As a CTE educator, I’ve always had an interest in bringing advanced manufacturing to our schools. We’ve had an advanced manufacturing program for a while, but I felt that we should go a little deeper into industrial education and what industry calls “mechatronics.” However, we just never had the available funding to be able to do it the right way.
We knew there were available grants, of course, but those resources wouldn’t get us to where we needed to be. That was, until Gov. Bill Lee and the Tennessee General Assembly passed the Innovative School Models Grant. We received the grant and began investigating and doing the legwork for a new advanced manufacturing program.
When searching for possible solutions, I reached out to a local education integrator, Learning Labs, which has a partnership with a leading provider of technology-based learning solutions focused on STEM education and workforce development. We also needed an engaging teacher to lead the program and wound up putting off the program for a year while we searched for (and found) the right person for the job.
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We officially launched the program this year and it represents something I’ve been working on for about 12 years. I can’t wait to see where it takes our district in the future, but in the meantime, here are five tips for other districts that want to set up their own on-campus advanced manufacturing programs:
- Choose a reliable equipment partner. We partnered with Intelitek and Learning Labs to install the SmartCIM 4.0 training environment in our new computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) lab at our high school. We especially liked this solution because it is a real manufacturing line that produces real products. The manufacturing line and training system gives students hands-on experience with industrial-grade equipment and applications within a school lab environment.
- See how others are doing it. Seeing is believing. We visited a community college in Mississippi, which has an existing project a little smaller than ours. They talked to us about our partner’s platform and its continual problem-solving approach and its many different “working parts.”
- Tap into your state’s resources. Our new lab was funded through Tennessee’s Innovative School Models grant program (we received a $2.7 million grant), which helps schools bring down the structural barriers that exist between K-12, postsecondary and workforce systems. Our students now have more opportunities to participate in innovative local programs aligned with our state’s highest-demand skills and careers.
- Give existing facilities a new life. Our district’s Senator Frank P. Lashley Career and Technical Center was built in 1976 and includes various expansive shop areas. We repurposed a bay from the automotive section, cleaned the area up and are using it to house our new mechatronics and TeleTech simulation classroom area. Sure, it’s still going to be in our old building, but that facility continues to serve us well and meet our students’ needs.
- Pair up with your local community college. Using our advanced manufacturing curriculum and equipment, students can now train on industry-standard technology and earn dual enrollment credits through the Tennessee College of Applied Technology. This will prepare them for immediate employment in our region’s growing manufacturing sector, which will soon include a new Ford plant.
Teachers make it happen
Ultimately, the single most important driving factor behind a student’s success in school is a meaningful and engaging teacher. That’s why we put so much time into selecting the right person for this position, and that effort is already paying off.
When the program (which officially launched in November 2024) is in full swing, our students will progress through Tennessee’s mechatronics program of study, which includes Mechatronics I and II. They’ll learn about careers as maintenance technicians, electromechanical technicians and manufacturing engineers.
These kids are going to be successful because they can engage with the entirety of the project and see what “could be,” rather than simply doing the “problems on page 10.”
