Industry certifications
offer students and production workers a value added credential to their
educational and professional portfolio. Across the board there is a greater
emphasis to connect programs to a nationally-accredited certification that
gives students and incumbent employees the opportunity to get industry certified.
In Florida, several schools at the secondary and post-secondary level have
taken the step to embed industry-recognized certifications into their
curriculum framework. The engineering and manufacturing program at Nature Coast
Technical High School in Brooksville is one of many schools in Florida that has
embedded training/curriculum for students to earn the Manufacturing Skill
Standards Council (MSSC) Certified Production Technician (CPT) certification.
The MSSC CPT offers manufacturing production workers the opportunity to
demonstrate they have mastered the skills increasingly needed in the high-growth,
technical jobs of the 21st century.
The engineering &
manufacturing department at Nature Coast Technical High School features the
production technology program framework. “While a student can certainly explain
their abilities to a potential employer, a certification is evidence that they
have achieved adequate knowledge in key areas” says Ed Fry, who is the
engineering and manufacturing instructor at Nature Coast Technical High School.
The program offers students the opportunity to work toward the Safety and
Quality unit certificates in their first level, Manufacturing Processes &
Production certificate in their second level, and the Maintenance certificate
in their third level.
Fry is a big proponent
for his students to get tested and industry certified. The program, which
currently has 71 students (grades 9-12) enrolled, boasts of high student
success rate in earning the MSSC CPT. In the 2014-2015 school year, 12 students
attained their full CPT certification. Of these students, eleven were graduating
seniors and one was a junior. Additionally,
20 students earned their Safety certificate; 32 students earned the Quality
certificate; 12 students earned the Manufacturing Processes & Production
certificate, and 10 earned their Maintenance certificate. “I am hopeful that
this certification will help them in attaining employment as well as providing
them potential college credits (15) toward an Engineering Technology associate
degree” Fry said.
The MSSC System awards
the Certified Production Technician (CPT) certification to new and incumbent
workers who pass the four manufacturing-related modules: Manufacturing
Processes and Production; Quality Assurance; Maintenance Awareness; and Safety.
Applicable to all sectors of manufacturing, the MSSC System has the potential
to certify millions of production workers against industry-recognized,
federally-endorsed standards. FLATE in
conjunction with the Florida Department of Education has developed a secondary
program curriculum framework that is aligned with the MSSC skills standards.
The articulation agreement allows high school students currently enrolled in
Career and Technical Education programs in related areas that are aligned with
MSSC Skills to have those credits applied to an A.S.E.T Degree anywhere in the
state. For information on MSSC and the two year A.S. degree in
engineering technology contact Dr. Marilyn Barger at barger@fl-ate.org, or visit www.fl-ate.org and www.madeinflorida.org. For more
information on Nature Coast Technical High School’s engineering and
manufacturing programs contact Ed Fry at fry_e@hcsb.k12.fl.us/352.797.7088
ext 276.
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