April 29, 2024 • 12 mins
Sonja Pluck is the director of the Madison Adult Career Center, which is located at Madison High School. Sonja, who is a graduate of Madison, started working at the Career Center in 1997 and is in her 27th year. They offer 75 courses and most programs can be comnpleted in a year or less. The Madison Adult Career Center will celebrate 50 years in 2025. Learn more about all the programs and director, Sonja Pluck, on the podcast.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
The CEO you Should Know, broughtto you by Roby Foster Miller Eric Insurance.
This week's CEO Sonya Pluck, directorof the Madison Adult Career Center.
Good morning, great to see you. Good morning, great to see you.
Thanks so much for coming in.Thank you for having me. I
appreciate it. You're very welcome.And I love this program because we learn
(00:23):
about local organizations and the people thathelp run them. So let's begin,
and I always begin the same wayif somebody just moved to the area that
they don't know about the Madison AdultCareer Center, tell us about you,
guys. Okay, Well, theMadison Dot Career Center is part of the
Madison Local School District and we arelocated actually at the high school, Madison
(00:45):
Comprehensive High School at six hundred EsleLane. We share the career tech facilities
with the high school. And nextyear twenty twenty five, will Madison Schools
will be celebrating one hundred years theCareer Technical Education department both high school and
we'll be celebrating fifty years. Sowe're super excited about that big anniversary coming
up. All right, terrific,Now, could you go through maybe some
(01:08):
of the different programs overall, I'msure there's lots of different, you know,
fields people can go into in termsof job opportunities with the career center.
Could you go down through some ofthose. Well. At Madison Dout
Creer Center, we offer career developmentprograms. They lead to industry credential certifications
and we offer nine of those.And we offer healthcare training programs medical assisting
(01:32):
technologies, phlebotomy, state test andnursed dental assisting. We also have technical
trade programs manufacturing. We have weldingtechnology, precision machining, and industrial electrical
maintenance. And we also have acosmetology program eighteen hundred and fifteen hundred hours.
In addition to the career development programs, we have a variety of programs
(01:53):
and those are the career development.We also have workforce, personal and interest
courses. Individuals can come to usand we offer approximately seventy five courses a
year in the evenings throughout the schoolyear that individuals can come and take a
course for just personal interest hobby.We have cake decorating, they can come
and increase their skills in welding,Microsoft Excel. So we offer a variety
(02:15):
of courses like that as well.And then we also are an adult diploma
program provider, and we offer adultdiploma programs where adults, if they're eighteen
years of age and do not havea high school di plumber or GED,
they can come to us and enrollin one of our five approved programs and
upon successful completion of that program earningthe credential let's say it's STNA. They
(02:38):
successful complete the program, they earnthe st and a certification, they will
be awarded an adult high school diplomathrough your HOIWE Department of Education. So
we offer those as well, andin addition to customized training for employers.
All right, just awesome, lota lot of variety. Great. We
are learning this morning about Sonya Pluck, who is this week's CEO. You
(02:58):
should know she is the director ofthe Madison Adult Career Center. Before we
go any further, how long haveyou been working there? Oh my gosh,
so I am in my twenty seventhyear. I started working for Madison
Adult cre Center in nineteen ninety seven. Sounds like you love it. I
love it. I absolutely love whatwe do. I believe in what we
do and it's just a very rewardingcareer. Awesome, awesome to hear.
(03:21):
All right, So before we goany further, can you ballpark students how
many? I'm sure it can varyyear to year. Do you have any
information then? In our career developmentprograms, we enrolled approximately one hundred and
twenty five to one hundred and fiftystudents a year in our workforce and personal
interest classes, the short term classes. That's anywhere from I don't know,
one hundred to one hundred and fiftystudents a year in those courses as well.
(03:45):
And some students you know that couldbe counted twice because they may take
a couple classes a year. Fromus, it sounds like to help a
lot of people, we do,all right. So one more question that
I have that that pops into mymind is at all local people from Richlund
County does it expand other counties?We serve Richland County, but we also
serve surrounding counties Crawford County, marylCounty, Ashland County. Majority from Richland
(04:10):
and Crawford County. All right,again, we are learning this morning about
the director of the Madison Adult CareerCenter. That is Sonya Pluck, who
is this week's CEO. You shouldknow, all right, So let's step
away from work and find out abit more about you. So let's step
back to the very beginning. Tellus, where was Sonya pluck? Born
(04:30):
right here in Mansfield, and Iam a graduate of Madison. I have
lived in the Madison Local School Districtmy entire life. So graduated from Madison,
and I just I love the area. I sometimes Joe can say I
bleed green. All right, thereyou go, proud Ram. All right?
