National Park College hosted more than 600 students from area school districts on Oct. 6 as part of a nationwide initiative for Manufacturing Day.
Participating schools included Fountain Lake, Hot Springs, Jessieville, Lake Hamilton, Mountain Pine and Ouachita River. Area home-school students also attended.
NPC organized campus tours, visits to local industry partners, guest speakers and a trade show for students to connect with manufacturing through hands-on experiences. Airtech Supply Inc., Alliance Rubber, Timber Automation, Berry Global, and the NPC Innovative Technologies Center provided tours for students.
"We have had tremendous support for our fourth annual Manufacturing Day from our local manufacturing partners," said Kelli Albrecht, vice president for workforce and strategic initiatives.
Post-Secondary program tours included welding, aerospace and industrial technology. Students were provided information about career opportunities upon completion of the programs.
The Aerospace tour included demonstrations of how airplane parts are made from fiberglass, graphite, honeycomb cores and structural rivets. The industrial technology lab provided students hands-on experiences with hydraulics, motor controls and gear trains.
National Park Technology Center program tours included pre-engineering, wood technology, and machine tool technology. NPTC students shared projects from their Pathways to Engineering class for high school juniors and seniors. The Wood Technology tour showed students how skateboards are made using a vacuum bag for shaping the wood, laminating techniques and computer numeric controls.
"Most students did not realize the impact manufacturing has on us as a country," said De Ann Bliss, career and technical education coordinator for the Jessieville School District. "This was a true learning experience."
The five vendors to participate in the hands-on manufacturing trade show in the NPTC student center were Mountain Valley Spring Co., Arkansas Welding and Industrial Supply, Xpress Boats, Timber Automation and NPC Innovative Technologies Center.
"We want students to understand that today's manufacturing jobs have evolved into sophisticated career paths," Albrecht said. "Many require highly skilled employees with training in aerospace and industrial technology, engineering, computer programming, biochemistry and robotics.
"We are excited that the Innovative Technologies Center is also participating this year with tours of that facility. Students will be able to see firsthand how this high-tech training translates into great jobs right here in Garland County."
School on 10/21/2017