The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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November 4, 2009

Industrial arts becoming lost art

Local business leaders pitch importance of tradesman to high schools

By Tanner Kent

MANKATO — Dave Clyne graduated from Mankato West High School on a Thursday in 1984.

He started his job as a welder the following Monday.

“I had three days off from school,” he joked.

For more than two decades, Clyne has learned several specialized metal working techniques and, these days, works at AmeriStar Manufacturing on a high-tech press brake specially designed to bend and punch holes in sheet metal.

Clyne’s is the kind of job that can only be learned on the job. A blend of mathematical and engineering acumen as well as experience and technical proficiency on his machine have made the West graduate a valuable tradesman.

Problem is, there are not enough like him to take his place.

As officials at both AmeriStar and nearby Jones Metal Products gave tours to counselors and principals from Mankato Area Public Schools, the message to educators was clear:

“We need to get kids interested somehow,” said Charlie Lyons, production manager at Jones Metal Products.

With the financial climate tightening school budgets, much of a school’s resources are devoted to meeting the required math, reading and science standards. Often, schools can afford only the elective classes that generate high levels of student interest.

For students, that means fewer opportunities to discover career paths in the industrial arts.

With that in mind, Monde Schwartz, coordinator of career and technical education in Mankato schools, said it’s important that school counselors and educators are aware of job opportunities that exist in local industries so they can match interested students with those careers.

“There are a lot of different paths that students can take to find a satisfying career,” Schwartz said. “And we do a lot of kids a disservice if we make it seem like a traditional four-year college is the only way.”

During the tours, educators visited with several employees at both locations to get a feel for their own career paths and job skills. Almost all seemed to share one similarity: They became interested in metal working in high school.

Brady Riddle operates a robotic welder at AmeriStar. He took metal classes in high school and earned a two-year technical degree. Jeremy Olson, who operates a trio of 4,000- and 6,000-watt laser cutters at Jones Metal Products, honed his trade in the Navy after getting interested in high school.

Brad Ward also took metal classes in high school and earned a two-year degree. He now works on a computer-controlled vertical machining center at AmeriStar and said his job demands an ever-growing knowledge of technology.

“The more technology changes, the less hands-on the work becomes,” Ward said. “This industry changes constantly.”

To meet those changing needs, South Central College already has begun several industrial programs that blend technological and technical skills. Workforce organizations across the region also have partnered with SCC to give job training to adults seeking manufacturing careers.

Schwartz said the school district is committed to offering as many industrial electives as possible. And some of those present after the tours even discussed the possibility of renewing a student-internship program that linked students with part-time manufacturing jobs.

“For a while, we had several students from the high school,” Lyons said. “And then it just kind of stopped.”

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