By Miles Flynn | Southern Indiana Business Report
MITCHELL — The coming of October brought the return of Manufacturing Week, and the annual observance provided an opportunity for area educators and employers to team up in an effort to teach students about the importance of manufacturing in the state’s economy, to introduce career options in the field, and to highlight the skills needed for the positions.
Students in COSMOS — the Collaborations of Shoals, Mitchell and Orleans Schools — had a very busy week.
Mitchell eighth-graders took part in many special activities that were launched in 2019, utilizing the expertise and contacts of the Lawrence County Economic Growth Council, but had been put on hold due to COVID-19 and virtual classes in 2020. “We were excited to bring it back this year,” Apryl Kidd, director of initiatives for COSMOS, told Southern Indiana Business Report.
Lingering COVID concerns did force some tweaks, however. Instead of off-site visits to local manufacturers, Mitchell students took part in a virtual tour of Lawrence County-based injection molding service PRD Inc. Mark Murphy, the firm’s president, acted as guide.
Also included in the program this year were new activities to engage students using a curriculum from Bloomington-based Regional Opportunities Initiative. The school embedded studies in engineering design from General Motors and biopharmacy from Singota Solutions. In the latter program, students even donned white lab coats and conducted their studies using laboratory glassware. “That was really something new for us,” Kidd said.
The week ended with Manufacturing Day Friday, Oct. 1, and a day-long design challenge for the Mitchell students. After watching a video in which PRD’s Murphy compared meeting the challenges of manufacturing to a team sport, all 105 students were broken down into five-person project teams to tackle the challenge of constructing a device that would propel a Ping-Pong ball from the free-throw line through a basketball goal. Each team member was given a role, from materials manager and programmer up to project leader. Students were also able to make use of microelectronics from the digital fabrication lab from ROI.
Local partners who took part in the challenge included Shance Sizemore and Jennifer Jones of the Lawrence County Economic Growth Council, Jaret Parkes of B&D Electric, Chris Swayer of Dishmaster Faucet, Linda Henderson of Stonegate Arts & Education Center, and Rob King of the Region 8 Workforce Board.
In the end, one team was able to construct a launcher that got the ball to the backboard. Top teams earned tokens from the Lawrence County Economic Growth Council. Scoring was done using a rubric that emphasized communication, collaboration, critical thinking and creative thinking — COSMOS’ four Cs of what students will need for tomorrow’s careers. “That’s really what drove our design challenge,” Kidd explained.
She said while the industry tours students experienced in 2019 were great, she believes the new design challenge did an even better job of driving home the importance of manufacturing, the processes involved in it, and where students can fit within that ecosystem. So, while she’s hopeful the in-person industry visits return soon, she also anticipates they’ll be paired with an exercise like the design challenge to help ensure students see the same strategic connections in the field that they discovered through their own teamwork. “I think we’ll see a combination,” Kidd said.
Orleans activities and future plans
Meanwhile, Orleans introduced its own new programming for Manufacturing Day. The school worked with the Orange County Economic Development Partnership and Lawrence County Economic Growth Council to take all 77 eighth-graders on a tour of the Jasper Seating plant in Orleans and Stone City Products in Bedford. One group of students started the day in Bedford, while the second group started in Orleans. After meeting for a picnic lunch on Orleans Congress Square, the groups then switched for their afternoon tours.
Students, teachers and the community partners were all excited, Kidd said. Organizers hope to expand the tours to include students from all Orange County schools for next year, and options are also being explored for Shoals students.
In addition, COSMOS is working on an entirely new exploration of careers in defense-related fields for its seventh-graders. Kidd said it’s possible the new program could be unveiled as early as spring 2022, and the vision is the creation of a pipeline that would engage those younger students and prepare them for the Manufacturing Week activities coming during their next year of school.
North Lawrence Career Center happenings
COSMOS wasn’t the only organization in the area offering students special activities for Manufacturing Week and Manufacturing Day. At the North Lawrence Career Center in Bedford, which partners with schools in Bedford, Mitchell, Medora, Brownstown, Orleans and Shoals, the facility’s leadership and educators David McCart, Brad Gilbert and Brad Holmes prepared for the observance by brainstorming activities involving the welding and machining programs as well as the intro to trades group that primarily targets freshmen.
Steven McNabb, assistant director at the facility, said about 130 students took in presentations early in the week focusing on an overview of careers in manufacturing. Then participants were able to try some special hands-on activities.
McCart, a welding instructor, worked with Lincoln Electric to bring in two virtual welders for students to experience. McNabb explained the units include a virtual reality headset that allows students to experience what it’s like to work in a shop, a military base, a motor sports garage, or other setting while trying their hand at welding. “That was a really cool experience,” he commented. “… It’s just a really great intro for kids to get a taste of welding.”
In the middle of the week, students had a design challenge of their own. Gilbert, machining instructor, led the students in designing and creating spinning tops, with the goal of coming up with tops that would remain spinning longer than any others.
The last challenge at the school was taking scrap objects and welding them to create some unique new object, like a powerline structure or even a deer with old chair legs for antlers. As with the virtual welding and the tops, winners received prizes from the Lawrence County Economic Growth Council.
As it turned out, Manufacturing Day, Friday, was a virtual day for the students. However, McNabb said the flexibility of the day worked out well for the program and led to the creation of a truly unique challenge. He explained the school sent home 150 containers of cheese in a can and sleeves of saltine crackers. The students were then tasked with creating “welds” using those materials. “That was a pretty cool idea from our welding instructor,” McNabb said.
Looking ahead, McNabb said he will be working with NLCC Director Amy Redman and counselor Kristina Baker to plan for 2022. The hope is for in-person industry visits to return next year. Whatever happens, though, he said the goal remains helping connect students to careers and post-secondary opportunities for advancement. “Ultimately, that’s our job here as a career center,” McNabb said.