Sinclair360

John Steele

Public Information Specialist, Public Health – Full Circle Dayton & Montgomery County

Sinclair profile
• Associate of arts degree in Commercial Art Technology (1979)

Coming full circle

When it was time for John to graduate from high school, he wasn’t sure what his next step should be. Originally from Vandalia, Ohio, he had heard of Sinclair Community College and knew that spending two years at an affordable community college would make more sense than accumulating a lot of debt at a four-year university.

Although his decision to come to Sinclair was based on location and price, it was the people of Sinclair who truly transformed John’s time here. When classes started, he found a great group of friends and quickly formed relationships with other students in his degree program. Drawing Instructor Curtis Barnes and Design Instructor Char McNamara also played a pivotal role in his success at Sinclair. “Barnes and McNamara both had a tremendous impact on me,” John said. “I was actually dealing with professionals in the field, not just teachers. These were people who had established themselves in the community as professionals.”

Aside from the real-world skills that John learned from the in-class professionals, it was the personal attention from his Sinclair instructors that made a difference. “They really cared about what they were doing and took pride in teaching us their skills,” he reminisced. “They were so invested in the lives of their students.”

After completing his associate degree, John eventually went on to Wright State University and earned his bachelor’s degree in organizational communication. As a public information specialist for Public Health – Dayton & Montgomery County (PHDMC), John is able on a daily basis to combine the graphic-arts skills he learned at Sinclair with the copywriting and editing techniques he gained at Wright State.

“There is never a typical day in my office; it’s very diverse from one day to the next,” he said. “I write, edit, design and interact with the community I’ve been part of since my days at Sinclair.” John’s primary responsibilities include working with PHDMC’s programs and services, local organizations and the media to educate the community about public health concerns, most recently the H1N1 virus. “I have been truly amazed to learn about all of the resources and services that PHDMC provides to the people of Montgomery County,” he went on. “I consider it a privilege to be working with such a valuable organization.

“When I was in school, Sinclair was such a tremendous resource for our community; it still is! Having the ability to get an affordable, quality education and transfer those credits to a four-year institution is a great value,” John said.

“Sinclair has never changed its philosophy of making an affordable, quality education available to everyone. They don’t have to change anything – it works!”

By Meghann Heft

Meghann Heft recently graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Communications from the University of Dayton. She can be reached at meghann.heft@gmail.com.