For the past six weeks, we at FLATE have been very busy
coordinating and organizing “Made in
Florida” Industry Tours for K12 students
across the state to celebrate Manufacturing Day/Month. It’s been demanding, but
rewarding at the same time. We know that this effort makes a difference. The
most recent ‘manufacturing perception’ survey conducted by the Manufacturing Institute
and Deloitte captures a high level impact/correlation between ‘being familiar’
with manufacturing and the likelihood for considering a job/career in the
field. Family members who are familiar with manufacturing are twice as likely
to encourage their child to pursue manufacturing (“Overwhelming Support: U.S. public opinions on the manufacturing industry”, 2014 Deloitte Development LLC).
And, what better way to “get familiar” with
manufacturing than a guided tour by passionate people who work in
manufacturing. We have been tracking our own impact from Manufacturing Day in
Florida with annual, summarized statewide student, educator and tour hosts
surveys. Most recently, we published a new white paper “Manufacturing Day
Tours: Student Feedback Shows Huge Impact” which took an in-depth look at nearly 1500 comments from
students who attended Manufacturing Day tours in Florida in 2014. Categorized
written responses were grouped into seven major themes: Hands-On,
Interactive, Real Life; Machines, Assembly Line; Image, Importance; Careers;
Tour Guides, and Other. An overwhelming 42% wrote positively about impressive,
expensive and high-precision equipment and machinery. Eleven percent commented
positively on the “great tour guides,” who “were knowledgeable,” and loved the
work they were doing and sharing it with the students. Students were impressed
with the cutting-edge technology, the intricacies of components, the
complicated scheduling and tracking systems and the universal laser focus on
quality. Please check the link above to review the white paper and see exactly
what students said. We should not be surprised that many of the people they
interacted with made big impressions on the students.
But what’s next? How can we keep
students engaged and interested in manufacturing? High
profile robotics teams and
competitions are certainly one way; programmatic school “academies” is another,
while mentoring and job shadowing are also important ways to keep students
interested and engaged. The SkillsUSA technical competitions are yet another
good way to keep students engaged. SkillsUSA is
a partnership of students, teachers and industry working together to ensure America
has a skilled workforce. Participation in SkillsUSA also helps each student
excel in his, or her technical and workplace skills. The organization provides
educational programs and events as the competitions that support career and
technical education (CTE) in our nation’s classrooms.
Fall is the time for school teams to start planning for spring regional and state competitions for 2016. For schools and colleges with manufacturing related programs, there are a number of technical competitions to choose from. Here are just a few:
I now invite you to read the rest of
the stories in this edition of the FLATE Focus. This being Manufacturing Month,
we wanted to highlight some of the ongoing manufacturing day/month related
activities that our statewide partners are hosting across the state. Mark your
calendar for one of these events and attend an open house or a career fair in
your region. Stepping away from the limelight of manufacturing month, we also
highlight the achievements of students from North Florida Community College and
Nature Coast High School who have stepped up to get industry certified. Given
all the events happening across the state, social networking has definitely
taken a center stage in keeping the conversation alive. Read the story about
our footprints on various social networking sites, and how you can stay
connected with FLATE. While
you’re at it, take a crack at this month’s sTEm puzzle 49! This and many more
stories in this edition of the FLATE Focus. We’d love
to hear your comments, or questions if you have any, so tweet us @Made_InFlorida
using the official hastags of the month: #FLMFGMonth15 (statewide) #MFGDay15 (national).
