not secretive.
We've, we've started marketing for the program.
I think it was back in December.
We were given the green light, as many of you know,
south Hills, the name South Hills School of Business
and Technology suggests business programs, which we have
and technology programs, which we have, we were thinking
of changing the name, but it was gonna be too unwieldy.
South Hills Business School
of Business Technology and Health.
It just started to get too long to put on letterhead.
But as you can see with our medical assistant program
and a program we're launching this fall,
we have a substantial interest in supporting our
community health providers.
And in that regard, I'm very, very thankful to
introduce Laura cio, who is our program director for
our new respiratory therapy program
that's starting this fall.
And Laura is gonna share some of the wonderful opportunities
that that program gives
and some of the great partnerships that we've been able
to realize
with our community healthcare providers
in launching this new program. So Laura,
- Thank you so much.
Hi. As Paul said, my name is Laura CIO
and I am the respiratory therapy program
director for South Hills.
We are so excited to announce
that we are having our first class in August of this year.
So for those of you who may not know a respiratory
therapist, we work alongside doctors
and nurses to help patients
that have heart and lung conditions.
We are responsible for delivering medications, assisting
with invasive procedures,
and even managing ventilators when our patients are unable
to breathe on their own.
Our program is a two year associate degree program
where our students will attend clinical rotations
for more than half of their schooling.
Our students have the opportunity to work
with real patients at our clinical affiliate sites,
and we have affiliations with health systems like UPMC,
Geisinger, Penn Highlands, and more.
Not only will our students have the opportunity
to practice their hands-on skills
and critical thinking in a fast-paced environment,
but they will also be able
to demonstrate their commitment to helping others.
This often leads to a job offer from their clinical site
or another within that health system,
which means we're creating a student to employee pipeline
to help meet the growing demand for respiratory therapists.
So to give you some context, the Bureau
of Labor Statistics projects respiratory therapy
to grow at a rate of about 13%.
Typically, healthcare fields grow at a rate of about 9%.
So there's definitely a demand and there's also jobs.
We have received overwhelming support from our community.
We were able to establish 17 different hospital sites
for our students to practice
and develop their passion for caring for others.
Of those 17 sites, our respiratory therapy
directors have estimated they have three
to five job openings right now,
and they will have five to 10 new jobs open every year
for the next five years.
So we are truly looking forward to meeting
that growing demand for respiratory therapists
and by doing so, helping our communities to breathe better.
Thank you so much.
- Great. - Thank you Laura. Well, that sounds,
- Sounds wonderful and amazing.
You're launching a new program
- And I just, I, again, I wanna thank this crew
for, for joining me here today.
But especially I want to thank all of you for
recognizing the importance of career
and technical education.
There is no one size fits all school option that I see
as the, the perfect thing for every student.
I've got got five kids, two of them went traditional, two
of them went technical.
One she's not quite sure,
but right now she's, she's doing well.
But I think it's important that we have opportunity
for our youngsters to really plug in where they see
a passion and a proper fit.
So CPI actually, one of my, one of my children is A CPI grad
who is doing diesel mechanic work for haba.
I have two children that went through South Hills, not
that I twist their arms,
they just chose to do that on their own.
But I think it's important that we have those options.
So I'm very grateful to all of you to getting
that message out there.
The career in technical education is a real viable,
valuable resource for our community to continue
to support. So thank you.
- Yeah, thank you. Yeah.
As we've discussed before, technical education is fast.
You receive a certificate
that will drastically boost your income
in just a year or two.
And as we found out from Colson,
there are multiple different career paths
that you can start from
with your career in technical education.
So the Commissioners have been very supportive
of the multiple schools in the county that offer this.
And always an exciting time for us in late January,
early February to offer this opportunity
for our various schools to talk about what they do
and highlight their students and introduce new programs.
So very much appreciate South Hills coming
and Commissioner Concepcion.
- Yeah, thanks for sharing about these programs
and the, there's so many different kinds
of jobs within medical fields
that require specialized training
and it's great to hear about this new respiratory program.
And, you know, thank you for sharing your story of
how you've got to the point of becoming a medical assistant
and your future plans and seeing how South Hills programs
and these other kinds of career
and technical programs can really set students on a path
for, you know, any number
of different specializations within medicine.
And, and these are really important fields.
