The Warsaw Area Career Center’s (WACC) Advanced Manufacturing Class project is a finalist for the 2019 State Farm Neighborhood Assist Grant. The proposal for this grant was one of 2000 entries and has been selected as one of the 200 finalists. There will be 40 nonprofit winners, each receiving a $25,000 grant, and will be chosen by means of a public vote. Voting begins August 14th and ends August 23rd, is open to anyone within the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who is 18 years of age or older with a valid email address is eligible to vote for a Cause. This includes State Farm agents, employees and their immediate families. Each voter can vote up to ten (10) times per day.
The link to WACC’s voting page is below: https://www.neighborhoodassist.com/entry/2023591
The grant will fund a project that is part of the WACC’s Engineering & Technology Department. In the Advanced Manufacturing class students work groups to design and construct all types of boards including: snowboards, skateboards/longboards, stand up paddleboards, surfboards, and wake surfboards. This class prepares students for the local skilled job market through a unique and fun learning experience as they collaborate and communicate building their boards and participate in local boardsport activities. The goal is that students become invested in the local geography, each other, and their connection to the local labor market.
The spring of 2019 was the pilot semester of the project, where we prepared our facilities to support the processes and practiced our first board builds. We are also exploring service project opportunities involving the local Parks and Recreation Department. We are looking forward to growing our program in a way that empowers students to pursue their dreams founded in a hands-on educational experience. Our hope is to find ways to mentor relationships with younger students through design, engineering, and action sports, while connecting with our landscape and community, both locally and globally.
The cost of running this unique program goes beyond the traditional budget for our Engineering courses. In order to sustain the course for coming years the project will need to recoup the material cost for the board builds each year. Some students choose to purchase the boards we build, while others are available for purchase.
If you would like to support our program beyond voting for the project in the 2019 Neighborhood Assist program, please contact:
Gone Boarding Instructor: Andrea Miller amiller@warsawschools.org 574-371-5074 ext. 2351
