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Ford to boost technical education for teachers



Last summer, Jerry Burke and a group of fellow high school teachers got a crash course in the kind of problem solving Ford Motor Co. employees have grappled with at the Louisville Assembly Plant.



During two days at the Fern Valley Road facility, they learned about vehicle inspections, environmental compliance and how engineers puzzled over designing work stations to accommodate more workers as production has ramped up ? real situations the company handles in the work place.



"It was just magnificent," Burke, a welding and engineering teacher at Jefferstown High School, said of the experience.



Burke and seven other Jeffersontown teachers were part of a pilot "externship" that United Auto Workers and Ford Fund, the company's philanthropic arm, launched last March after designating Louisville a "next-generation learning community."



During a conference in Louisville for 250 teachers, principals and students from 19 other learning communities Wednesday morning, UAW and Ford officials announced they would provide a $350,000 grant to expand externships for teachers at JCPS and its other partner districts across the nation through 2016.



The goal is to enhance teachers' strategies in working with students in math, engineering, computer-aided design and other career tracks aligned with modern manufacturing.



Estimates are that nearly 600,000 manufacturing jobs nationwide remain unfilled, in large part because the current pool of workers doesn't have the technical skills and training to fill machinist, technician and other advanced manufacturing positions.



During the announcement at the Seelbach Hotel in downtown Louisville, officials also said they intend to launch a "Powered by Ford" pilot progam at Jeffersontown High that will pay for two- and four-year student scholarships, equipment, mentors for student projects and more professional development for teachers.



Ford isn't ready yet to release the amount of money it would devote to the new program, said Ronda Alexander, program manager of the science, technology, engineering and mathematics initiative with the Ford Next Generation Learning.



But the hope is to expand the program to other communities and possibly to other manufacturers in Louisville and other cities. For now, having the "powered" program start in a city with two Ford manufacturing plants makes sense, said Todd Nissen, director of communications at Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services based in Dearborn, Mich.



JCPS Superintendent Donna Hargens said afterwards that the early results on the summer teacher initiative show it helps students see the connections between what they're learning in school and the real world.



That's motivated them to envision future careers and next steps in their educational journey, Hargens said, adding that those student are "working a plan."



Jeffersontown High has four career academies, and two-- Design Academy and Build Academy offer manufacturing- and engineering-related courses, including welding, tool-and-dye making and computer-aided design.



Eight teachers from the two academies joined five others from Volusia County Schools in DeLand, Fla.'s next-generation learning community last summer to spend two days at the Louisville Assembly Plant and three days at Jeffersontown High.



At Volusia, teachers have written a curriculum for students who study IT and robotics centered on NASCAR and the annual Daytona 500, Alexander said, so getting to see robots in use at the assembly plant was really helpful.



Jeffersontown teachers working with Burke returned this year to create a project after students said they wanted to spruce up a courtyard at the school. They've poured concrete forms, learned about chemical properties in cement and did strength testing, Burke said.



Jeffersontown principal Marty Pollio said the partnership with Ford is having a noticeable impact on students because they see how math and science are applied everyday. He said: "Even if it's just making kids more excited about school, that can be really powerful."



Reporter Grace Schneider can be reached at 502-582-4208. Follow her on Twitter @gesinfk.

 
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