We know as our population is getting older, we're going
to need, you know, more and more young people
to be considering these, these health professions paths.
So thank you very much.
And I know you've got mi a range
of other programs at South Hills,
but it's great to hear about, you know,
particularly these fields that are
so in demand right now. So
- Thank you Commissioner. Commissioner.
- Well, I think it, it goes without saying, you know,
thank you for coming in today
because there's, there's so many kids that, as
Paul indicated earlier, kind of decide what they want to do.
And these are very viable options.
And I, I think the medical medical arts certainly
are about a stable of, of, of a,
of a profession as you can pick.
Because as Commissioner Concepcion indicated, we
as we get older, we need more and more care.
And I think it goes without saying again that, that without
new, new hearts and minds out there learning the
trade, we're in a bad way.
So we appreciate what South Hills is doing,
what CPI is doing
and at State College, you know, providing these skills to,
to our young folks and a maybe a little bit older folks
that decide maybe a second
or third career is in the opt
that this is a good opportunity.
And we would just wanna thank you for, for being here
and sharing your stories with us
and best of luck with your new program.
Thank, thank you. I think, I think you're,
I think you're safe in a safe zone of of learning there.
Yes sir. Because we get older,
we have those respiratory issues as well.
- Our Mind Citizens Centre County government has $2,000 per
year scholarships available for two years in a row
to both CPI and South Hills.
And the only requirements are you need
to be a Centre County resident
and you need to work for one
of our emergency response organizations.
So a lot of different options there.
And we've given away tens of thousands
of dollars in scholarships
and would actually love
to award more whenever possible. I'd
- Like to think that they earned those. Yes,
- That's scholar scholarships.
They earned them. Good point.
Just like with the Eagle Scout Awards.
But yes, they did earn them by
public service doing difficult coursework
and by doing the public service as well.
So unless there's anything else, I think we'll do the photo
and then do the proclamation.
- Sounds good. Thanks for coming in. Thanks. Come on up.
And Laura, thank you.
Oh, we'll get you through this.
I'm gonna
thank Thank you very much.
Was a job still, you still have your sonogram program?
You're on this side.
Just Tanya.
Oh, beautiful Directions and everything. Great.
Great.
Thank you
for Thank you so much.
Thank you Luck everything. Thank you. Thanks Paul.
- Well for the folks at home, this took a little while,
but it's a very important topic and one that is near
and dear to the commissioner's heart.
So let's adopt that
- Proclamation. I will
- Move that we adopt Proclamation five of 2026,
proclaiming February, 2026 as Career
and Technical Education month in Centre County.
- I will second that with a big congratulations
to all three programs for a fantastic job of educating
so many people in our community.
So thank you. Thank you.
- So we have a motion to second
to adopt population number five, claiming February as career
and Technical education month in Centre County.
All those in favor do so by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Nay.
Motion carries. Well thank you for coming. Thank you.
You don't need to stay. I know you're all very busy. No,
- Thank you very much. Thank
- You.
You're welcome. Thank you. And in a minute here we will move
over to Glenn, the warden
of the Centre County Correctional Facility who
actually runs his own training
program in Centre County.
Maybe not as extensive do not as extensive,
not as extensive as some others.
Definitely important so that our, our
corrections officers can stay here in the county.
Yes. While they're, while they're working.
All ready? Yeah. I think we're ready. Yeah, we're good.
Before you today I have a contract,
or excuse me, a memorandum of understanding with PA Care
doing business with State College Medical
or the Pinnacle treatment centers
to provide outpatient treatment
and medications for the opioid use disorder.
The MA MAT program. Yeah.
The reason for this MOU is according to DEA laws
or certain medications that we're not allowed
to store at the Correctional Facility,
them being a licensed outpatient treatment center,
they can store those medications there
and then our medical staff picks up
what we need about once a week.
So they basically bill prime care
and then prime care in turn bills us Okay.
With no upcharge for those medications.
So we have to have this in place.
The treatment center needs to know
where the end user's going to be.
- Makes sense. - Great.
Well thanks for covering this Glenn.
We do appreciate their support for our medical
assisted therapy program, which appears
to be PEG dividends.
So far the number of individuals, unfortunately
perishing from drug overdoses in Centre County appears
to be on a slow
but steady downward number, which is where we want to be.
Yes. Commissioner Concepcion.
