CTE students celebrate ‘Manufacturing Day’ with week of visits

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY — “Manufacturing Day” is held each year on the first Friday in October in an effort to show students and the general public what modern manufacturing is all about.

Students in St. Joseph County’s Career and Technical Education programs celebrated all week last week. From Tuesday through Friday, various classes visited manufacturing facilities to get a behind-the-scenes look at the processes and procedures in a manufacturing environment, said Sarah Beckle, work-based learning coordinator for St. Joseph County CTE.

The classes visited American Axle and Kadant Johnson in Three Rivers and Burr Oak Tool in Sturgis.

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Jim Berry, CTE director, said it’s important for students to get exposure to different applications of the skills they’re learning. He said having two work-based learning coordinators (Sarah Beckle and Stacy Avery) in the district is a plus. They can work in the school setting but can also work with employers, Berry said. They can help with the talent gap and see what employers’ needs are, he said.

Beckle said some of her biggest success stories are when she can connect a business with a student and that student falls in love with the workplace. Local companies really support the CTE programs, she said.

One CTE student to visit Burr Oak Tool Friday was Chaseton Wyckoff, a senior at Centreville High School. He said CTE classes have been a nice, easy step to figuring things out and he hopes to use what he’s learned in his own future house. Wyckoff also would like to intern with a plumber and eventually own his own business.

Contact reporter Michelle Patrick at mpatrick@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: 'Manufacturing Day' celebrated by Career and Technical Education students