Yes, Next, tell us afterhigh school college kind of path to
where you are today. So whenI was in high school, I took
(04:55):
the Intensive Office Education program it wasthe career tech program, and graduated from
there and went to work a coupledifferent places, but ended up at Ashland
University and worked in the undergraduate Admissionsoffice. Earned my bachelor's degree while I
was there, and learned while Iwas there. I worked there seven years.
Towards the end, I learned thatthe instructor position for the Intensive Office
(05:17):
Education program at Madison was open,and I thought, how cool would that
be to go back and teach theprogram that I learned my skills from,
And because I just absolutely loved it, interviewed for the position and there was
a candidate, internal candidate that workedin the adult education department at the time
that was also applying for the position. And so the adult director at the
(05:39):
time sat in the interviews knowing thather person was probably going to get the
position, and she did and itwas still there and doing great. And
so then within a few days Ireceived a phone call and the director at
the time was Michelle Gates with theAdult care center called me and offered me
the position that became open in heroffice. That's how I started working in
(06:00):
the Adult Career center and that wasin nineteen ninety seven, started as transitions
coordinator, worked into assistant director,and then in two thousand became director and
have been serving in that role eversince. I terrific a ram An Eagle
and working at the Alma mater.Terrific. All right, so let's learn
a bit more about you in termsof Sonia and the families. Don't know
(06:23):
if you have kids, married,anything like that, but tell us about
Sonya pluck and the family. Okay, Well, I married my high school
sweetheart who also graduated from a careertech program, and I have two children
and they both graduated from Madison.I have grandchildren in the Madison School District
right now, and I love itall right, terrific. Now, when
you're not working, what kind ofthings do you like to do? What
(06:46):
are your hobbies. I'm not sureif I have hobbies, but I enjoy
spending time with family, my grandbabies. Just recently, I have a three
month old granddaughter. I have fivegrandsons, so when we got the granddaughter
that was kind of but I justlove spending time with my grandkids and family
and doing family things. Right,terrific. Well, let's get back to
work for just a few more questionsbefore we let you go. Been a
(07:08):
terrific conversation this morning learning all aboutSonia Plock, who is this week's CEO.
You should know she is the directorof the Madison Adult Career Center,
which again is based inside of MadisonHigh School. All right, so as
we go back to work, staffmembers, how many people you know help
you in terms of teaching and educationfor the Adult Career Center? Okay,
(07:30):
so we have twenty two regular employeessummer full time, regular part time employees,
and then I have probably twenty fiveto thirty instructors that teach the short
term classes throughout the year and Soour office staff consists of myself, an
assistant director, and five support staffmembers and then all my instructors. A
(07:53):
lot of great people to make itrun well. Yeah, and my instructor
is one thing I want to pointout, a lot of them work outside
of Madison. They work full timejobs during the day and then they come
to Madison and teach whatever it isthat they're teaching because they love it.
They have a passion for it.It's their field, it's their expertise,
and they want to teach others howto do it well. That brings me
to my next question. So wesay, Madison Adult Career Center, what
(08:16):
are the hours for the classes andall of that. Okay, the majority
of our programs are offered in theevening. We do have a couple that
run during the day. The daytimeprograms typically run nine fifteen to three fifteen.
Our evening programs four, four thirtyand five are typical start times and
can run up till nine thirty teno'clock at night. And I'm wondering this
too. In terms of the programsfor the classes, you know, how
(08:39):
many weeks, months, whatever.I'm sure they vary, correct, they
do vary. Our shortest program,career development program, is our state test
in nur say, its ninety sixhours. Takes four to six weeks to
complete that, depending on if you'retaking daytime or evening. Obviously we can
run more hours during the day,then in the evening, and then up
to our longest program, which isour eighteen hundred hour Advanced Cosmetology, which
(09:03):
can take two years company years.All right, So again I mentioned a
couple more questions before I let yougo again. The voice you hear this
morning is Sony Pluck. She isthe director of the Madison Adult Career Center.
She's this week's CEO. You shouldknow, all right. So if
somebody wants to get the ball rolling, they want to enter a Class A
(09:24):
program and all that kind of stuff. What's the best place to go about?
Is it? Website? Phone numbers, it stop, buy and see
you? How do they get itgoing? All the above? All right?
