fOr EvErY 1 Manufacturing jOB
creaTed In Texas, 2.5 servIce-secTor supporT Jobs are
creaTed. for eacH peTrocHemIcal manufacTurIng Job,
eIgHT servIce Jobs are creaTed.
manufacturing facilities use gas metal arc Applying the basics manually? You’ve got to learn to be safe
welding, and some of it is robotic. Our Perhaps the most important thing you can around machinery, you’ve got to have an
students learn the basic principles of how the learn in high school is how to apply foundation understanding of what the processes are,
processes work.” skills. “How do you sand something to get a how they work, and the variables involved.
good finish? How do you make something Someone who’s just entering numbers into a
Math and Computer skills dimensionally correct? How do you use tools computer doesn’t have the judgment to say,
To master modern technology, students safely, and take care of them?” says Anne ‘You know what? This doesn’t make sense.’
have to have a strong background in math Bernhardt, who teaches a plastics manufacturing “I think that students today don’t get a
and computer skills. “Manufacturers are class at Dallas’s Skyline High School. chance to do very much critical thinking,”
indicating that some of our high school Her students learn to use computer Bernhardt adds. “So career and technical
students do not have the basic qualifications, graphics applications, computer-aided education courses are very important for
particularly in math, that it takes to operate design, and laser engraving, but “you can’t students to get a well-rounded education. The
some of the machinery,” Harris says. program a robot to do what you don’t know people to hire are the ones who can think on
“We’re having a hard time finding people how to do,” Bernhardt says. “So you have their feet and have a good understanding of
who can work the equipment that is now to start with, how do you do these things what they’re doing.”
used in manufacturing. You’ve got to have
entry-level folks coming on board who will
be able to absorb the training that’s required
for these processes and then develop the
S P o T L I G H T
higher skill levels.”
how-to Learning
A NEW StARt
You can start work on these how-to skills,
Building Solid Futures
along with your academic skills, while you
in manufacturing
are still in high school. At many Texas high
schools, students can earn professional
skill certifications that can help them find
D
aniel leyva, a full-time machine tool operator at
chromalloy component services in san antonio,
immediate employment upon graduation.
followed a difficult road to career success. living on
The most common high school programs
his own since the age of 17, he has had to deal with
in manufacturing are machining and
homelessness and health issues.
welding, but other certifications include
with perseverance and the help of san antonio’s
driller trainer, erosion control technician,
manufacturing Technology academy (mTa),
fiber optics technician, and refrigeration
however, leyva got the training he needed to build mTa is open to high school juniors and seniors
technician. Many school districts also have
a solid future. He spent his junior and senior high throughout bexar county. students spend half of
agreements with local community colleges
school years earning dual high school and college their day at their home school and half at mTa,
that let students earn college credit for
credit at mTa and st. philip’s college southwest taking classwork and instruction in skills such
technical courses while still in high school.
campus in san antonio. as welding, machining, and computer integrated
At Klein Forest High School in Houston,
mTa is a partnership among the area’s high manufacturing. “I had great teachers who assigned
machining students learn both manual and
schools, community colleges, and businesses. lab projects that allowed me to be more creative and
computer-controlled processes, including
They realized that san antonio needed a lot more get more hands-on experience,” leyva says.
computer numerical control (CNC)
skilled high-tech workers than it was producing, so seniors spend a summer working, as leyva did,
machining. “We spend nine weeks learning
they created the academy to help students master as paid interns for local manufacturers. many mTa
manual machining and nine weeks learning
the techniques and machinery used in modern students continue their education while earning
CNC,” says Gary Burgess, a machining
manufacturing. a living. “The academy is providing a pipeline for
teacher at Klein Forest. “I teach a class
leyva not only earned 30 credits and a college interested students to meet industry’s demands,”
called Introduction to Technical and
certificate of completion at mTa, he worked for eight says gene bowman, mTa’s program director. “The
Numerical Control, which is an intro
weeks as an intern at chromalloy. He excelled at his opportunities for jobs with tech companies, with good
to CNC, and another called CNC
work, took a part-time position upon completing his benefits, are very good in our region.”
Programming. The students learn a
internship, and was hired full-time in 2006.
complete manufacturing process.”
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