Kankakee Area Career Center

KACC faculty and staff are geared up and fully engaged in Remote Learning. 

During this period of social distancing with the COVID19 Pandemic, our instructors, teacher's assistants, administration and administrative support staff are available through their KACC email.

If you need to reach out to any member of our team, please be sure to click on the "Quick Links" tab on the right side of this website page.  There you wll find names, emails, courses taught, etc.

As principal of the Kankakee Area Career Center, I can assure you our entire team will be as responsive as possible.  

Help us help our students by staying up to date with announcements  on this website and on social media as we have all come to find out, conditions can change from day to day.  

As always - I can be reached at guerint@kacc.org

Stay Healthy - Stay Happy - Stay Home

Thank You Does Not Say Enough!

Even though our world, country and local communities are going through unprecedented times, KACC has continued to be blessed with great support from our business community.

The generosity extended to our school during what is most certainly a turbulent time is amazing and not taken for granted.

Please join us in applauding these folks for their support of education, career and technical education and our scholarship program.  They really make a difference.

The prospect of enjoying KACC’s 17^th Annual Scholarship Golf Outing on June 8^th is something we look forward to more and more each and every day.  We have no doubt we will continue to receive support for these scholarships and will continue to update this information in the days ahead.

We are planning for clear skies, warm temperatures and a fun day together on the beautiful Kankakee Country Club golf course! #Golf4KACC

Cardinal Bus Lines

Glade Plumbing & Heating

HomeStar Insurance Services

Midland States Bank

NCEA-IBEW Local 176

Ruder Electric, Inc.

Taylor Chrysler Dodge, Inc. of Bourbonanis

Taylor Ford of Manteno

The Eakins Group

Dura-Tech

NUCOR Steel

ABC Supply

Allstar Painting

Amita Health - St. Mary' Hospital

Himes, Petrarca & Fester

Insurance Services Providers

ACME Auto

Blue Ribbon Products

FCA of Kankakee County

Healy, Bender & Associates, Inc.

Homewood Disposal Service

Manteno Chamber of Commerce

Netherton's Body Shop, Inc.

Riverside Medical Center

Scanlon Collision Specialists, Inc.

Vansco Supply, Inc.

Raffle Prize Donations From

Bennett-Curtis House

Bill Menig

Green Garden Golf Club

Mark and Alice Argyelan

Manteno Golf Club and Learning Center

Dawn Kleber, Auto Technology Teacher's Assistant, went that extra mile - again! 

Considering all the challenges instructors face to ensure students a meaningful learning experience while school is closed, Ms. Kleber took it upon herself to do a little investigating of options and opportunities until she was able to secure resources not currently in place at KACC.

She took it upon herself to reach out to the author of our Automotive Technology Book.  Once she contacted him and explained how our school was impacted by COVID-19, the author offered a 60-day subscription to include all the available resources.

Ms. Kleber then received an email from the book publishing company offering free digital access to the book our students use. The access will continue until June 30.  

Our sincere thanks to James D. Haldeman, the author of our textbook and Deborah Noaks from Pearson Publishing for joining Ms. Kleber in going that extra mile on behalf of KACC Automotive Technology Students.  

They all set a great example of how a ray of sunshine can be found during a storm.

The luck of the Irish may be prevalent during March, but these students needed no luck in order to be awarded a positive referral!

Catching students doing good things remains a priority here at the Kankakee Area Career Center.

Even though March was a shorter month than usual, there were still many students who were acknowledged by their instructors for a variety of positive attributes, including:

• Hard Work
• Character
• Honesty and Integrity
• Citizenship
• Responsiblity
• Leadership
• Service
• Volunteering
• Positive Attitude and Showing Respect 

The monthly raffle drawing was held to award a small prize to three of the students who received a positive referral.  This month, the winners were Kemiya Bender, Early Childhood Education student referred by Ms. Eakins; Kevin Schroer, Welding Technology Student referred by Mr. Gall; and Connor Ponton, Automotive Technology Student, referred by Mr. Stafford.

Congratulations to all the students who received a positive referral and to our raffle prize winners.  Keep up the good work!

Click Here for a full list of Positive Referral Awards for February: Positive Referrals for March

SkillsUSA is a partnership of students, teachers and industry representatives working together to ensure America has a skilled work force.

KACC has a long, very successful history of doing well at Regional, State and National Competition - going way back to the 1970's.  This year will not be any different.  

Principal Guerin set the tone at the beginning of the school year setting our annual slogan as #PlanPrepareExecute, and that's exactly what our students did.  Whether they qualified through a written examination or a trip to Elgin, Illinois last Friday for Regional Conference, we're delighted to announce 23 of our students qualified for State Conference.

While not all competitions require written testing or Regional Conference qualifications, many do. KACC students volunteer to undergo these qualifying hurdles in order to compete at the upcoming State Competition this April. If any of our students earn a first-place finish at State, they will be invited to move on to National Competition this June in Louisville, Kentucky. 

Skills Advisors, Dawn Kleber and Jami Meredith traveled with students to the Regional Conference and are working with Michael Johnston, Melissa Kapidis, Jonathan Cruz and the students' instructors to make sure our #TeamKACC2020 is ready and raring to go compete.

Please join all of us at KACC in congratulating the following students for their recent success in qualifying to attend State SkillsUSA:

To say "What an evening!"  is an understatement.  National Technical Honor Society has become a part of the KACC fabric.  For the third year, KACC has had the distinct pleasure of seeing students qualify for this distinction.  Their cords and tassel for graduation, NTHS Member Certificate Packet and a bit of extra-special pride comes to each student who qualified.  This year, 52 students were inducted to NTHS. 

Family, friends, teachers and home school principals filled the auditorium to celebrate the achievement of becoming a member of the National Technical Honor Society (NTHS).  By the time the ceremony opened, the excitement and sense of pride were clearly visible. 

The benchmarks these students met involved a culmination of their KACC grade point average, attendance, teacher recommendation as well as their involvement in community service.  "KACC students continue to amaze me," stated Principal Tim Guerin.  "Our hallways and classrooms are full of students who are diligently working to be prepared for the next chapter in their lives.  It is great to witness, I assure you." 

Dr. David Naze, Vice President for Academic Affairs at KCC welcomed the crowd and led everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance.  It was evident there is a great partnership between KCC and KACC.  It was palpable.

KACC alumnus, and current Student Services Intern, Jonathan Cruz, gave the keynote address.  Mr. Cruz spoke to the students, many of whom he knows well, on how the path they are taking now, may not be their final path.  There's nothing wrong with trying out a variety of educational and career-related paths.  The important thing, according to Mr. Cruz's message, is that through hard work, perseverance, and grit, these students can certainly be successful in whatever their final career path becomes. 

KACC Director, Matthew Kelley could not agree more.  He has witnessed many students begin in what they believed would be their final career plan.  The beauty of KACC, according to Mr. Kelley, is the "incredible amount of transferrable skills" students can take with them which cross over between myriad employment sectors.

Following Mr. Cruz's remarks, each student was introduced individually and given their NTHS Portfolio. You will know our students by their purple and white cords and tassels when you see them walk at graduation this spring.

Students then took their National Honor Society Pledge to solidify their membership.

All in all, it was a great night.  We look forward to watching these, and all of our students continue to excel in the years to come.  Thanks to the National Technical Honor Society for welcoming Kankakee Area Career Center into the fold.