They can stop in and see us. They can check out the Madison
website, which is www dot MLSDdot net MLSD for Madison Local School District
and within there then they can finda link for the Adult Career Center,
(09:46):
or they can call us at fourone nine five eight nine, sixty three
sixty three. All right, terrific. Now before I let you go,
I visit with so many different peoplehere on the air and in so many
different fields. Tell me we're hiring, we need good people. And I
know for you guys in terms ofyou know you've talked about healthcare, maybe
it's manufacturing. There's a lot ofemployers. You know, you could have
(10:07):
a great career. Hey, itcould start at Madison by getting that education
and be able to So if youwouldn't want to talk about some of those
fields that really are really I wouldsay looking for good people right now.
Absolutely, I think all career fieldsare looking for excellent people right now.
Manufacturing is looking for excellent people.Welders, machinists, electrical maintenance folks,
(10:31):
healthcare, They're always looking for goodpeople. All of our training programs at
Madison Dot Career Center are leading toin demand jobs. So that's what we
do. I mean, we haveadvisory committees that sit and work with us
and make sure that what we're teachingare the skills that are needed in the
workplace. They're helping direct us andour programming to make sure that when our
students graduate, there's going to bea job out there for them to obtain.
(10:54):
All right, do we miss anythingthis morning? I am happy to
announce that Madison will be celebrating onehundred years next year. And in addition
to that, the career Technical Educationprogramming both high school and adult will be
celebrating fifty years next year. Sowe're super excited about that. Folks that
Madison are starting to work on theplanning and the celebration that we'll be doing
(11:15):
next year to honor that. Allright, terrific to learn the whole story
this morning about Sonja Pluck, thisweek's CEO you Should Know, director of
the Madison Adult Career Center again.For more information, go to MLSD.
That is Madison Local School District MLSDdot net is the website. Click on
the tab for the Adult Career Centerto get more information about all the great
(11:39):
work that they do. Sonya,it was terrific to learn your story.
Thank you so much for coming inand we wish you continued success. Thank
you, thank you so much forhaving me. Sonya Pluck, director of
the Madison Adult Career Center, TheCEO you Should Know rid a bio see
a photo and here the extended interviewat w m A n f M dot
(12:01):
com. This is John Roby ofrf ME Insurance. It is said that
a good leader sets the bar highbecause he or she wants to reach goals
and make the best of their teams. We are proud to introduce you to
some of the community's leaders on theCEO series
The CEO you Should Know, broughtto you by Roby Foster Miller Eric Insurance.
This week's CEO Sonya Pluck, directorof the Madison Adult Career Center.
Good morning, great to see you. Good morning, great to see you.
Thanks so much for coming in.Thank you for having me. I
appreciate it. You're very welcome.And I love this program because we learn
(00:23):
about local organizations and the people thathelp run them. So let's begin,
and I always begin the same wayif somebody just moved to the area that
they don't know about the Madison AdultCareer Center, tell us about you,
guys. Okay, Well, theMadison Dot Career Center is part of the
Madison Local School District and we arelocated actually at the high school, Madison
(00:45):
Comprehensive High School at six hundred EsleLane. We share the career tech facilities
with the high school. And nextyear twenty twenty five, will Madison Schools
will be celebrating one hundred years theCareer Technical Education department both high school and
we'll be celebrating fifty years. Sowe're super excited about that big anniversary coming
up. All right, terrific,Now, could you go through maybe some
(01:08):
of the different programs overall, I'msure there's lots of different, you know,
fields people can go into in termsof job opportunities with the career center.
Could you go down through some ofthose. Well. At Madison Dout
Creer Center, we offer career developmentprograms. They lead to industry credential certifications
and we offer nine of those.And we offer healthcare training programs medical assisting
(01:32):
technologies, phlebotomy, state test andnursed dental assisting. We also have technical
trade programs manufacturing. We have weldingtechnology, precision machining, and industrial electrical
maintenance. And we also have acosmetology program eighteen hundred and fifteen hundred hours.
In addition to the career development programs, we have a variety of programs
(01:53):
and those are the career development.We also have workforce, personal and interest
courses. Individuals can come to usand we offer approximately seventy five courses a
year in the evenings throughout the schoolyear that individuals can come and take a
course for just personal interest hobby.We have cake decorating, they can come
and increase their skills in welding,Microsoft Excel. So we offer a variety
(02:15):
of courses like that as well.And then we also are an adult diploma
program provider, and we offer adultdiploma programs where adults, if they're eighteen
years of age and do not havea high school di plumber or GED,
they can come to us and enrollin one of our five approved programs and
upon successful completion of that program earningthe credential let's say it's STNA. They
(02:38):
successful complete the program, they earnthe st and a certification, they will
be awarded an adult high school diplomathrough your HOIWE Department of Education. So
we offer those as well, andin addition to customized training for employers.
