A COMEDY OF ERRORS WITH A HAPPY ENDING

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A COMEDY OF ERRORS WITH A HAPPY ENDING

• MECHATRONICS AND
• PRE-ENGINEERING
• CLARKSVILLE-MONTGOMERY COUNTY

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THE STARS ALIGN

• CMCSS is approached by Robert Bosch LLC to begin
  an introductory Mechatronics apprenticeship class
• Clarksville High is selected to pilot the new
  Physical World Concepts curriculum
• The Perkins Reserve Grant for 08-09 is available
• Montgomery County is actively recruiting new
  industry supportive of grant
• Special courses and Programs of Study for
  Mechatronics are written and approved

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WE GET THE GRANT THE CHALLENGES BEGIN

• Recession hits and the 60,000 set aside for
  remodeling Mechatronics classroom is needed for
  General Purpose 07-08 budget
• August 08 school year begins with old classroom
  and no plan for remodel
• Perseverance and stubbornness lead to an
  in-school restricted account with money for
  materials

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• Teacher and students do most of the actual
  remodeling work
• Contractors are brought in for electrical
  requirements
• By late winter, the shop is complete
• The school now has its 3rd principal this year

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MEANWHILE THE PRE-ENGINEERING PIECE

• The teacher is selected
• She attends the NCPN conference to attend
  pre-engineering sessions and look at software and
  materials
• Materials from one vendor never, ever materialize
  oh my, our timeline is way off
• GOOD NEWS - Montgomery County is the new site for
  Hemlock Semi-Conductor (HSC)

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• HSC gives us money for Physical World Concept
  classes we can spend more on Pre-engineering
• Staff development costs are less than expected
  we can spend more on Pre-engineering
• Whoops only 4 students signed up for the new
  Foundations of Technology class
• Perseverance and stubbornness to the rescue CTE
  Director does active recruitment in Physical
  World Concepts and Algebra I classes 24
  students now

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THE HAPPY ENDING

• Bosch has provided us with several pieces of
  equipment to use in the Mechatronics class at CHS
• Mechatronics students have visited both Bosch and
  the Technology Center
• The Perkins Reserve grant has allowed us to
  purchase several pieces of equipment for the
  Mechatronics class
• The grant has allowed us to purchase The CAD
  Academy and computers for the Pre-engineering and
  Mechatronics classrooms

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DISTRICT PROJECTIONS

• Opening new Pre-engineering program at West Creek
  High School 09-10
• Opening Pre-engineering programs at other 5 high
  schools in next 5 years
• Opening another Mechatronics program in northern
  side of county in next 5 years
• Physical World Concepts will be offered at all of
  CMCSS high schools 09-10

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• Thursday, May 28, 2009
• Mechatronics students training for tech-filled
  jobs of the future
• By ANN WALLACE
• The Leaf-Chronicle
• Jeremy Wood graduated from Clarksville High
  School last week, but Shakespeare and biology
  aren't in his academic future.
• Josh Newcomb is also now a Wildcat alumnus, and
  he is headed to a millwright and sheet metal
  apprenticeship program in Nashville.
• Both Jeremy and Josh feel they have a viable
  future because of a program started at
  Clarksville High this year mechatronics.
• "That course is really going to help me in the
  future. Before I walked into this class, I had no
  clue what I wanted to do," Josh said.
• "This class has turned out to be a big asset for
  me," said Jeremy, who is enrolled at Tennessee
  Technology Center.
• Josh is primed to pursue training as an HVAC
  technician.

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• She said the mechatronics course would include
  pre-engineering course work and would be fully
  implemented at Clarksville and West Creek high
  schools for the 2009-2010 school year.
• "If the school system is able to get Tier III
  funded in their budget, we'll be able to expand
  to a couple of other high schools," Richardson
  said.
• In the meantime, Lachowicz said, he will continue
  to build the mechatronics program using "real
  world activities like fabrication and welding."
• "We were able to buy an electric metal shear, a
  brake press that bends metal, and a
  computer-controlled plasma cutter through the
  grant for students to use in their work, which is
  more than shop projects (these are) real world
  skills," Lachowicz said.
• "That's the real goal, to have apprentice
  programs in place so students can go to
  businesses like Bosch," said Mark Lenz, senior
  training and development leader for Robert Bosch,
  LLC.
• "The whole challenge is to develop both technical
  skills and people for all the new industry that
  will be coming to the area," Lenz said.
• Local school officials were excited that TTC has
  joined the effort to provide students without
  college intentions with viable skills that
  translate into gainful employment and careers.
• "Curriculum like this is all industry driven, in
  this case Bosch. But, we're here to meet the
  needs of local industry and to develop a local
  work force," said Mark Powers, director of
  Tennessee Technology Center at Dickson
• For skilled trades ranging from electricians to
  pipe fitters and HVAC technicians, Powers
  emphasized the mechatronics program will include
  training similar to Delta College in Michigan,
  where Hemlock Semiconductor Corp. is based.
  Hemlock is building a 1.2 billion manufacturing
  facility in Clarksville due to open in 2012.
• "Our goal is to touch base on everything we can
  in mechatronics," said Lachowicz, "so our
  students are ready for the demands of this
  high-tech century."