Grads pay it forward

CELINA - Four Tri Star Career Compact graduates are playing a role in shaping the future of the program that prepared them for life after high school.

They're putting to use the skills they had learned while attending Tri Star to design and plan the technical school's $25 million 2.0 complex being built on State Route 703 across from the Wright State University-Lake Campus.

"It's pretty cool to have graduates help out," Tri Star Director Tim Buschur told the newspaper.

Graduates Mark Hopf, Eric Guggenbiller and Tim Lehman now work at Fanning/Howey Associates in Celina. They combined their skills to design the mechanical systems for the 100,000-square-foot, two-story, L-shaped building.

It was a difficult task that took more than a year to complete, the three said, adding the work was worth it because of how much Tri Star means to them.

Looking back on his time at the compact, Lehman said it "was a great opportunity to get real-world experience while in high school."       Guggenbiller and Hopf agreed.

Lehman and Guggenbiller completed the computer-aided design and drafting program at Tri Star and graduated from Celina High School in 1989. Lehman went on to attend the University of Toledo and Guggenbiller went on to ITT Technical Institute in Dayton.

Hopf studied engineering technology - the modern equivalent to CAD - at Tri Star and graduated from Celina in 2005 and then attended Ohio Northern University. His Tri Star teachers had taught him engineering basics and he did much drafting work on the computer, like his coworkers did.

Learning these skills early on, they said, played a key role in helping them launch their careers. The three used many skills acquired at Tri Star to help them design the more than 11,000 feet of ductwork and 9,000 feet of piping throughout the facility.

Fellow Tri Star graduate Greg Kemper also lent a hand in the pre-construction phase of the project. He enrolled in the Tri Star engineering technology and construction programs, in which he got hands-on experience in construction, pre-construction and auto-CAD, he said.

Kemper graduated from Minster High School in 2005, went on to the University of Toledo and now serves a project manager for Peterson Construction of Wapakoneta, the general contractor for the project. He oversaw pre-construction services, helping put together cost estimates and a civil site plan laying out grading, landscaping and other site details.

Kemper said working on the project for a program that got him to where he is today "felt like going full circle."

"It's nice to see a side of the project most people don't get to see," he added.

The four said they're enthusiastic to see their hard work pay off.   

"The new facility is exciting and I'm looking forward to seeing it finished," Kemper said.

As a Tri Star advisor, Hopf said he's excited by the thought of students from nine school districts gathering under one gigantic roof. As of now, students attend classes at one of four buildings, which he believes limits collaboration.

"Now they will be able to work together on a project and a class can stretch beyond one classroom," he noted.

Construction is expected to be completed in time for the 2019-2020 school year. Guggenbiller said he likes that the facility won't look like an ordinary school building.

"It's going to look more like a corporate headquarters than a school," he added.

It features multiple types of materials, mainly metal - in the form of 254 tons of steel - and glass, to give it a modern look, Guggenbiller said.

"It's very satisfying to see the program get a new facility that will allow them to make bigger steps and enhance the program," Lehman said.