All right, just awesome, lota lot of variety. Great. We
are learning this morning about Sonya Pluck, who is this week's CEO. You
(02:58):
should know she is the director ofthe Madison Adult Career Center. Before we
go any further, how long haveyou been working there? Oh my gosh,
so I am in my twenty seventhyear. I started working for Madison
Adult cre Center in nineteen ninety seven. Sounds like you love it. I
love it. I absolutely love whatwe do. I believe in what we
do and it's just a very rewardingcareer. Awesome, awesome to hear.
(03:21):
All right, So before we goany further, can you ballpark students how
many? I'm sure it can varyyear to year. Do you have any
information then? In our career developmentprograms, we enrolled approximately one hundred and
twenty five to one hundred and fiftystudents a year in our workforce and personal
interest classes, the short term classes. That's anywhere from I don't know,
one hundred to one hundred and fiftystudents a year in those courses as well.
(03:45):
And some students you know that couldbe counted twice because they may take
a couple classes a year. Fromus, it sounds like to help a
lot of people, we do,all right. So one more question that
I have that that pops into mymind is at all local people from Richlund
County does it expand other counties?We serve Richland County, but we also
serve surrounding counties Crawford County, marylCounty, Ashland County. Majority from Richland
(04:10):
and Crawford County. All right,again, we are learning this morning about
the director of the Madison Adult CareerCenter. That is Sonya Pluck, who
is this week's CEO. You shouldknow, all right, So let's step
away from work and find out abit more about you. So let's step
back to the very beginning. Tellus, where was Sonya pluck? Born
(04:30):
right here in Mansfield, and Iam a graduate of Madison. I have
lived in the Madison Local School Districtmy entire life. So graduated from Madison,
and I just I love the area. I sometimes Joe can say I
bleed green. All right, thereyou go, proud Ram. All right?
Yes, Next, tell us afterhigh school college kind of path to
where you are today. So whenI was in high school, I took
(04:55):
the Intensive Office Education program it wasthe career tech program, and graduated from
there and went to work a coupledifferent places, but ended up at Ashland
University and worked in the undergraduate Admissionsoffice. Earned my bachelor's degree while I
was there, and learned while Iwas there. I worked there seven years.
Towards the end, I learned thatthe instructor position for the Intensive Office
(05:17):
Education program at Madison was open,and I thought, how cool would that
be to go back and teach theprogram that I learned my skills from,
And because I just absolutely loved it, interviewed for the position and there was
a candidate, internal candidate that workedin the adult education department at the time
that was also applying for the position. And so the adult director at the
(05:39):
time sat in the interviews knowing thather person was probably going to get the
position, and she did and itwas still there and doing great. And
so then within a few days Ireceived a phone call and the director at
the time was Michelle Gates with theAdult care center called me and offered me
the position that became open in heroffice. That's how I started working in
(06:00):
the Adult Career center and that wasin nineteen ninety seven, started as transitions
coordinator, worked into assistant director,and then in two thousand became director and
have been serving in that role eversince. I terrific a ram An Eagle
and working at the Alma mater.Terrific. All right, so let's learn
a bit more about you in termsof Sonia and the families. Don't know
(06:23):
if you have kids, married,anything like that, but tell us about
Sonya pluck and the family. Okay, Well, I married my high school
sweetheart who also graduated from a careertech program, and I have two children
and they both graduated from Madison.I have grandchildren in the Madison School District
right now, and I love itall right, terrific. Now, when
you're not working, what kind ofthings do you like to do? What
(06:46):
are your hobbies. I'm not sureif I have hobbies, but I enjoy
spending time with family, my grandbabies. Just recently, I have a three
month old granddaughter. I have fivegrandsons, so when we got the granddaughter
that was kind of but I justlove spending time with my grandkids and family
and doing family things. Right,terrific. Well, let's get back to
work for just a few more questionsbefore we let you go. Been a
(07:08):
terrific conversation this morning learning all aboutSonia Plock, who is this week's CEO.
