Celebrating successful students.

Celebrating successful students. [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] The Machine Tool Program at Cowley College in Arkansas City,Kansas Arkansas City is a city situated at the confluence of the Arkansas and Walnut rivers in the southwestern part of Cowley County, located in south-central Kansas, in the central United States. The population was estimated to be 11,581 in the year 2005. , is preparing students to become future leaders Future Leaders is a UK schools-led charitable organisation that aims to widen the pool of talented leaders especially for urban challenging secondary schools. It was founded in March 2006 by Nat Wei, a former founder of Teach First. in the machiningfield and the school recognizes the importance of sharing andcelebrating those stories of success with the public to demonstrate theeffectiveness of career and technical education (CTE (Coefficient of Thermal Expansion) The difference between the way two materials expand when heat is applied. This is very critical when chips are mounted to printed circuit boards, because the silicon chip expands at a different rate than the plastic board. ) programs CowleyCollege is a community and technical college offering more than 68majors and degree programs. Established in the late 1960s, Cowley'sCTE programs have undergone curriculum adaptations to prepare machiningstudents not only as machinists, but also engineers, foremen, businessowners and teachers. The program has more than a million dollars worthof equipment, and two computer labs for programming machine tools have atotal of 40 seats of MasterCam Software. Training includes competencewith the conventional lathe lathe(lāth), machine tool for holding and turning metal, wood, plastic, or other material against a cutting tool to form a cylindrical product or part. It also drills, bores, polishes, grinds, makes threads, and performs other operations. , mills, CNC (Computerized Numerical Control) See numerical control. CNC - Collaborative Networked Communication mills and lathes, programmingand CMM (Capability Maturity Model) A process developed by SEI in 1986 to help improve, over time, the application of an organization's supporting software technologies. machines and grinders. Students must learn to work in teams oralone, promoting self-reliance and patience. Dual Enrollment and Articulation articulationIn phonetics, the shaping of the vocal tract (larynx, pharynx, and oral and nasal cavities) by positioning mobile organs (such as the tongue) relative to other parts that may be rigid (such as the hard palate) and thus modifying the airstream to produce speech Agreements Local high school students are actively involved in Cowley'smachine tool program, and the school has facilitated their involvementby offering both dual credit enrollment and articulation agreements. Thedual credit system has been in existence since the program was createdand allows juniors and seniors in high school to attend the collegeduring high school hours. Students get credit for both high school andcollege courses, providing them with an excellent opportunity to earncollege credit while their high schools pay the fees and tuition. Ryan Hernandez credits Cowley and his high school's dualcredit program with inspiring his career choice. He entered the MachineTool Program as a junior in high school, earning both hismachinist's certificate and his high school diploma A high school diploma is a diploma awarded for the completion of high school. In the United States and Canada, it is considered the minimum education required for government jobs and higher education. An equivalent is the GED. in 1994. Beforehe graduated, he was involved with the VICA VICA Vocational Industrial Clubs of AmericaVICA Video Conferencing Alliance (UK)VICA Vocational Industrial Chapters of AmericaVICA Vision Counsel of America club, now SkillsUSA, andcompeted in competitions that included the International Skills contestin Switzerland, where he placed 14th in CNC machining. "I started at Pre-Mac, GKN GKN Guest, Keen & Nettlefolds (British global engineering company)GKN Global Knowledge NetworkGKN Gemeenschappelijke Kernenergiecentrale NederlandGKN Global Korean NetworkGKN Iks Gorkon (Star Trek novel Series)systems in Wellington, Kansas Wellington is a city in Sumner County, Kansas, United States. The population was 8,647 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Sumner CountyGR6. HistoryWellington was first surveyed on April 4, 1871 and named for the Duke of Wellington. ,right out of school in 1994. Within the first year I became a proficient pro��fi��cient?adj.Having or marked by an advanced degree of competence, as in an art, vocation, profession, or branch of learning.n.An expert; an adept. machinist and project manager before moving to Boeing as amachinist," he said. "After a year at Boeing, I moved intoprogramming and programmed for three years. I then moved to BAE (nowTECT TECT The Evolution of Cooperation and TradingTECT Turbine Engine Components Technologies Corporation Aerospace in Wellington, Kansas) as a continuous improvementanalyst. While at BAE, I worked on a variety of projects from officerelated improvements to lean activities, to project management." In 2004 he was offered a position at a company where he iscurrently project manager with the production of a B52 Outboard Not built in. Outboard devices are external to the main unit. Contrast with inboard. See offboard. Strut.Hernandez notes that Cowley's teachers taught the basics andfundamentals that are often missed in training on the job. He adds,"Education gave me a good skill set to start with, but aptitude andability to adapt and learn quickly are very important as well." Cowley's articulation agreements with four-year universitiesprovide opportunities for students to go on to earn engineering degrees.Articulation agreements are relatively new and few compared to dualcredit programs. Articulation with local high schools is difficultbecause it requires that students stay at their own high schools and useequipment provided by their districts. Most districts do not have amillion dollars for industrial grade machines, not to mention keepingthe machines current to meet industries' changing needs. Butstudents such as Blake Stites are utilizing articulation to make greatstrides nonetheless. Stites, who earned his associate degree from Cowleyin 2002, said that he chose to go to Cowley because he was looking for Looking forIn the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. an advanced industrial training program that would prepare him for thefield. "But I also wanted the diversity of a solid collegeeducation," he said. "It is impossible to train for everyscenario one might encounter in the workforce, or in life, but with thecritical thinking skills and core machining competencies I learned atCowley, I was readily able to adapt to my job-specific duties." Stites went on to earn a bachelor's degree in manufacturingengineering Manufacturing engineeringEngineering activities involved in the creation and operation of the technical and economic processes that convert raw materials, energy, and