Technology advances learning at TCTC

Recognized as an Apple Distinguished School for fourth time

CHAMPION -- Trumbull County Career and Technical Center leaders noted that the school's recognition as an Apple Distinguished School wasn't about the brand of technology being used, but students' ability to utilize it in ways that broaden their horizons and opportunities.

TCTC officials announced recently that it has been recognized as an Apple Distinguished School for the 2026-29 program term. It is the school's fourth time being recognized as such a school, according to Innovative Learning Specialist Brian Foutty.

Foutty said about 2,300 schools in the country are recognized as Apple Distinguished Schools.

"The way I look at it, students come here and (to) technical centers because they want to learn by doing," Foutty said. "If they were very good with just passively sitting and getting an education, they would have stayed at their home schools."

Foutty said TCTC students want to work with their hands, adding that school officials found that iPads make it possible -- allowing them to show what they've learned and display it.

Foutty said it enables them to have examples of their best learning to share with future employers, in their capstone project.

"As part of their capstone project, they go through a mock interview process, to just prepare them for the interview process after they graduate," Foutty said. "All of their work is saved and cataloged, and then they have all those, which they can then transfer or use after they leave here -- whether it's through post-secondary or career."

While Apple's products have been perceived by the public as less flexible, Foutty, a software developer who teaches the subject at TCTC and has been an Android and iOS developer, said he disagrees, noting that two-thirds of all money spent on the app stores is in Apple's.

"There's just a better developer community, and then Apple themselves make all of their software available to us free of charge," Foutty said. "Can you do some of that stuff on a Chromebook? Yes, but if it's not on the internet, and it's not a web app -- you can't do that on a Chromebook because all they have is a web browser."

Foutty said their students have native apps that can work without the internet, adding that not every kid has access to the internet.

"We can offer them a hotspot and do things like that to get them internet at home, but it's just not ubiquitous everywhere," Foutty said. "It's getting there, still, but even in rural Ohio, it's not."

TCTC high school Director Paula Baco noted that Apple is big on focusing on the fact that it is staff using technology in an innovative way to drive learning, adding that the company knows they use Google products in conjunction with Apple's.

Foutty said staff use Google Classroom and students have their own Google Drive storage account, too.

"I'm convinced the best Chromebook is an iPad, because you can have all the advantages of Google services and all the Apple apps," Foutty said.

Baco said school officials are given a "kit" in terms of what they're looking for in an Apple Distinguished School.

"They have a video that you have to submit, and there are three parts to it -- inspire, imagine and impact," Baco said. "We went through with our multimedia students, and we submitted a student-created video."

Foutty said the video was edited and scripted by students, focused on what they do and what they make.

Baco and Foutty said the process took four to five months.

Baco said it was less about the brand of technology being used and more about how technology is being implemented in the classroom.

"They're all content creators, and that's what they're doing, and what we're able then to assess from them is, what they have learned," Foutty said.

Foutty said standardized tests are used in the classroom, but they're also able to have them display their learning, adding that research shows creating something will result in more learning because of the research being done to make it possible.

Kristofer Doran, an Interactive Multimedia instructor in his 19th year of teaching, said Apple wasn't integrated in the classroom in his first year with TCTC and it was a major issue.

"We had a lot of different older computers that couldn't run the same levels of software," Doran said. "When we got Apple, it allowed us to tie the students all together so I can teach them on one platform all the way through, on the same thing."

"It just really opens up the kids to use all these advanced pieces of software and do things they would do in the industry," Doran said.

In terms of how it's used in the classroom, Doran said the class has a TV show it produces weekly and a monthly web series, "TCTC Tales."

"It's just completely integrated, it allows them to do the different types of productions together; we kind of tied in through the cloud," Doran said. "It allows them to use all the Adobe software, which is really the big thing in our field."

Doran said they also don't have to worry about computers crashing because they're sturdy and Adobe keeps upping software requirements.

Doran's students created the video that was submitted to Apple, which resulted in them earning the distinction.

"I had one or two MacBooks, and I would have to have the kids reserve it, and they would basically be ready to fight over it," Doran said. "Now that they all have their own, basically, the school day doesn't have to end for them."

"When the bell rings at the end of the day, they can go home and continue to work on many of them; most of them do -- they become really passionate about the stuff we're learning in lab, and it's an opportunity for them to keep working on it."

Doran said he's had a number of students that have been hired into their field right out of high school, noting they transition smoothly from what they're learning and certifying in the classroom.

Logan Mills, a Howland High School senior, was part of the team that helped make the video the school submitted. He said a senior from the previous class handled the script.

"I took his script, and I broke it down into individual clips and edited them all together. A b-roll of different things, other uses of technology that we use and have to do with Apple," Mills said. "A wide range of technology that we use here and how we can all benefit from Apple technology."

Mills said it took him a week -- or a bit longer than that -- to assemble the video, spending several hours a day on the product, with Doran adding that Mills was working on his project for User Experience Design.

Mills was part of a team that received ninth place at the 2026 Business Professionals of America National Leadership Conference, which took place May 6-10 in Nashville, Tennessee.