This past week, ROI held its third Educator Boot Camp, a unique professional development and externship opportunity to expose teachers, counselors and school leaders to the wide variety of STEM-focused career opportunities available in the Indiana Uplands.
Educators were immersed within companies in our region’s key industry sectors: advanced manufacturing, life sciences, and national security and defense.
This week-long job shadow experience allowed educators to explore in-demand jobs and spend time working alongside industry employees learning about safety, quality assurance, lean manufacturing, rules/regulations, creative problem solving, workforce needs, and educational attainment necessary for employment.
“There are opportunities available for our students that I didn’t even know existed,” said Bloomington High School North Work Study Coordinator Layne Kent. “I feel my whole world view changed.”
These relevant industry experiences will enable educators to help students identify career opportunities within the region and engage students with STEM-based lesson plans to develop the skills they will need as they enter the modern workplace.
“Boot Camp was an amazing opportunity for me to go into the local businesses and physically see the STEM field at work,” said Edgewood Primary School Teacher Cierra Simmons. “This opportunity led me to have a better understanding, which in return will allow me to provide a better STEM education experience for my students. “
Maleaha Evans from North Lawrence Career Center added that the collaboration with like-minded educators from other areas was invaluable. “We got to bounce ideas off others and get immediate, useful feedback.”
See the Educator Boot Camp in action:
Educators learning about the various life science jobs through hands-on experiences at Cook Medical:
Thank you to these participating companies for hosting the 2019 ROI Educator Boot Camp: Bedford Machine & Tool Inc., CAP Group LLC, Cook Medical and Cook Polymer, Crane Army Ammunition Activity, GM Bedford Casting Operations, Naval Surface Warfare Center – Crane Division, Singota Solutions and Tasus Corporation.