Manufacturing Day gives students a look at possible careers

For some students who attended Cape Girardeau's first Manufacturing Day on Tuesday, the short trip to the Career and Technology Center off Silver Springs Road was a chance to get out of class for a while.

For others, it served as an early glimpse of what their professional lives might hold.

For eighth-grader Kalaysha Rhines, seeing live demonstrations and hearing from some of the region's more technologically oriented businesses was simply an extension of her own interests.

Rhines, a 13-year-old student from Cape Girardeau, said she's pretty handy with tools and equally good at math.

"I love to work around my house," she said.

A student's finished bristle bot is seen Tuesday during Manufacturing Day at the Cape Girardeau Career and Technology Center.Laura Simon

Some of her projects have included tinkering with tables, dressers and walls, thanks to lessons from her mechanically inclined dad, who works at an automotive garage.

So when her turn came to operate a drill on a drawer-building demo by representatives from the Rubbermaid plant in Jackson, Rhines was unfazed.

Craig Raney, the plant's human-resource manager, was one of the employees helping students assemble the wooden drawers from one of the company's main product lines.

Not only were the youngsters learning to work hand-held drills -- some for the first time -- but they also were getting a taste of what it might be like to work at the facility of 353 employees that primarily creates built-in wood products and ventilated wire shelving carried by Lowe's Home Improvement stores all over the U.S.

"They're also learning about following instruction sheets and measuring the finished product to make sure it meets tolerance requirements," Raney said.

Raney and his crew were among eight industrial employers who set up booths at the event in hopes of educating students about potentially lucrative careers that wouldn't necessarily require a college degree.

In addition to Rubbermaid, participating businesses included Buzzi Unicem USA, Havco Wood Products, Link Electronics, Mondi Jackson, Major Custom Cable, Schaefer's Electrical Enclosures and Signature Packaging & Paper. A representative from Southeast Missouri State University's School of Polytechic Studies also was on hand with a 3-D printer and information about technology degrees.

June O'Dell, president of the Workforce Development Board of Southeast Missouri, which partnered with the Career and Technology Center, the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce and other organizations to host Manufacturing Day, said many manufacturing businesses will offer on-the-job training to talented people who want to excel.

"And the company will pay for it because they see something in a particular person that needs to be developed," she said.

O'Dell said the purpose of Tuesday's event was not to downplay the value of a traditional college education but to show students another avenue for developing skills and above-average incomes after high school.

Tyler Gibbs, another junior-high student who toured the booths, said his favorite part of Manufacturing Day was watching the 3-D printer at work.

Gibbs, 14, said he likes working with tools and making things and is considering a career in manufacturing.

"I think maybe I will," he said.

ljones@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3652

Pertinent address:

1080 S. Silver Springs Road, Cape Girardeau, Mo.