Little attends annual convention

Logansport resident James Little recently attended the 2009 Association for Career and Technical Education Annual Convention and Career Expo.

Conducted Nov. 19-21 in Nashville, Tenn., the convention brought together more than 4,000 educational leaders from the nation’s most successful high schools and career centers.

The three-day conference titled, “The New Rhythm of Career and Technical Education,” provided leadership and professional development opportunities for school administrators and educators from around the nation to learn from their peers. The convention focus was on career planning, skill attainment and development, academic achievement, and economic stability, development and recovery.

The convention provided numerous ideas and strategies for career and technical educators to improve school performance, redesign the traditional school structure, and ways to create new career programs for the future focused on industry and labor market demands.

Little serves as director of the Kokomo Area Career Center.



Eric Ditton joins local law firm

Eric S. Ditton recently joined the law firm of Starr Austen & Miller, LLP, 201 S. Third St.

At the firm, he primarily engages in insurance defense and estate planning. He has been admitted to practice in all Indiana state courts, as well as the northern and southern federal districts of Indiana.

In 2006, Ditton graduated from Purdue University in West Lafayette, where he received his bachelor degree and majored in law and society. He is a 2009 graduate of Valparaiso University School of Law, cum laude.

Ditton, who recently moved to Logansport, is originally from Kendallville.

He is a member of several professional organizations, including the American, Indiana, and Cass County bar associations, as well as the American Association of Justice, Phi Alpha Delta legal fraternity and Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity.



MCF names three employees of month

BUNKER HILL — Miami Correctional Facility named its employees of the month for October.

Those honored include Brittany Clark, Human Resources, named employee of the month (non-custody); Jennifer Fiscel, named supervisor of the month (custody or non-custody); and Officer Nakhon Pindell, named custody officer of the month.

Clark, of Galveston, was hired at MCF as a human resource associate in September 2008.

Pindell, of Peru, was hired at MCF as an officer in October 2003.

Fiscel, of Logansport, was hired as a temporary file clerk at Logansport State Hospital for a month in 1997. She was rehired at North Central Juvenile Correctional Facility as a youth service officer in July 2003. She transferred to MCF as a correctional casework manager in June 2006.

Some of the criteria established for the recipients of the awards include: the employee sets a good example for others, participates in special projects, exercises good judgment, demonstrates enthusiasm for work, demonstrates outstanding achievement, is team-oriented, displays dependability, demonstrates perseverance, has a positive attitude, communicates well with others, and displays professionalism.



Curlin elected as president-elect

Greg Curlin, agricultural educator at Switzerland County High School in Vevay, has been elected as the 2009-2010 president-elect of the National Association of Agricultural Educators.

An active member of both his professional organizations and his community, Curlin has held many leadership positions and has been selected for a number of awards throughout his career. Those include being selected for the Syngenta Outstanding Teacher program, serving as the NAAE Region IV vice president, and being named as one of the six top ag teachers in the U.S. in 2005.

NAAE is governed by a board of volunteer agricultural educators from across the United States. By taking on the office of president-elect, Curlin will be responsible for helping shape the goals and direction of the organization for the next year.

Curlin lives in Vevay with his wife Becky, also a teacher, and two sons, Ethan and Levi. Becky is originally from Logansport.

NAAE is the professional organization in the United States for agricultural educators. It provides its’ nearly 8,000 members with professional networking and development opportunities, professional liability coverage, and extensive awards and recognition programs.