In the wake of COVID-19, educators at Pine Bush High School and Saginaw Intermediate School District (ISD) — both of which are part of SME’s PRIME (Partnership Response In Manufacturing Education) program — have taken creative approaches to learning. Pine Bush High School students returned to school virtually in early September. At Saginaw ISD in Michigan, the back-to-school experience in Fall 2020 includes a combination of remote, hybrid and face-to-face learning, including Tooling U-SME online coursework.
In the first phase of a new partnership between the Saginaw Intermediate School District (ISD) and the SME PRIME (Partnership Response In Manufacturing Education) initiative, the ISD will receive new manufacturing equipment while instructors at seven high schools receive virtual and on-site professional development.
The SME PRIME program at Anna High School prepares students for roles at manufacturing partner Honda of America Manufacturing with online learning manufacturing education courses like basic safety, measurement, robotics and quality control. The online learning is supplemented with hands-on training on precision measurement instruments and a FANUC robotic arm.
Pine Bush High School experienced "the highest of highs" after launching their SME PRIME Program. A day later, the school shut down due to the COVID pandemic. The school is making the most of opportunity and using their manufacturing equipment to produce face shields for frontline workers while also continuing to educate students through online courses.
Indiana County Technology Center SME PRIME students enrolled in the machining technology program learn important skills like blueprint reading, applied mathematics, safety procedures, and manual skills on milling machines, lathes, surface grinders, benches, grinders and drill presses to be better prepared to enter the workforce.
Romeo High School students gain practical experience, knowledge and skills using modern technology and equipment through SME PRIME and its partners Ford Motor Company Fund and Ford Next Generation Learning.
LINK Engineering is a key investor in the SME PRIME school program at Starkweather Academy, part of Plymouth-Canton Community Schools in Michigan.
An SME PRIME school investor, the Honda of America Manufacturing operation in Anna, Ohio (producing engines since 1985), works with nearby Anna High School in a partnership forged through the SME Education Foundation.
In part 2 of our series on the SME PRIME program at The Four Cities Compact schools in Ohio you’ll read more about the passionate instructors and the energetic young minds charting their career path in the manufacturing and engineering industries.
Park High School, part of the Racine Unified School District, serves 1,900 students. Through SME PRIME, the high school students at the school explore opportunity in advanced manufacturing through training on modern equipment and learning from tailored curriculum.