- Yeah, thanks. This is important program, so glad
to have a partner in it.
- All good, - Thank you.
- I'll move to add the memorandum of agreement
with PA Care LLC Do Doing Business as State College Medical
or Pinnacle Treatment Centers to next week's Consent Agenda.
- We'll second - It. We have a motion to second to add the
memorandum of agreement
with PA care LLC doing businesses state college medical
or Pinnacle treatment Centers to next week's Consent Agenda.
All those in favor do so by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed?
Nay. Motion carries. Great. Thanks Glenn. All right, thanks.
Thank you. And now we have
Chris from planning come on up.
I, I think Lisa got everything back and running again.
I tried to interrupt your video presentation. Yes,
- Great attempt. Yeah,
- It was the best I could do in short order.
- Thank - So you have an MOU for a self-storage unit.
- Yes. Thank you then. Good morning.
As Commissioner Higgins said, this is
for a self-storage unit
and just a real quick reminder of what this memorandum
of understanding is, it's being presented today
and this is a two party agreement
and it's between, it's, it's a two party agreement
between a developer
and a county whereby the developer will agree
to reimburse the county for the costs associated
with the county engineers reviewing
and processing of the plan.
So basically it's just making sure that the developer will
reimburse the county for the county's engineering's review
and processing improving of the plan.
The plan, the plan is the Eagles
Landing self storage unit, land development plan
and it's in Houston Township and it's about two
and a half miles east of the sky, top Mountain Road,
south Eagle Valley Road interchange.
So when you come off the Skytop Skytop Mountain Road,
you can take a left and go toward Port Matilda
or you can take a right and about two
and a half miles there's gonna be a site
that has some existing buildings there already
and where they're proposing the 4,000 square foot
self-storage building is along the eastern side of the
property that's being developed
with the existing buildings located there on.
And the portion of the plan that was repaired
by the engineer is up on the screen
and just again showing the 4,000 square foot self-storage
building and where they're going to access is
through the existing gravel area to gain access to that.
And there's gonna be roughly 24 units was,
which is about 12 square feet per unit.
And so that is the memorandum of understanding
that's being presented today.
- Great. Well thanks for covering that Chris.
Looks like it's before juliete though.
- It's alright. - Any questions from the
Commissioners on this? Nope, sounds good.
- Alright, I'll move to add the memorandum of understanding
for the Eagle Landing Self-Storage Unit
to next week's Consent Agenda. We'll second that
- We have a motion a second to add the memorandum
of understanding for the Eagle Landing Self-Storage Unit
to next week's Consent Agenda.
All those in favor do so by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed?
Nay. Motion carries. Great, thanks Chris. Thanks
- Chris.
Thank you. Have a great day. You
- Too.
Thank you. And then now we have Quentin here from Aging with
sort of acute program.
Hopefully our Big O Sharks will, will take advantage of it.
- Yep. I'm requesting consideration for approval
of a contract with Exercise Innovations LLC
to implement bingo size in the senior centers.
Bingo size is a multi-week evidence-based health program
promotion program, which combines exercise health education
with the familiar game
of bingo while encouraging participants
to move and socialize.
The contract total is $1,735,
which includes a two year license,
three facilitator trainings and game supplies.
It'll run from
January 27th, 2026
to January 27th, 2028.
With the health promotion programs, it can be difficult
to get older adults to,
to participate in these evidence-based programs.
And this is a program that was recommended to us that
the older adults do enjoy in the senior center.
So that's why we have selected it as we are required
to provide health promotions in our senior centers.
- Great. Well it sounds like a good idea Quentin.
Sounds like a lot of fun and we definitely want
to encourage our seniors to move around and to socialize.
Yeah. Push Concepcion.
- Yeah, sounds good. I like the idea of gamifying
- It.
Yes. Commissioner Dershem.
I just have to check this out when it actually occurs. Yeah,
- Well you're certainly invited
- Not to play.
I just wanna watch. Oh, alright. You can always play Steve.
I think I'll just watch. Alright, well
unless there's any, any questions from Tim on this?
No. Alright. Looks like we take a motion,
- I'll move that we add the contract
with exercise innovations LLC to next week's Consent Agenda.
- I will second that we have a motion
and a second to add the contract
with exercise innovations LLC to next week's Consent Agenda.
All those in favor do so by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed?
