Staff photo / Bob Coupland Kierstin Richoz, a senior in the interactive multimedia class at Trumbull Career & Technical Center and from Girard High School, received first place for coin designs she made for the Ohio Association for Career and Technical Education. Richoz recently presented at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus on the TCTC Tales literacy and career exploration program she has been filming for the school.

CHAMPION — An interactive multimedia student at Trumbull Career & Technical Center has earned first place for designing two coins for the ​Ohio Association for Career and Technical Education.

Kierstin Richoz, a senior in the program from Girard High School, said she was participating at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus for the OACTE student showcase event. Richoz and classmate Jaxon Bell of Niles were showcasing the new TCTC Tales literacy program, which began earlier this year.

She said she and Bell explained how they do the filming for the TCTC Tales.

On Friday, Richoz and Bell will film a second-grade classroom at E.J. Blott Elementary School in Liberty with a teacher and her students.

“We demonstrated at the student showcase how the students learn from the books that we made films for,” Richoz said.

A separate event at the OACTE event was to design coins. Kris Doran, interactive multimedia instructor, has assigned a class project for the students to design coins to represent OACTE.

Richoz said she submitted her designs for the coins, which she did in Photoshop, and was informed she was selected as the winner and was asked to make a few revisions to her designs.

“I sent the revisions back, and they liked the final design. This is an annual thing they do every year,” she said.

The one design she did had a championship cup on it and the other the OACTE logo.

“One of their inspiration slogans is ‘Be A Champion’ and how I came up with the championship cup logo,” she said.

Richoz said she and Doran received coins with the new logos on them. She said the coins will be displayed at the OACTE offices.

Richoz said people who have received awards from the OACTE also will receive the coins.

Richoz said she plans to attend Kent State University to study multimedia design.

Cara DeToro, academic supervisor at TCTC, said TCTC Tales has partnered with Liberty schools on the new literacy program and has worked with second-grade teacher Carla Collins.

She said a $200,000 Reaching All Students Through Language and Literacy grant is making TCTC Tales possible. DeToro said the program involved community literacy and career exploration where children read seven books about different careers and then meet people in those fields in their classrooms.

Guests have included contractors, exercise science, firefighter/emergency medical service and biotech workers.

“This is an amazing project that brings communities into the classroom,” Collins said.

She said Richoz and Bell during their presentation at the Statehouse showcased the TCTC Tales to many politicians and other guests who also received coins.

“They were able to showcase what TCTC Tales is all about at the state level,” DeToro said.

She said plans are to begin the program in second-grade classrooms in Bristol and Champion schools.