By Paul Hubbard
Guest Column
State Representative and Majority Whip Josh Williams met with the students at Maritime Academy two weeks ago. He wanted to let the students know that there are opportunities for them after graduation. When he asked the students what they want for employment: one young lady said she wanted to be a social worker, another said she wanted to learn cosmetology, a young man said he wanted to be a plumber and another young man said he want to work on a Lake Ship and already had job offers.
Williams indicated to the students that he could get them all into training programs that were free. He said there are plenty of training programs in the skill trades area and that all he has to do is pick up the phone. He told the students he can get any student into a job training program of their choice once they graduate from Maritime or any other high school.
However, he also told them that smoking weed would keep them out of most skill trade training programs and other training programs because of the danger that being high it brings to the job. He went on to say that if you are injured on the job and you have been smoking weed the insurance companies can refuse to pay you for your injuries.
Williams recalled that when he was younger he smoked weed but learned the about the negatives that come with smoking weed which are not worth the high. He went on to say that drinking too much alcohol will also be an employment problem.
He told the students that he had to stop smoking weed and drinking too much in order to graduate from law school; start Explorer Academy Science and Tech School.; and become a State Representative (and majority whip).
Willaims also chairs the Ohio House Education Committee. He told the students to get their lives together without smoking weed and drinking too much so they can go forward with their lives.
The state representative also toured Maritime Academy and saw the Laker Ship Simulator. He listened to a few of the Juice Radio spots that Maritime Academy students have done. Maritime has a partnership with the Juice Radio Station to do Conflict Resolution and Youth Motivation Radio spots that were created by Betty Cook, a former Howard University professor.
I recommend that any youth group contact Toni Battle Gaines at the Juice Radio Station and obtain copies of the spots to play for their youth groups during meetings.
In 2024 City Councilwoman Cerssandra McPherson and County Commissioner Anita Lopez toured Maritime at separate times and met with the students; at an Ohio State Michigan game tailgate party Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz informed me he will come to Maritime in January 2025 to tour and talk to the students.
Paul L. Hubbard, Chair of the BD Maritime Academy.