Nay. Motion carries. Great thanks. Thank you.
And now Julia's got a couple of items for us for,
it appears to be intellectual disability
and maybe drug and alcohol.
- Correct. So good morning.
So the first is a letter of agreement
with IFC services Incorporated
to provide intellectual disability services including
residential in,
in-home community supports and behavioral supports.
This contract is for one individual.
So we have one individual that we have staying with IFC
in their residential services.
He's there for a short term while we are awaiting a waiver.
So this is expected to be a, a short term.
This is actually a, a collab of clients between children
and new services and mental health.
They took a look at who made the most sense to fund the stay
and it turned out to be mental health.
So it's nice that those departments work together to make
decisions regarding what makes the most sense financially
and obviously for the, for the individual.
Yeah. The second is contract addendum with cadenza.
This is for a six month extension.
We actually had somebody utilize cadenza as inpatient
between November and December.
So we needed to extend the contract
so we'd be able to pay for their stay.
- Great. Well thanks for covering those Julia.
And thanks to the county departments for working together
to find the most cost effective
and highest quality option for the, for the individual.
Any questions from the commissions on
these couple items? No.
- Alright. I will move to add the M-H-I-D-E-I-D-N-A items
one and two to next week's Consent Agenda. Second,
- We have a motion to second to add the two items
for M-H-I-D-E-I, drug
and alcohol to next week's Consent Agenda.
All those in favor do so by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed?
Nay. Motion carries. Great, thanks Julia. Thank you.
Got kind of an average size Consent Agenda today.
- I'll move to approve the Consent Agenda. I
- Will second that we have a motion to second
to approve this week's Consent Agenda.
All those in favor do so by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed?
Nay. Motion carries.
And John, we have a upcoming community event
that we're gonna sponsor the taping of CA.
- Yes. Good morning Commissioners
before you for consideration is the sponsorship
of the annual Ron
and Mary Maxwell Community Spelling Bee, which is scheduled
to be held on Wednesday, September 30th.
- Have to sponsor it as long
as Commissioner J mentioned it earlier.
I don't have to participate as long as you don't have spell.
I usually eliminated first,
second round at best you skill that
- You're, you're pretty good at knits.
- Any questions on, on this item? Sounds
- Good.
I will move that we approve the CNET sponsorship
for the 2026 Ron and Mary Maxwell Community spelling bee.
- Second we have a motion
and second to approve the CNET sponsorship for the 2026.
Ron and Mary Maxwell community
spelling be all those in favor do so by saying aye a.
Aye Opposed nay. Motion carries.
And Commissioner I'm assuming
- Can have a Check Run.
We do have the Check Run. The check that I'd like
to point out today on the Check Run is
to send Clear Child services.
They're one of our partners in early intervention
among other departments.
And with that I'd like to move
that we approve the Check Run dated January 23rd.
- Second we have a motion
and a second to approve the Check Run dated January 23rd.
All those in favor do so by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed?
Nay. Motion carries.
And Don, you just did the administratives report last
week so Sure. We're not gonna
- Have one and nothing to, nothing to report at this time.
- Alright, and Commissioner Concepcion,
I believe we don't have a Voter
- Registration Report.
Don't have a Voter Registration Report
- This week.
Alright, so I'll use those couple seconds
to thank the county 24 7 shops.
It's not just the Correctional Facility N 9 1 1
and emergency management,
but a number of our human service agencies
do operate 24 7 probation's always on call.
Several other court departments as well
and facilities was what I was gonna finish with.
Not usually a 24 7 shop,
but we do appreciate them volunteering to work in shifts
to keep all of our facilities 24 7 facilities open
during the storm and to get things cleaned up
after the storm for all the other county departments.
I have no idea where they're putting the snow
in downtown Belline.
I'm not sure we want to know
- Or that - So anything else you'd like to add, John?
- No, it's just like you said, the, the team was out on the,
throughout the storm and,
and just tried to keep up with pushing snow out of the way
and we were able to open up this morning
and hauling operations are now underway to, like you said,
to to get them out of, you know, the pals out of the way to
completely open up our, our lots and places like that. So.
- Yep. - And it's going
to be blistering cold over the last, next several days,
so make sure that you look out for the
vulnerable folks in our community, particularly the elderly
and keep your pets inside. Yeah.
- Drifting snow, - Not to mention.
