COLUMBIA COUNTY, Pa. — Students at the Columbia Montour Area Vocational Technical School in Columbia County share what they've been learning in their programs, using new equipment, thanks to the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. SME is a non-profit organization that provides information, education, and networking for the manufacturing industry. SME has one of many programs that are offered, called the PRIME Program.
"PRIME is an acronym that stands for partnership response in manufacturing education, and what we do in the prime program is we develop unique high school programs for grades nine through 12, and they are designed specifically to meet the manufacturing needs of manufacturers in the community,” said Shelley Wooley, director of education programs for the SME Education Foundation.
The program is funded by local manufacturers who donate to the SME Education Program. The SME PRIME Program has helped out the school's mechatronics, fabrication, and machining programs.
“We delivered a Haas Mini Mill that the students, in fact, I think it arrived this week, that the students are going to be trained on. We also have provided a snap on a precision measurement instrumentation kit that's very interesting because we're told over and over again that students need precision measurement skills,” said Wooley.
The equipment will help prepare 200 students currently in a program on manufacturing and engineering skills.
“A lot of our teachers share resources and equipment and tools and even their professional development throughout all of the courses and across the school, so it's impacting the greater school at large,” said Curtis Funkhouser, administrative director at Columbia-Montour Area Vocational Technical School.
Curtis Funkhouser, the administrative director at Columbia-Montour Area Vocational Technical School, says it is priceless to get help from local partnerships that have connections.
“And to get equipment that is quite pricey at times and professional development accessible to our instructors, and to our staff, and in the hands of our students."