After an uncertain year of COVID restrictions and students across the nation participating in online classes, the hopes of the Miller team participating in the Clarke Community Schools annual welding event were looking bleak. As the year progressed and restrictions on public gatherings were reduced, school administrators and the Clarke Industrial Arts Advisory Board decided the 2021 event was a-go! So Miller engineer, Julie Long and master welder, Greg Black joined in as team sponsors and mentors for this years' event.
Held at Southwestern Community College's Osceola, Iowa campus, seven teams with three to four students on each partnered with representatives from the Clarke Industrial Technology Advisory board. The Miller team included two students from the beginning, Level 1 fabrication class as well as a more experienced, Level 2 welding student. Each team was presented with a custom park bench project, prepared by advisory board member companies and designed to test each of the students' skills.
“Seeing the kids collaborate and work through each challenge is really the fun part,” said Miller Engineer, Julie Long. “These are the skills that will last them a lifetime.”
Along with Greg Black, Long and the students worked through the day to finish the welding challenges, ultimately preparing the bench for detail grinding, sandblasting, and painting. Eventually, each of the team benches will be installed around the city of Osceola's trail system.
"For us, events like this are imperative to the future of manufacturing," said Kerry Richardson, Miller Products Sales and Marketing Manager. "As one of the founding member of the Clarke Industrial Arts Advisory Board, we've has always taken pride in helping promote the industry to a new generation."
The Clarke Industrial Technology Advisory Board, established in 2016 in partnership with the Clarke County Development Corporation, has a mission of helping the local school district enhance offerings for the industrial trades as well as build a strong manufacturing workforce for the community's industrial manufacturing base. Since its origination, the board has helped not only increase student participation in the industrial arts programs, but also provided mentorship or even donated equipment to schools to increase student skill sets and employment viability upon graduation.