Manufacturing Student Interest in Industrial Careers

Manufacturers regularly complain that school systems don’t train people in the skills that industry needs, while educators say it’s hard to get students interested in manufacturing as a career.

To help change things, the International Business Communications Council--a consortium of Japanese automotive and electronics companies--has been funding a school-to-work program in partnership with the Public Broadcasting System.

The 4-year-old program, “What’s Up in Manufacturing?,” premieres in the Orange County-Los Angeles region today when 45 teachers from various Los Angeles schools visit Toyota’s North American design studio, Calty, in Irvine.

The teachers will spend most of the day at the studio, which rarely admits outsiders because of the secretive nature of the auto design business. They will get an insider’s view of how the automotive design process works so they can take the information to their classrooms to share with students.

Equally important, they will get firsthand examples of how and why skills like algebra and geometry, computer programming and English composition are as essential as drawing and sculpting in the design world.

The program gives the teachers ammunition to help impress upon their students--those who are college-bound and those on vocational tracks--the need for sound grounding in math, science and writing skills, said Janet Murphy, who manages the program for sponsor WNET-TV, the PBS flagship station in New York.

“It also is designed to make manufacturing a more appealing career goal . . . to broaden students’ and teachers’ awareness that manufacturing no longer means sitting on an assembly line doing mindless, repetitive tasks,” she said. “These days it involves technology, teamwork and planning.”

Murphy said the teachers in today’s program are all from Los Angeles because the L.A.-based public station, KCET, was the local sponsor. There aren’t any plans for an Orange County program, but Murphy said she would love to talk to representatives of any local school districts that would be interested. The program includes teacher training and a four-part classroom video about trends in manufacturing.

Murphy can be reached at (800) 426-7027, Ext. 6609.

*

John O’Dell covers major Orange County corporations and manufacturing for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-5831 and at john.odell@latimes.com