The education and manufacturing communities in Crawford County are coming together to raise awareness for, and get students interested in, careers in manufacturing. The program is called WAGE, Workforce Awareness for Graduates and Educators. Galion High School and Middle School teachers will tour local Galion businesses Oct. 23
The initial step of the WAGE program, now in its second year, is to provide secondary level school educators and administrators with information about career opportunities and needs of local manufacturing. Galion teachers will be divided into small groups and rotate between six manufacturing operations in the city. Businesses involved in the daylong activities include Covert Manufacturing, Elliott Machine Works, Carter Machine, Tramec/Sloan, Galion LLC and Schilling Graphics
“The first goal of this program is to provide direct communication to the educators to increase exposure and break down any barriers of misunderstanding between manufacturing and education,” Crawford County Education and Economic Development Director Gary Frankhouse said. “Our goal is to change the negative perception of the manufacturing industry and encourage more high school students in Galion and Crawford County to pursue a career in manufacturing.”
During the educator tours, each manufacturer will communicate specific themes to the groups. These themes could include soft skills, math, and critical thinking as several examples. The next step is to arrange student tours following the successful completion of the educator tours.
“We are excited to engage in this program with our local business community,” Galion Superintendent James Grubbs said. “There are many manufacturing jobs available in Galion and Crawford County, and we need to educate our teachers, staff and students about the opportunities available in the manufacturing industry.”
The WAGE program is a Crawford: 20/20 Vision Business Success and Job Availability project, and is funded by a grant from AEP. For more information about the program, visit www.crawford2020.com or contact Gary Frankhouse at 419-563-1089 or James Grubbs at 419-468-3432 or email [email protected].