purchased items into components for sale to other manufacturers or into end products for technology from Pittsburg State University in Kansas. Hereceived an internship internship/in��tern��ship/ (in��tern-ship) the position or term of service of an intern in a hospital. internship,n the course work or practicum conducted in a professional dental clinic. with Honeywell while at Pittsburg, and afull-time job upon graduation. Now he works as a numerical control numerical control:see computer-aided manufacturing. numerical control (NC)Control of a system or device by direct input of data in the form of numbers, letters, symbols, words, or a combination of these forms. analyst (a Honeywell term for CNC programmer). He uses CAD CAM softwareto develop programs for computer controlled machine tools. He says thatthe variety of work that he does is exciting; he programs tools, basiclathes and mills, four and five axis mills, laser cutters, wire andplunge EDMs, and new multi-axis (up to 13 axes) mill turn machines. "My job challenges me, and I am learning new technologyconstantly. I would like to take on an engineering role in the future,so that I can continue learning about and possibly helping to developnew and emerging technology," he said. Fostering a Diverse Student Body Women comprise a very small percentage of the machinists in theU.S. But schools like Cowley are giving female students an opportunityto pursue careers in a field that is nontraditional to their gender.Nora Lara took machining classes at Cowley as a junior and senior inhigh school. After getting her machinist certificate in 2006, she workedfor a small job shop for six months in Winfield, Kansas Winfield is a city situated along the Walnut River in the west-central part of Cowley County, located in South Central Kansas, in the Central United States. The population was estimated to be 11,861 in the year 2005. . When shefinished college, she moved to Texas where she was offered a job atRaytheon. "I am a machinist (and) most of my work is for defense systemsthat are used in the Army," Nora said. She adds that the dualenrollment credit program between her high school and Cowley played abig role in her decision to become a machinist, even though itwasn't easy to accomplish her goal because "it is a fieldwhere you rarely find women." But her perseverance PerseveranceSee also Determination.Ainsworthredid dictionary manuscript burnt in fire. [Br. Hist.: Brewer Handbook, 752]Call of the Wild, Thedogs trail steadfastly through Alaska’s tundra. [Am. Lit. transcended thechallenges. [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] "I had a lot of hands-on experience in the classroom, but whena company hires you they understand you don't come with all theskills you will need," she said. "They spent time training me,and as long as I was willing to work and learn, I never had a problem.Asking questions was a big plus." Nora plans to continue hereducation aiming for a baccalaureate degree in mechanical engineering. For Nora, becoming a machinist is a family affair because while shewas training to become a machinist at Cowley as a freshman, her fatherwas also doing so as a sophomore. Damian Lara's story highlightsthe importance of providing current workers with ongoing trainingopportunities. He took the machine tool program with the help of hisemployer, General Electric Aircraft Maintenance Division. Through acompany program encouraging employee education, Damian receivedfinancial support to attend Cowley's Machine Tool Program.Following completion of the program, he was transferred into themachining department where he received a considerable increase in pay. "I started as a mechanic at General Electric AircraftMaintenance and I took the Machine Tool Program at Cowley College andeventually became a machinist at General Electric. In my currentposition I make and repair aircraft products." The Importance of Celebrating Student Success The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Vocational andAdult Education The Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE) is a subdivision of the United States Department of Education. OVAE falls under the supervision of the Undersecretary, who oversees policies, programs and activities related to vocational and adult education, postsecondary lists one of its goals as "to heighten height��en?v. height��ened, height��en��ing, height��ensv.tr.1. To raise or increase the quantity or degree of; intensify.2. To make high or higher; raise.v.intr. awarenessamong a wide range of constituencies about the superior education andtraining that community colleges provide." The words"accountability," "quality" and"effectiveness" appear again and again in the initiativesdiscussed in the department's Fact Sheet Series. One suchinitiative seeks to "identify the characteristics of a'market-driven college." One way to illustrate the quality ofour efforts is by locating CTE graduates within the market for which wehave prepared them. A little time and a simple questionnaire can resultin a testimonial to the accountability and effectiveness of oureducational programs. Any academic or technical program needs to recognize studentsuccess, but that recognition normally stays in-house and is usuallylimited to current students. We need to do a little more thinkingoutside the box of our institution. Instead of focusing only on the fewhundred students currently enrolled, we need to look beyond; oursuccessful students are everywhere. Cowley did just that when it sentout e-mailed questionnaires last summer to selected students. Hundredsof students have successfully applied the principles learned at Cowleyto help in all types of industry--from plastics for toys to thehigh-tech aerospace industry. The aforementioned former students are buta sampling of success stories garnered from responses Cowley received tothe questionnaire, and these students' success stories speak to theeffectiveness of our programs and our educational system in helpingstudents become successful in meeting the needs of the 21st centuryworkplace. Showcasing our graduates can celebrate both the successes of thestudents and the educational programs that have prepared them withmarketable skills. The students' own words speak to theaccountability, the effectiveness, and the quality of their training.Listening to their stories, the public is informed of the flexibility oftheir training, the potential for advancement, and the fact that schoolsand industries encourage their success. With a little forethought fore��thought?n.1. Deliberation, consideration, or planning beforehand.2. Preparation or thought for the future. See Synonyms at prudence. , aquestionnaire and a computer, educators can celebrate theirstudents' successes, encourage current students, recruit newstudents, and show the world the vitality and validity of CTE programsin promoting future leaders in many fields. Dan Squires is a machine tool technology instructor at CowleyCollege in Arkansas, Kansas. He can be contacted by e-mail atsquires@cowley.eda. Pauline Case taught technology classes at Cowley College from 2002to 2006. She can be contacted by e-mail at pawline1@yahoo.com.