Again this spring, JCIDC partnered with Crothersville High School guidance counselor Katie Whitehead to arrange job shadowing opportunities for juniors.
On April 10, several members of the Class of 2027 spent the morning shadowing business professionals who work in their career field of interest.
In the photos, Koby Davis and Ryley Marsh shadow at Dorsey’s Auto Body Center in Seymour, Kelsie Walker shadows at Wild Souls Hair Co. in Seymour, Nathan Copple shadows at S-Tech Machine & Welding in Crothersville and Madison Smith shadows with Erin Barker Photography in Seymour.
Thanks to these people for taking the time to offer this opportunity for the juniors!
Here are comments shared on Facebook by Barker about her time spent with Smith.
“I got to spend the morning with some new talent emerging in our area,” Barker said. “Meet Madison. She is behind the lens at Forever Films and a junior at Crothersville High School. We spent the morning going over education, and after our mini session client left, we took some fun branding photos. Forever thankful to be where I am and be in a position to help the next generation learn this art.”
Smith told Barker she learned a lot, and Barker said she left an open invitation for future questions and help.
Sandy Creek Christian Academy’s juniors and seniors had an opportunity to participate in mock interviews with local business professionals the morning of April 8 at the Seymour school.
A total of 25 students gained experience in interviewing. Career interests include nursing, respiratory therapist, psychology, X-ray technician, cardiologist, speech and language, surgical technician, perfume chemist, business, finance, veterinarian, music education, elementary education, police officer, electrician, mechanic and engineering.
Conducting the interviews were:
*Brett Brown, Rita Hollen, Kasey Wischmeier and Susan Wynn with Schneck Medical Center
*Ashley Stahl with Seymour-Redding Elementary School
*Max McClure with Rose Acre Farms
*Joel Negrete with Cummins Seymour Engine Plant
Thanks to Sandy Creek Christian Academy career and college teacher Cristy Null for working with JCIDC to coordinate this effort.
Medora High School’s juniors and seniors had an opportunity to participate in mock interviews with local business professionals the morning of April 7 at the school.
A total of 15 students gained experience in interviewing. Career interests include psychology, X-ray technician, early childhood, engineering, business management, construction, criminal justice, military and cosmetology. Some want to pursue college, while others will enter the workforce.
Conducting the interviews were:
*Kasey Wischmeier with Schneck Medical Center
*Skylar Thompson with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department
*Kim Nicholson with Knotts & Tangles
*Leah Young with Medora Community School Corp.
*Zach Spicer with Jackson County Industrial Development Corp.
Thanks to Medora High School counselor and dean of students Leah Young for working with JCIDC to coordinate this effort.
Jackson County Industrial Development Corp.’s third annual Jackson County JAG Day was March 31 at the Jackson County Learning Center in Seymour.
Thirty-three Jobs for America’s Graduates students from Brownstown Central and Seymour high schools attended along with their JAG specialists, Michelle Brock of BCHS and Celeste Bowman of SHS.
Jobs for America’s Graduates is a state-based national nonprofit organization dedicated to helping high school students of promise who have experienced challenging or traumatic life experiences achieve success through graduation. The resiliency-building workforce program helps students learn in-demand employability skills and provides a bridge to postsecondary education and career advancement opportunities.
During the morning, the students split into groups and rotated between four workshops. Job search/postsecondary was led by Tina Hacker and Yesenia Otero with Pet Supplies Plus. Health care was led by Jena Hanks with Healthy Jackson County and Carrie Schryer and Paul Ramsey with the Jackson County Health Department. Financial was led by Sehrish Sangamkar and Ricardo Gamboa with Centra Credit Union and Amanda Barlow and Derek Green with First Financial Bank. Living skills was led by Maci Baurle with Jackson County United Way and Jeri Wells with Seymour Housing Authority.
After lunch and networking, JCLC Director Amy Heideman led each school group on a tour of the learning center. Then the students split into teams and played trivia. Walmart gift cards were given to the winning team.
We would like to thank JCLC for hosting the event, the JAG students and specialists for attending, Sandra Wehner with River Valley Resources for attending, the local business professionals for leading the workshops and Seymour Walmart for donating food and drinks.
An award is presented to an Indiana event partner who has hosted a VEX IQ or VRC event during the robotics season.
For 2026, a Jackson County resident was bestowed the Event Partner of the Year Award.
During the Indiana Robotics State Championship on March 14 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Dallas Goecker of Seymour was announced as the recipient of the award.
As he has for five years, Goecker was helping host the state tournament. Part of his role this year was entering all of the award winners for the awards presentation. While doing that, he saw his name.
“There are a lot of good teams here in Jackson County, and they are very supportive of helping me put on these tournaments and hosting them, and I think they do appreciate that there are local events for them to go to,” he said. “You’ll always be appreciative of being appreciated. That definitely feels nice.”
According to TechPoint Youth, the Event Parter of the Year must show true leadership, dedication, patience and fairness and have a passion for helping and supporting all teams. The person also continuously exceeds expectations to create a safe, enjoyable and educational experience for all teams during their event.
