By Monica Cross
In effort to expand outreach programs from middle schools to students at the high school level, the West Virginia Manufacturers Association Educational Fund (WVMAEF) has launched two Explore the New Manufacturing Programs for the 2019-2020 school year.
These new programs—Scrap and Manufacturing Innovation Challenge—have been rolled out in several high schools across the state.
Explore the New Manufacturing links education and industry by providing hands-on learning experiences hosted by manufacturers across West Virginia to address the skills gap and create excitement about educational pathways toward careers in industry.
Since the WVMAEF’s founding in 2014, the state’s manufacturers have provided rich educational labs and engagement opportunities for middle school students through presentations, academies and, beginning last school year, the What’s So Cool About Manufacturing Student Video Contest. These two new programs expand Explore the New Manufacturing’s outreach efforts to students at the high school level.
Explore the New Manufacturing will hold three Scrap competitions across the state this year. For Scrap competitions, student teams from career and technical education (CTE) programs use scrap manufacturing material supplied by local manufacturers to create artwork along the theme of West Virginia manufacturing.
The first Scrap competition was held at the Monongalia County Technical Center on October 24thin Morgantown. Six teams from CTE welding programs in Marion, Monongalia and Preston counties used scrap metal donated by Progressive Industries. Artwork from this competition will be displayed in Morgantown in January in conjunction with Arts Mon. The four-hour competition provides opportunities for students to problem solve and showcase their skills.
“That is how it works in the real world. Employers are looking for people who know how to think,” says Don Robinette, the Monongalia County Technical Education Center welding instructor who coordinated details for the event.
Two other Scrap competitions will be held in the spring with more in the works. Carpentry students will compete using scrap wood manufacturing material contributed by AHF Products and Colonial Mills in March.
The other new program, the Manufacturing Innovation Challenge, is modeled after a similar program by Pittsburgh-based Catalyst Connection. In this challenge, a team of students from one high school will partner with a local manufacturer to improve processes, designs or performance. Students will meet with a local manufacturing company and tour the production facility. At the end of the tour, the manufacturer will present a challenge or problem they would like assistance with from the student team. Team members will function as consultants who apply project-based learning and skill sets to perform research and find a solution. Four to eight weeks later, the student team will give a formal presentation to the manufacturer.
West Virginia companies, including ND Paper and Eagle Manufacturing, are participating in the Manufacturing Innovation Challenge with high schools in their local communities. Nearly 2,000 middle school students participated in Explore the New Manufacturing programs during the 2018-2019 school year. Videos from the What’s So Cool About Manufacturing Contest reached nearly 22,000 people on social media during last year’s contest. This year at the middle school level, the WVMAEF and its manufacturer team members are holding 10 academies across the state, three regional video contests with 18 school-manufacturer partners, one Expedition-Innovate in collaboration with the Clay Center for Arts and Sciences and West Virginia Department of Education and numerous hands-on activities at schools across the state.
About the Author
Monica Cross is the program director of the West Virginia Manufacturers Association Education Fund’s Explore the New Manufacturing Program. She can be reached at monica@wvma.com.
