Career Academy of Siloam Springs students got a chance to tour three local industries last week and learn more about the opportunities in the industrial maintenance field.
About 50 students visited Simmons Foods Plant 1 and the Del Monte Country Plant in Siloam Springs, as well as SWEPCO's Flint Creek Power Plant in Gentry on Oct. 8, according to Meghan Kenney, director of economic development for the Chamber of Commerce, and facilitator of the field trip.
Teacher Mike Rogers said his students, who are studying industrial maintenance at the charter school within Siloam Springs High School, reacted with wide-eyed wonder when they toured the various factories. The tour gave them a glimpse of the wide variety of opportunities and work environments available in the industrial maintenance field, he said.
Rogers has been conducting the field trips to local industries for about a decade -- long before the CASS program was established. This is the third year he partnered with the Chamber for a tour on National Manufacturing Day, which is the first Friday in October.
Unlike adults who are going back to school for more training, high school students don't have any idea what its like inside a factory or the range of opportunities available, he said. The field trip allows students to see how what they are learning in the classroom is applied, bringing them full circle, he said.
Kenney said the field trip is a great opportunity for local industries to capture the attention of students while they are still in school, she said. Their support is also a great sign of the enthusiasm the community feels for the CASS program, she said.
During the Del Monte tour, students got to watch the process of canning sweet potatoes and other vegetables from the time they were unloaded off the truck until they are ready to go to the store, Rogers said.
Mike Gatlin, manager of the Del Monte factory, said that his plant decided to participate in the field trip to get more involved in the community and to help inspire young people looking for new careers in manufacturing. He is hopeful showing students the manufacturing careers available in the local plant will interest them in coming on board once they graduate.
"Industrial maintenance is something we struggle to recruit and get good qualified folks," he said. "This allows us an opportunity to bring some young folks in out of high school."
Del Monte is far from alone in its need for industrial maintenance workers. Rogers said that every company he has talked to reports that industrial maintenance employees are the hardest to find. The CASS program is designed to help fill that need.
The first cohort of students who have completed both years of the CASS program are set to graduate in May, Rogers said. The twenty students will have up to 100 industry certifications when they receive their high school diplomas.
"I have a group of really serious kids who know what they want," he said.
Gatlin called Del Monte's partnership with CASS a "win-win," explaining that it is a win for students because they can have a chance to get a job straight out of high school and a win for the company because it has the chance to hire good, talented employees, he said.
While Gatlin's exposure to the CASS program has been somewhat limited, he said that after talking to Rogers he is impressed with his understanding of the curriculum and training program.
"We're extremely excited to partner with the CASS program and the things Mike is doing at the high school," he said.
General News on 10/16/2016