Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1510765
14 SMT007 MAGAZINE I NOVEMBER 2023 work with manufacturing. STEM education is well known, and Career Technical Education (CTE) is gaining momentum and prominence, but to bridge the manufacturing gap, we are working to show students and schools that manufacturing is really about problem solving, rapid improvement, teamwork, and building things that people use every day. As an example, at one local school, our uni- versity relations team hosted an "SEL Month." We conducted a series of activities where stu- dents were assembling parts of our units and followed that up with mock interviews and support discussions about possible career path- ways. However, it took time to build that long- term relationship to get to this level of event. Matties: Are other schools contacting you and requesting this type of connection for their schools? Yes, and that's been driven by two things: the general momentum of STEM and CTE, and our outreach. When we share a successful story or a local school shares that successful story, we see more requests. Matties: At the K-12 level, you're just introduc- ing kids to possibilities because they're not necessarily making a career choice right then and there. They also might have the perception that manufacturing is not only dirty, repetitive work, but it has limited advancement, and can be dangerous. I remember talking to one of our HR folks about that and her response was: Don't tell kids that being an assembler is something that it's not. Being an assembler can be repetitive, but there are people who really enjoy that facet of it. Other folks love problem solving or being someone who manages others. It's more about