By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
Crawford County is one step closer to having post-secondary education available to the community.
A construction kickoff ceremony was held at the former Board of Elections building at 130 North Walnut Street in Bucyrus. North Central State College, which will be directing the curriculum and instruction, led the presentation and information session.
One individual stood out among the featured speakers at the event. Alyssa Shaffer, a Colonel Crawford senior attending Pioneer Career and Technology Center’s culinary school, expressed just how much an education center like the Crawford Connection Center meant to her.
“When you envision opportunity, you don’t really envision a place like Bucyrus,” Shaffer told the crowd gathered in the bare-bones former Board of Elections building. “People imagine, like, New York or California, places like that. But me? I envisioned Bucyrus.”
Shaffer said Bucyrus was her home and that home was the place for the best potential.
“As far back as I can remember, college was the place that I wanted to go,” Shaffer said. “Until recently, I didn’t know where to begin.”
Shaffer added that she was part of the percentage of students that can’t afford college.
“But when I think of the cost of education, I don’t think of the cost moneywise; I think of the value. And in the long run, knowing the value of your education is much more satisfying than knowing the cost,” Shaffer said. “It’s very important to me. I’m a first-generation college student and many of my relatives haven’t even gotten their high school diploma. A college degree was never a vision of their future.
“I am the changing factor,” Shaffer continued. “I want my generation to make a change; a change for the whole world, a better change. And a place like this will give many more people a chance to do that change than any of you realize.”
“I want to be a part of that change. Having something close to home where I can learn and accomplish my goals is the greatest gift anyone could ever give me.”
Shaffer, who actually approached North Central State first to speak at the event, received a standing ovation from the crowd, which was filled with business and education leaders from Crawford County and North Central State. She plans on enrolling at North Central State to major in business management, which she will use in combination with her culinary training to open a restaurant.
The kickoff ceremony also featured comments from Representative Jeff McClain, Timken’s Bob Hiltbrand, Dr. Joe Shadeed, and North Central State College President Dr. Dorey Diab.
“It is our goal to get Crawford County and the surrounding area from the least educated to the most educated,” Diab said. “It is because the more educated citizen, the citizen with more engagement and participation in our community, more social cohesion and appreciation of literacy, more improved health and life expectancy, less dependents on drugs, reduced crime rates and incarnation, decreased reliance on government financial support, better jobs with higher salary and benefits, increased employment and tax revenues, increased charitable-giving and community service. And more importantly, a higher standard of living and better quality of life for a more vibrant and sustainable community.”
Dave Williamson, director of the Crawford County Education and Economic Development Partnership, stated that an education center in the county was always a goal but the enormity of the project had them figuring that goal would be nearly 10 years down the road.
“We’re doing it in half the time thanks to a lot of great leaders and a lot of donors and a lot of support from the state and others as well,” Williamson said. “What’s required of us now is that each of us do our job.”
Williamson was referring to the local businesses investing in the center and using it to invest in their employees.
“For our young people . . . we are going to create a great program that brings them in early and gives them an opportunity that makes them feel like this is a home for them,” Williamson said. “So when they graduate, there’s going to be no question. They’re going to get involved and they’re going to do it right here in Crawford County.”
Comments from Dr. Joe Shadeed, an influential donor to the center, can be seen in the video below. He is standing with Williamson and Janet Pry, who recently retired as president of the Community Foundation for Crawford County.
Though North Central State has received various donations and grants for the project, it still has not met its goal of $2.5 million for the Crawford Connection Center.