PCSC Receives Education-Workforce Planning Grant to Help Regional Employment Needs

PCSC Receives Education-Workforce Planning Grant to Help Regional Employment Needs

PCSC Receives Education-Workforce Planning Grant to Help Regional Employment Needs

Recently, the Plymouth Community School Corporation received an Education-Workforce Partnership Planning Grant for $15,000 from the University of Indianapolis. The Education Workforce Innovation Network (EWIN) is leading the collaborative discussion efforts for project ideas or other possible community partnerships to best utilize the grant money. As a grant recipient PCSC will join the EWIN network of education, industry and community leaders that work collectively to create an educational pathways system connecting students with the Plymouth High School precision machining program and precision machining industry in Michiana and the Midwest region. Locally, Plymouth Community School Corporation will be partnering with the Marshall County Economic Development Corporation to focus on the precision machining manufacturing pathways for high school students.

The precision machining program housed at Plymouth High School is part of the North Central Area Vocational Cooperative. NCAVC consists of the following school corporations and districts: Argos, Culver, John Glenn, Knox, North Judson-San Pierre, Oregon-Davis, Plymouth, Rochester, Triton, and Union-North United. Students who attend any of the above schools districts can sign up for the course and they not only receive high school credit, but students have the ability to achieve up to 12 Ivy Tech credits, as well as eight National Institute of Metalworking Skills (NIMS) certifications.

The program is designed to train students for employment in a variety of occupations available in industrial manufacturing shops. The following occupational titles represent just a small example of possible employment opportunities: Machine Tool Operator, Machinist, Mold Maker, Shop Manager, and Tool and Die Maker. Juniors and seniors of the NCAVC are able to enroll in Precision Machining I, the entry-level course for first year students, and continue for a second year of Precision Machining II for more advanced education machining.

This is the fifth year that the program has been offered at PHS. Instructor Scott Kaser has built the program from the ground up, based on his 20 years of hands-on experience in the world of production manufacturing.

All laboratory and classroom activities are held in the IMESSC facility, which is located directly next to the PCSC administration building. The acronym IMESSC stands for ITAMCO Manufacturing Education School Service Center, a state-of-the-art-facility that will prepare students in a real-world atmosphere.