Ponitz Pipeline
Ponitz Pipeline
A life-changing partnership
Ponitz Pipeline helps students fulfill their potential after high school and beyond
Ponitz Pipeline is an innovative partnership between Kettering College and the Dayton Public Schools. Established in 2007, the program offers extensive career and college preparation activities for 10th-, 11th- and 12th-grade students in Ponitz’s allied health program, one of 13 career-oriented tracks. Kettering College employees provide health career counseling; classroom-based instruction on topics such as interview skills and financial literacy; science-related field trips; job shadowing; and mentoring. These activities complement the career-oriented curriculum that Ponitz teachers and guidance counselors deliver.
Everything about Ponitz Pipeline is geared toward removing barriers to academic and career success, said Pam Wilson, who coordinates the program and also works at Kettering College as site and clinical coordinator for the occupational therapy doctoral program.
Support Ponitz Pipeline
A new fund established by Kettering Health Network’s former chief executive officer and his wife provides financial assistance to Ponitz Pipeline participants who attend Kettering College and need help with non-tuition expense.
Awards from the Carmen and Frank Perez Fund can mean the difference between a student graduating or dropping out because of financial concerns related to paying for books, uniforms, rent, groceries or other necessities.
Frank Perez, Kettering Health’s chief executive officer from 1992 to 2011, was a vocal supporter of the Pipeline when it was established in 2008. This gift will help ensure that Ponitz grads at Kettering College have the resources they need to graduate and pursue the careers of their choice.
For information on starting a scholarship fund at Kettering College, contact 937-395-8607.
Ponitz Pipeline Personnel
Professor Susan McLaughlin Price began the Kettering Health Network’s Ponitz Pipeline program in 2006 as a means to increase the diversity of health care professionals within our community. Working with Ms. Niki Ross, the allied health instructor at the Ponitz Carrer Technology Center, a public high school in Dayton, Ohio, they built a curriculum for Ponitz students to act as a pipeline to college and a health care profession. The pipeline program provides interested students with mentors, career counseling, science field trips, college preparation activities, job shadowing, and scholarship opportunities. Susan has been a faculty member at Kettering College since 1991 and completed a doctorate at the University of Dayton in 2008.
Pamela Wilson works as the Program Coordinator of the KHN Ponitz Pipeline and the Senior Career Counselor, just one of the many ways she has worked for the program since its inception. She coordinates the program’s events, negotiates the pipeline’s budget, oversees weekly school visits by the student counselors, and liaisons between the program and other departments within the network. Pamela is not new to community service or youth advocacy; in fact, she received the Youth Mentor Collaborative Award from the city in 2006. At the present time, Ms. Wilson works as the Site and Clinical Coordinator for the Occupational Therapy Doctoral program, a title that puts her degree in Organizational Management from Wilberforce University to good use.
Sarah Bayer is a Career Counselor for the Junior Class at Ponitz Pipeline. She has worked with the Ponitz Pipeline for several years and enjoys the opportunity to be a positive influence on the lives of these students, along with helping them achieve their educational dreams. Her graduate degree in Higher Education with an emphasis in College Student Personnel correlates directly to her work with the pipeline.
The mission of the David H. Ponitz Career Technology Center/Kettering College Pipeline program is to educate local high school students from underrepresented backgrounds who are interested in healthcare. This goal of the partnership is to increase educational and workforce access and readiness for students from diverse cultures, resulting in better and equitable healthcare for all people.
Kettering College