![](https://www.dailyadvocate.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/web1_Coppess.jpg)
![](https://www.dailyadvocate.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/web1_Twenty-Under-Twenty-Logo.pub_PDF-2.jpg)
DARKE COUNTY — The 20 Under 20 Awards were developed by Darke County Economic Development, Auglaize Mercer Business Education Alliance (AMBE), and Hometown Opportunity to recognize students, educators, and businesses collaborating to help prepare the next generation of workers in our region. The 20 winners must be under the age of 20 and residents in Darke, Mercer, or Auglaize counties. They must also be involved in part-time employment, internships, co-op programs, mentoring, entrepreneurship, or other business/education partnerships while in high school, post-secondary, or adult education programs.
Caleb Coppess is a senior at Greenville High School. He participates in the Computer Information Systems (CIS) program at Greenville CTEC and is also enrolled at Edison State Community College. He participated in a work-based learning experience in IT at Family Health Services in Greenville during his senior year.
Coppess says, “Family Health has been my first work experience; as such, it’s no doubt been fundamental to my future success […] I never knew how important other people are pre-employment; I figured that you just went to work and did what you had to do. Throughout my time at Family Health, however, I’ve learned that the most important thing about work is the person on the receiving end. Whether that be a client, customer, or simply the recipient of a brand-new computer, I’ll always give that person my full respect, attention, and do what I can for them in terms of skill assets.”
Coppess, son of Angela Coppess, hopes to attend Case Western or the University of Dayton after graduation to pursue a degree in fields of natural sciences or biomedical engineering. He was nominated Nathan Sharp, CIS Program Instructor at Greenville CTEC.
“Caleb was able to practice some of his skills and get field experience on how a small network is maintained,” said Sharp. He went on to explain how the student is getting experience working with networking security devices. “This was an excellent opportunity for Caleb to use his skills at a job in the IT field. I think Caleb is more outgoing and willing to voice his opinion from this work experience. He has shown more confidence and has become more outgoing in the classroom.”
Sharp goes on, “Caleb is honest, trustworthy, and has integrity. He is a well-rounded and nice young man. I will miss him next year, but I think he will be very successful at whatever he does.”
Supervisor, Brian Subler, IT Director at Family Health Services of Darke County, Inc., had similar sentiments.
“Caleb had computer knowledge when he started working here at Family Health, so it was easy for him to catch on to what we needed. As he started working on our computer refresh, he learned skills such as adding a computer to the domain, installing specialized applications, getting the user settings transferred from the old computer to the new one, and making sure the user could work like before,” explained Subler.
Further, and most importantly, continued Subler, the interpersonal skills that one can learn as they work with different personalities and learn to communicate with people.
“When you have a solid foundation like this, it can only help you in your future career,” said Subler. “Caleb is a very conscientious worker. He is always asking and double-checking to make sure he did everything correctly and that no one had any issues. I’m very grateful for the partnership with Greenville High School to obtain a high-caliber student who can help us with things that we run out of time to get done. I’m looking forward to continuing the relationship with GHS into the future, and I know Caleb will succeed in anything he does.”
![](https://www.dailyadvocate.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/web1_Coppess.jpg)
![](https://www.dailyadvocate.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/web1_Twenty-Under-Twenty-Logo.pub_PDF-2.jpg)