Yeah, I heard on Friday night the low is negative 13,
- Friday and Saturday.
Oh man. Oh boy.
Yeah, so definitely pets outdoors for a couple minutes,
do their business and back in.
Yeah. Yeah.
Alright, so moving on to a slightly related announcement.
The Centre County America two 50 PA kickoff event
will take place tomorrow at 6:30 PM at the Centre County
Courthouse steps.
However, if you would please monitor the weather
and watch our social media for any updates.
I believe we'll be meeting shortly
after this to figure out exactly
what we might be doing with that event.
Obviously we need to double check with the courts,
the Sheriff and the America two 50 organization,
but I believe the low tomorrow night will be three.
So
- The parking situation in the Borough as well.
Yes, with, with all the snow.
So parking could be compromised. Right.
- So we will, we will have updates on that here in the
not too distant future if, if you're press contact JJ
and as soon as we have info available,
he'll, he'll let you out.
Do we have any executive sessions to report or hold Jim?
- None to report. However, there is a need
to hold an Executive Session for a personnel matter.
- Alright. The remainder of our public meeting schedule on
Thursday, we have the finance committee meeting at one
Tuesday, February 3rd, the board of Commissioners at 10,
and then Thursday, February 5th, the combined salary board
and board of Commissioners meeting at 10.
And we'll do our best to answer questions from the press.
- Yeah, just kind of curious how the county prepared for
that storm since we knew several days
in advance that was coming. Right.
- Well the Commissioners met with many
of the affected departments, especially facilities.
We also coordinated closely with the court system,
which actually calls their schedule slightly
differently than ours.
I believe. They did end up having to move
around some jury trials
because obviously we we're not gonna be able
to have a whole bunch of jurors show up at eight in the
morning on Monday, much less where they put their cars.
We also prepared
with our 9 1 1 department,
with our emergency management agency and with Pima
and knock on wood, thanks.
In large part to the facilities department,
at least at the county operations level, we didn't appear
to have too many, too many issues.
And I think it's the biggest snowstorm
we've had in five or six years.
So, great question. And
- Talking like kind of how it is now, I know it's mainly up
to the municipalities for snow removal.
Yes. But kind of on a county-wide basis,
how is that process going?
- Well that, as you mentioned, is more up
to the municipalities and that will will vary tremendously.
Some of our larger downtowns such as Phillipsburg, Beon,
and State College, possibly even mulheim,
have issues in terms of where they're gonna put the snow
after they even plow it.
But obviously all the merchants are back open again.
There are at least some spots available.
So, you know, please do your, your shopping
to keep our downtown spot.
Thank you. Thanks. Anything. Alright.
Unless there's anything else
would be good to the order that night?
I think we can Adjourn at 1104.
- I'll, well, I guess Executive Session.
Second Executive Session. We enter Executive Session at
- 1104, second motion
and second enter Executive Session at 1104.
All those in favor do so by saying Aye. Aye. Aye.
Opposed May. Motion carries. We are in Executive Session.
- CRPR manages two state-of-the-art community pools
that offer water features not found
anywhere else in Centre County.
Water slides, spray features, lap pools, diving boards,
climbing wall, and concessions are at both locations.
The WT Floating Obstacle course can be found at both pools
periodically throughout the summer.
We offer swim and dive lessons to swim teams,
aquatic fitness classes, and more by one season pass.
And it is good at both pools.
Two different pool experiences.
For the price of one, visit crpr.org for more info.
- So you wanna vote in Centre County to be eligible
to vote in any election,
you must be registered in the county 15 days or more
before set election.
You can check your registration status@vote.pa.gov.
Click on register to vote,
then check your voter registration.
You can register online to vote@vote.pa.gov.
Click on register to vote, then select Register
to vote online to complete
and submit your registration online.
Or if you want a registration form mailed to you,
click on register to vote, then register to vote.
You can also download the form straight to your computer,
print it out and mail it directly.
If you are voting for the first time in a polling location,
you'll be required to show id.
You can verify authorized types of id@vote.pa.gov.
Click on voting and pa then first time voters.
Additionally, if your address changes,
you must update your registration.
This could change the location where you go to vote.
You can update your registration online
as well@vote.pa.gov.
Remember, if you wanna vote in Centre County,
you must be registered in Centre County for your ballot
to count.