You should know she is the directorof the Madison Adult Career Center,
which again is based inside of MadisonHigh School. All right, so as
we go back to work, staffmembers, how many people you know help
you in terms of teaching and educationfor the Adult Career Center? Okay,
(07:30):
so we have twenty two regular employeessummer full time, regular part time employees,
and then I have probably twenty fiveto thirty instructors that teach the short
term classes throughout the year and Soour office staff consists of myself, an
assistant director, and five support staffmembers and then all my instructors. A
(07:53):
lot of great people to make itrun well. Yeah, and my instructor
is one thing I want to pointout, a lot of them work outside
of Madison. They work full timejobs during the day and then they come
to Madison and teach whatever it isthat they're teaching because they love it.
They have a passion for it.It's their field, it's their expertise,
and they want to teach others howto do it well. That brings me
to my next question. So wesay, Madison Adult Career Center, what
(08:16):
are the hours for the classes andall of that. Okay, the majority
of our programs are offered in theevening. We do have a couple that
run during the day. The daytimeprograms typically run nine fifteen to three fifteen.
Our evening programs four, four thirtyand five are typical start times and
can run up till nine thirty teno'clock at night. And I'm wondering this
too. In terms of the programsfor the classes, you know, how
(08:39):
many weeks, months, whatever.I'm sure they vary, correct, they
do vary. Our shortest program,career development program, is our state test
in nur say, its ninety sixhours. Takes four to six weeks to
complete that, depending on if you'retaking daytime or evening. Obviously we can
run more hours during the day,then in the evening, and then up
to our longest program, which isour eighteen hundred hour Advanced Cosmetology, which
(09:03):
can take two years company years.All right, So again I mentioned a
couple more questions before I let yougo again. The voice you hear this
morning is Sony Pluck. She isthe director of the Madison Adult Career Center.
She's this week's CEO. You shouldknow, all right. So if
somebody wants to get the ball rolling, they want to enter a Class A
(09:24):
program and all that kind of stuff. What's the best place to go about?
Is it? Website? Phone numbers, it stop, buy and see
you? How do they get itgoing? All the above? All right?
They can stop in and see us. They can check out the Madison
website, which is www dot MLSDdot net MLSD for Madison Local School District
and within there then they can finda link for the Adult Career Center,
(09:46):
or they can call us at fourone nine five eight nine, sixty three
sixty three. All right, terrific. Now before I let you go,
I visit with so many different peoplehere on the air and in so many
different fields. Tell me we're hiring, we need good people. And I
know for you guys in terms ofyou know you've talked about healthcare, maybe
it's manufacturing. There's a lot ofemployers. You know, you could have
(10:07):
a great career. Hey, itcould start at Madison by getting that education
and be able to So if youwouldn't want to talk about some of those
fields that really are really I wouldsay looking for good people right now.
Absolutely, I think all career fieldsare looking for excellent people right now.
Manufacturing is looking for excellent people.Welders, machinists, electrical maintenance folks,
(10:31):
healthcare, They're always looking for goodpeople. All of our training programs at
Madison Dot Career Center are leading toin demand jobs. So that's what we
do. I mean, we haveadvisory committees that sit and work with us
and make sure that what we're teachingare the skills that are needed in the
workplace. They're helping direct us andour programming to make sure that when our
students graduate, there's going to bea job out there for them to obtain.
(10:54):
All right, do we miss anythingthis morning? I am happy to
announce that Madison will be celebrating onehundred years next year. And in addition
to that, the career Technical Educationprogramming both high school and adult will be
celebrating fifty years next year. Sowe're super excited about that. Folks that
Madison are starting to work on theplanning and the celebration that we'll be doing
(11:15):
next year to honor that. Allright, terrific to learn the whole story
this morning about Sonja Pluck, thisweek's CEO you Should Know, director of
the Madison Adult Career Center again.For more information, go to MLSD.
That is Madison Local School District MLSDdot net is the website. Click on
the tab for the Adult Career Centerto get more information about all the great
(11:39):
work that they do. Sonya,it was terrific to learn your story.
Thank you so much for coming inand we wish you continued success. Thank
you, thank you so much forhaving me. Sonya Pluck, director of
the Madison Adult Career Center, TheCEO you Should Know rid a bio see
a photo and here the extended interviewat w m A n f M dot
(12:01):
com. This is John Roby ofrf ME Insurance. It is said that
a good leader sets the bar highbecause he or she wants to reach goals
and make the best of their teams. We are proud to introduce you to
some of the community's leaders on theCEO series
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