RACINE — Andrew Clemons likes to create.
He often built Legos as a kid and enjoyed hands-on classes. While a freshman at Horlick High School, Clemons was introduced to engineering and manufacturing courses that allowed his creativity to flourish.
Clemons, a junior in the Horlick engineering and manufacturing pathway, is interested in an electrical engineering or manufacturing career.
He appreciates the chance to merge technical skills with creativity by doing activities like designing and 3D printing a miniature Jordan shoe.
“It’s really influenced me in every single way,” Clemons said. “It’s allowed me to be super creative and really showcase who I am as a person and think outside the box and be able to show that everything doesn’t have to be so black and white in a world full of color.”
People are also reading…
Juan Soto and Mary Weisensel are Horlick students in the same pathway and similarly enjoy the creative learning opportunities to do things like build a remote-controlled car.
“Anything that exists needs to be designed by someone and needs to be thought out and have the problems driven out of it,” Weisensel said.
Students Juan Soto, left, and Andrew Clemons talk with an attendee during an SME Education Foundation event Tuesday at Horlick High School, 2119 Rapids Drive. Soto and Clemons are two of 35 students in the engineering and manufacturing pathway that offered its first class last year at Horlick.
They are three of the 35 students in the engineering and manufacturing pathway that offered its first class last year at Horlick, 2119 Rapids Drive.
The pathway is supported mainly by an area business and uses curriculum from the SME Education Foundation’s Partnership Response in Manufacturing Education.
The SME Education Foundation provides hands-on manufacturing and engineering education to more than 90 schools in 23 states, according to a news release.
Horlick, Case and Park high schools all use SME PRIME curriculum that is implemented over three years. The pathways are fully up and running at Case and Park, and this is the third year for Horlick.
After three years, the pathways are supported by sustainability grants, according to Alex DeBaker, RUSD executive director of academies and transformation.
At Horlick, candy company Haribo has contributed more than $250,000 toward the pathway, according to DeBaker.
Lauren Marshall, Haribo safety health and environmental specialist, said the company wants to invest in schools and help students understand the wide array of possible manufacturing and engineering careers.
Haribo aims “to help change the perceptions and old ideologies that manufacturing is a dark, dirty place,” Marshall said. “These students are our future, and the future is very bright.”
Haribo has paid for materials like 3D printers and provided professional development training and mentorship for Horlick students.
“Our great city has a rich history in manufacturing and innovation, and we as a district have to ensure that our students are aware of these opportunities,” DeBaker said.
One opportunity is Horlick students helping design a future manufacturing and engineering pathway classroom. It is intended to have more open space for small groups to collaborate on projects.
Jeffrey Trinka, Horlick engineering and manufacturing pathway teacher, hopes the classes help students determine what they want to do after high school.
Teacher Jeffrey Trinka talks during an SME Education Foundation event Tuesday at Horlick High School, 2119 Rapids Drive. Horlick, Case and Park high schools all use SME curriculum that is implemented over three years in their engineering and manufacturing pathways, the classes Trinka teaches.
For example, Weisensel had a youth apprenticeship that made her interested in being a middle school science teacher, a career she plans to pursue.
“It allows them to use the connections … to get their foot in the door in different professions, and I think that will give kids that maybe don’t want to go to a four-year school an amazing transition from high school into the work world and set them up to be outstanding citizens outside of school,” Trinka said.
Horlick Principal Tangella King said the school aims to provide tools for students to use in their next life phases, and the SME PRIME materials are great ways to do so.
“The technology and the experiences that they are having — they won’t be matched, and these kids won’t forget them,” King said.
Horlick Principal Tangella King speaks during an SME Education Foundation event Tuesday at Horlick High School, 2119 Rapids Drive. King said the school aims to provide tools for students to use in their next life phases, and the SME materials are great ways to do so.
Trinka shared a similar sentiment.
“I’m excited to take the next chapter in our manufacturing program, and I’m excited to see what our Horlick students are going to be able to do,” Trinka said.
For students like Clemons, the newer pathway provides learning opportunities for their next chapters.
“It showed me that engineering is the career I want to stick with when I grow up,” Clemons said.
