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moldmakingtechnology.com 27 making. It also provides both financial and practical resources for schools looking to develop relevant programs that will set students on pathways to viable manufacturing careers. One such school is Lake Park High School in Roselle, Illinois, which is in the second full year of its new machining program. While the school has offered an industrial technology program for some time, its focus was on woodworking, automotive, graphic arts and electronics. But, according to Kevin Jones, curriculum leader for career, technical and fine arts education, it became clear that the program needed to be expanded when members of the business community began requesting that a machining program be developed. "They needed young, skilled employees who could eventually replace their aging employees, and they told our administrators they needed them sooner than later." Jones says the TMA helped Lake Park establish an advisory council by putting the call out to its membership. Today, the council is made up of representatives from about 30 manu- facturing enterprises in the local area, as well as the TMA. "We held our first meeting of the council in May 2013, and the momentum took off," he says. Over the course of the next year, the council met monthly to discuss what types of programs the school would offer, and for the 2015-16 school year, level one of a new Engineering and Precision Machining Technology class was offered, which focuses on operation of manual mills and lathes. More than 60 students enrolled. The following year, level two of the program was launched, introducing students to CNC equipment operation. To further strengthen the program, Jones says the advisory council suggested that both program instructors take the Introductory Hands-On CNC training offered by the TMA. They attended the 16-week course, which combined theory and hands-on training in the setup, operation and programming of CNC mills and lathes, earning National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS) credentials for both. Concurrent with the high school launching its new machining program was the introduction of three "Project Lead the Way" courses, including Introduction to Engineering Design, Principles of Engineering and Computerized Integrated Manufacturing. By the end of the 2015-16 school year, more than 290 students had enrolled in the new industrial machining program. Realizing that the high school did not have the capacity to house these new programs, a new Innovation Center was added, with the advisory council providing valuable input about the design and layout of the new facility, Jones says. It features a 26-station computer lab/classroom; a large production area for manual and CNC machines; a storage area/toolroom; and safety features, such as power shutoffs on each wall, an eyewash station and more. A $50,000 grant from the TMA's Education Foundation enabled Lake Park to purchase equipment needed for the program, including a Haas Mini Mill VMC with a 10-tool toolchanger. "In the past year, members of the advisory coun- cil have donated cash, equipment and tooling in excess of $100,000," says Ian Smith, the school's assistant principal. "We were recently awarded a second, $39,000 grant from the TMA Education Foundation to help purchase another Haas Mini Mill, toolchanger and accessories this year. Other lab equip- ment includes two Haas TL1 lathes, fully enclosed, with quick- change toolholders; four Bridgeport manual mills; four Sharp manual lathes, each with three-jaw, four-jaw and 5C collet hold- ers set up with quick-change toolholders, plus a Mitsui surface grinder; a Jet horizontal band saw; a pedestal grinder; and two LED TVs for demonstration and instruction purposes. Most recently, we received a $12,725 donation from our AC members to purchase an Epilog Zing laser engraver." As part of the training program at Lake Park, students have worked internships at local manufacturing companies Avanti Engineering Inc. and Robert C. Weisheit Co. "We are currently working with mold manufacturers Pro-Mold & Die and Matrix Tooling Inc. to provide more opportunities for job shadowing and internships for moldmaking," Jones says. "The advisory council continues to meet every other month to discuss programs, equipment, training and careers in the manufacturing area," Smith says. "The advisory council gave guidance in the development of our academic program as well as our facility needs. Beyond the curriculum, the TMA Education Foundation grants have provided significant seed money to help our district offset the cost of some of our equip- ment. I cannot express enough just how grateful we are for their assistance with our program." Marketing Careers in Moldmaking During a dinner meeting in 2012, a video was shared with mem- bers of the AMBA Chicago Chapter that would impact the course of that chapter's work. "I remember the emotional reactions we all experienced as we learned how the faculty at Eleva-Strum High School (Strum, Wisconsin) developed a vocational manufac- turing curriculum that then led to the school actually establish- ing a real, student-run manufacturing company called Cardinal Manufacturing," says Francine Petrucci, president of Aurora, Illinois-based BA Die Mold Inc. and immediate past chair of the AMBA chapter. "It was like a fire was lit underneath us and we had to do something about it." She says the video, which was produced by Creative Technology Corp., so affected members that, by the end of the evening, an education committee was formed. Since that time, the commit- tee has been actively promoting advanced manufacturing careers using various marketing strategies. With some initial seed money provided by the chapter's board of directors and later using funds from two $5,000 grants won as AMBA Chapter of the Year in 2015 and 2016, the committee, with assistance from Creative Technology, established its own website (moldyourcareer. org); adopted the telltale slogan "Earn While You Learn;" and developed a brochure featuring career-path options for budding moldmakers, designers and machinists, including education requirements, salary potential versus other, nonmanufacturing career options, and other useful information geared to both students and their parents, teachers and counselors.