Saturday, March 23, 2019
YOUNGSTOWN
Jessica Corza, executive director of Mahoning Valley Manufacturers Coalition, wants to challenge local students’ perceptions of manufacturing jobs.
“People still think it’s that dirty, dark, dangerous type of atmosphere. Maybe they think it’s redundant work, that it’s not interesting. But it’s completely a 180,” Borza said.
Youngstown City School District sixth-grade students were shown exciting options in the manufacturing industry Friday morning. The event was in collaboration with the coalition, OH WOW! The Roger & Gloria Jones Children’s Center for Science & Technology, OH-PENN Manufacturing Collaborative and Choffin Career and Technical Center.
For one of the activities, students were split into groups and provided 20 pieces of dry spaghetti, a piece of tape and a marshmallow.
From these sundry items, they were instructed to build a structure that would stand on its own.
Williamson Elementary students Daeonnah Cheirs and Yariel Flores helped their team successfully create a spaghetti tower.
“We started with a triangle,” said Daeonnah, as she pointed to the base of their structure.
Yariel said, “We added more spaghetti to make it stronger.”
Ralf Urbach, OH WOW! director of EDUtainment, told the students that, during the activity, they were engineers.
“That’s what engineers do. They take a problem and they figure out a solution,” Urbach said.
The day’s activities, which also included building a balloon pump, highlighted the team-building and creativity necessary to succeed in the manufacturing field.
“We want to expose kids to the fun side of engineering and breathe new life into what most believe to be a stuffy field,” said Anina Karlovic, a principal at Choffin.
The event also challenged another misconception – that students need to leave Youngstown to get a good job.
“It’s an effort to help them understand the possibilities available locally in the manufacturing industry,” said Suzanne Barbati, OH WOW! executive director.