Trojan Manufacturing earns plenty of praise, awards at MITES
The Sturgis Manufacturing class had a pretty good showing at the latest Michigan Industrial Technology Education Society meeting. MITES, as it is known, is set up to develop leaders through education in the industrial technology field.
The goal is to empower students and teachers to grow, lead, collaborate and advocate for education in the industrial and technological education fields and workforce initiatives. Each year they have a regional and state competition for students to showcase their work.
Jeff Wanamaker’s class brought home more first place finishes this year, eight, than ever before.
“That was more than any other school there, which was great to see for us,” Wanamaker said. “They’re kind of doing a build-back since COVID, so this was our first year back.”
It was the second year MITES returned to in-person following the pandemic. Sturgis’ previous high for first-place finishes came in 2019 when the Trojans garnered six state champions.
To qualify for the state competition, each entry had to finish in the top six spots at the regional round.
Sturgis had plenty of those.
“This is a big deal for the kids, they really enjoy it,” Wanamaker said. “Next year we will be looking to grow our entries and bring home some more champions.”
One of the benefits of the CTE program at Sturgis for manufacturing is the donated supplies. Wanamaker said when he was in high school, there was a fee for materials to be able to use. Now, each of the students is able to work with materials they don’t have to pay for, which can make for some good projects. Because of the donated materials from local companies, students are able to focus more on making the project the best it can be as opposed to making a mistake.
Wanamaker said the juniors in the program do a handful of jobs throughout the year. The seniors, focusing on their MITES projects, tend to do fewer. Some freshmen also won awards this year.
“Once we got there and looked around, we knew some of our projects would do well,” Wanamaker said. “It also gives us confidence for next year and the years to follow.”
Earning first place finishes at the MITES state competition were – Zach Pueschel, Max Neives Montoya, Jace Kauffman, Edward Miller, Robert Stump, Ian Smith, Alfonso Avilla and Riley Mealor. Second place finishers went to – Yahir Castro, the team of Evan Prospt, Smith and Garrett Liston, Pueschel, Montoya, Rodrigo Urbina, Kaicee Kyle, Prospt, Liston, Evan Prospt and Jaden Jennings. Third place finishers included Asher Foster, Jacob Thompson and Dekota Risner. Earning a fourth-place was Castro, Michael Miller and Jackson Garman.
Brenden Myers, Garman and Risener each were awarded a fifth-place finish while Thompson, Risner and Urbina each got a sixth-place finish. Cruz earned a seventh place and eighth place, Foster also earned an eighth place. Mealor logged a ninth place, both Michael Miller and Noah Rowe had an honorable mention.
“Next year we hope to have a grand champion or two. There are a lot of different projects here and we’re very proud of them,” Wanamaker said.
The goal of Trojan Manufacturing, in addition to getting the students experience, is to point them in the right direction for their jobs following school.
“We are grooving these kids to get out and get some nice jobs once they are done with school,” Wanamaker said. “We’re doing a good job of that and it’s nice to see.”
Prospt, Smith and Liston earned first place at the regional round for a bench they built. It was sold to Dips On The Vine, an ice cream place in Middlebury, Indiana. At the state competition, it earned second place.
Additionally earning first place at the regional round were Myers, Risner, both Propsts, Stump, Jennings, Urbina, both Millers, Liston, Pueschel, Garman, Smith, Kyle and Mealor.
This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: Trojan Manufacturing earns plenty of praise, awards at MITES
