REACH students come up with money-saving plan local businesses
A group of Laurel Highlands High School students put its education to practical use in the real world when they came up with a money-saving plan for a local business. The five students gave a presentation on their efforts for school and business leaders gathered at Penn State Fayette Wednesday for a steering/partnership committee meeting of the Reaching Education Achievement with Community Help (REACH) organization of Fay-Penn Economic Development Council.
“The students were given the challenge to come to ICMI and take a look at a process we had and try to make it better,” said George Skivington, general manager of ICMI, a toner manufacturer in Connellsville.
He said the students “went significantly above and beyond the call of duty” to come up with an alternative to the process that could save the company money. He said the students worked well as a group toward a solution.
Alex Mundel, Mark Davidson, Dan Webster, Justin Williams and Benny Mundel described the manual process of labeling, capping and packing bottles of toner at ICMI. They investigated the automation of part of the process and recommended equipment that could save the company from about $144,000 to about $171,000 over two years.
This was an in-school project of the Pittsburgh Adventures in Technology (PAT) program that is sponsored through the Pittsburgh Technology Council. REACH spokeswoman Barb Gibel said the project is an extension of the Manufacturing Pathway Initiative that for the second consecutive summer will place local students in internships with local businesses. She said the focus of the program is to generate interest by young people in the manufacturing industry.
“The PAT project gives students a chance to work alongside a company,” Williams said.
L.H. guidance counselor Joseph Sarko and teacher John Yonker worked with the students as school mentors and accompanied them for the presentation.
Michael W. Krajovic, Fay-Penn president, commented that the students through this project demonstrated applied learning and showed their capacity for teamwork.
The meeting offered an overview and update of a variety of REACH projects like PAT and the Manufacturing Pathway Initiative.
Frazier School District Superintendent Dr. Frederick Smeigh, who is the education co-chairman for REACH, talked about an information database that is in the works through REACH for the school districts that would help educators pinpoint what the students are learning and where they may need help. He said a variety of information about students is available but not all in one place that can easily be accessed for analysis.
He also spoke about the business concept of value-added assessment that he said is not a test for the students but a way of analyzing the results of their tests.
He said the database and value-added assessment would assist the educators as they face the challenge of the federal No Child Left Behind Act that requires all students be proficient in reading and math within the next 12 years.
Among their efforts, Gibel said REACH received word from the U.S. Department of Education of $150,000 grant for which she acknowledged U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum.
The committee approved the application with assistance of the Workforce Investment Board of a Youth Challenge Grant that would go toward the development of career-related curriculum. They also agreed to obtain a three-year professional service plan for the local school districts from the International Center for Leadership in Education Inc. (ICLE).
Frazier School District received congratulations for an invitation to give a presentation this summer at the ICLE Model Schools Conference in Florida.
Twenty-nine local representatives have registered to attend the conference.
It was noted the school districts have an opportunity to apply for an Eberly Education Award that will be given based on such criteria as standardized test scores, attendance and innovative curriculum/instructional strategy.
Meanwhile, Wanda Anker of Nemacolin Woodlands and John Fibbi, director of Fayette County Area Vocational-Technical School, spoke as the local representatives of the Commission on Rural Education. Fibbi said the commission is currently taking testimony on the conditions of rural schools and has a hearing planned in the county in August.
Krajovic encouraged business leaders to contact state officials regarding their consideration of school funding for the upcoming year. Among the budget issues, he noted the governor has proposed a funding formula that takes into consideration student enrollment and could adversely affect local schools that have lost students but still have fixed costs with which to content.