The award recipient can be nominated by a coach, student, principal, parent or colleague. Jackson County robotics coaches were given an opportunity to submit nominations.
Goecker has been involved with the robotics program in Jackson County since its inception. His first year of coaching at Trinity Lutheran High School in Seymour was the 2009-10 school year. That year, two Trinity teams qualified for the world tournament in Dallas, Texas. The first VEX Robotics World Championship was held two years earlier.
At a young age, Goecker developed a passion for robotics and competed in events. At the time of becoming a coach, he was working for Willow Garage of Menlo Park, California, which develops hardware and open source software for personal robotics applications.
Goecker also coached robotics at Immanuel Lutheran School in Seymour for 10 years and has hosted events for more than 10 years. In 2018, he was named VEX IQ elementary school Mentor of the Year.
“We’ve been hosting IQ events since Day 1 at Immanuel, but before that, hosting high school VRC events,” he said.
Goecker said Indiana has the largest state championship in the country.
“And the best by far,” he said.
This year, more than 300 robotics teams competed in the state championship, which was hosted by TechPoint Youth for the last time before Indiana moves to a regional championship model for the 2026-27 season.
“They do an incredible job of organizing this event,” Goecker said. “You can imagine to host something at Lucas Oil Stadium takes an incredible amount of attention to detail, and we have a good crew. Then they recruit a good 20 people basically to help them host and run the event.”
Jackson County was represented by four teams at this year’s state tournament and consistently has had teams compete there over the years.
“It is a wonderful opportunity for the kids,” Goecker said. “How often do you get to do something like that? You go to Lucas Oil Stadium and be onstage in Lucas Oil Stadium.”
Goecker said for 2025-26, Jackson County was No. 1 in the state in terms of most VEX Robotics teams per capita with 1.672 teams per 1,000. Jackson County is No. 6 with 78 teams.
Jackson County was represented by four teams at the 2026 Indiana Robotics State Championship on March 14 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
In the VEX IQ elementary school competition, Z Engineers Team 1597Z from Jackson County Homeschool Robotics made it to the top 32 and placed 25th out of 124 teams. Team members are third grader Raychael Timberlake, fifth grader James Timberlake and sixth graders Micah McIntyre and Eli Nolan. They are coached by Diana Nolan and Amy Timberlake.
Raychael, James and Micah were on a team that went to state for the first time last year, and this was Eli’s first time going to state. They qualified based on winning the Teamwork Champion Award at a tournament Jan. 17 at Immanuel Lutheran School in Seymour.
The other county team in the elementary competition was RoboSaints Team 47220C from Lutheran Central School in Brownstown. They placed 92nd. Team members are sixth graders Kyler Briner, Vivian Henry, Theodore McKinley and Bryce Tormoehlen. They are coached by Andrea McKinley.
This was their first time going to state. They qualified based on winning the Robot Skills Award at the Jackson County tournament Feb. 14 at Immanuel.
The only county team in the VEX IQ middle school competition was Team 520D from Immanuel, which placed 51st out of 100 teams. Team members are sixth grader Bennett Easton, seventh graders Pierson Murphy, Elizabeth Scheiderer and Gabrian Wilkins and eighth grader Elijah Kamman. They are coached by Nick Moore.
This was Gabrian’s third time going to state, Elizabeth’s second and Bennett, Pierson and Elijah’s first. They qualified after winning the Robot Skills Award at the Jackson County tournament.
Finally, participating in the VEX V5 high school competition was Dynasty Team 31330D from Seymour High School. They placed 34th out of 64 teams. Team members are sophomore Kaeden Leonard and juniors Noah Chambers, Nikita Cox, Kellan Stanfield and Micah Yee. They are coached by Amy Jo Miller Kuzel.
This was Micah’s fourth time going to state, Noah’s third, Kaeden’s second and Nikita and Kellan’s first. They qualified after winning the Excellence Award at the Railroad Rumble tournament Feb. 14 hosted by SHS. That award is given to the top overall team and is the highest honor given out in VEX Robotics Competition.
More than 300 robotics teams competed in the state championship, which was hosted by TechPoint Youth for the last time before Indiana moves to a regional championship model for the 2026-27 season.
Since the launch of the State Robotics Initiative, Indiana has become a leader in competitive youth robotics, boasting more VEX IQ robot teams than any other state in the country. The initiative is an expansion of the successful Indianapolis workforce initiative started in 2012 by former Mayor Greg Ballard. In 2016, TechPoint opened a grant for Indiana elementary schools to remove the cost barrier associated with launching robotics programs.
Prior to the State Robotics Initiative, Indiana had 73 elementary, 156 middle school and 170 high school VEX teams. Now, the state has 952 elementary, 491 middle school and 237 high school VEX teams.
TechPoint Youth is the leader in STEM education efforts for Indiana and has been inspiring students through STEM programming since 2001. The organization believes youth should be equipped to address Indiana’s growing demand for a skilled workforce.
