Carol Johnson | Southern Indiana Business Report
HUNTINGBURG – A unique work-based learning program initiated by a Huntingburg manufacturer graduated its first cohort of students last week.
The Crafted by OFS program was developed by OFS to give students at Southridge High School an introduction to advanced manufacturing, woodworking and furniture design. Beyond those technical skills, the students also learned to problem solve and bring their own ideas to life.
Cory Menke, OFS chief operations officer, said in an OFS-produced interview that the company also wanted to raise awareness in the community that working at OFS today isn’t the same as it was generations ago. Previous efforts to show the community and young residents the opportunities of working at OFS didn’t get any traction, Menke said.
The idea was simple – to bring real world manufacturing into the classroom. In just a few months, OFS took an empty space at Southridge and transformed it into a manufacturing lab complete with routers, edge banders, tools and assembly lines. The students didn’t just watch manufacturing happen, they made it happen. And the chairs, desks and cabinets they built will be used in the school.
The class has a capacity for about a dozen students. The buzz around school was so positive, the class is already at max capacity for next school year. Jason Diekhoff, a longtime OFS employee, is the Crafted instructor.
“The program is more than about the machines. It’s about helping them as people grow,” Diekhoff said.
Colten Pipenger, executive director at Dubois Strong, said programs like Crafted give Dubois County a competitive advantage.
“This is a strong example of what happens when education and industry solve workforce challenges together,” Pipenger said. “OFS and Southridge have created a model that helps students build confidence, earn experience, and see local career opportunities before they leave high school. Other programs around this work are being led by hub19 and are all great examples of what makes Dubois County successful.”
Changes to Indiana high school graduation requirements have prompted high schools to form more industry partnerships so students can fulfill the new work-based learning requirement.
Work-based learning, in the form of apprenticeships, internships or job shadowing, is not new for Indiana high schools. But the new requirements mean more students will need opportunities to participate in programs like OFS’ Crafted.
“We’re in it for more than OFS. We’re in it for the kids to get the education, to get the awareness,” Menke said.
OFS is a family-owned furniture manufacturer in Huntingburg. The Crafted program was modeled after Toyota’s 4T program, which gives Southridge students a pathway into robotics and automation at its assembly plant in Princeton.