School to Work Program drives students to learn in new directions

Interested in manufacturing as a high schooler? The School to Work Oshkosh Corporation program could be the perfect fit. Started only two years ago, the program provides students with hands-on learning and real-life experience. Vicki Porior, Career and Technical Education Coordinator for the OASD, connects the School to Work program with Oshkosh schools. 

“This is a partnership between Oshkosh Corporation and the Oshkosh Area School District,” she said. “It’s a two year program, beginning junior year and going on to senior year. It’s an opportunity for students to earn their high school diploma in a non-traditional learning environment.”

Program co-leader Taran Fischer has seen students evolve and learn new skills during their time at Oshkosh Corp.

“Our juniors and seniors both will go to school for three hours, and then they’ll be transported over to our facilities,” she said. “Our juniors work as prep and trim techs or assemblers. Seniors do more advanced assembly and the actual painting of the vehicles.”

Porior connects interested students to the program, and there is a process that needs to be completed for someone to be considered for this job.

photo courtesy of Jes Phillips

A student works with power tools on a project. The School to Work Program gives students an ideal environment and materials for success.

“The first step is for a sophomore to attend one of the informational meetings to learn more about us,” she said. “Their next step is to apply to the program through Oshkosh Defense. Students will be interviewed to see if they’re a good match to work in the rotation.”

Jes Phillips, co-leader of School to Work, sees the program as an opportunity for students to grow in new ways. 

“The goal for the students is giving them an alternative to continue with their education but also to get some really good hands-on experience in a manufacturing environment,” she said.

Despite going to school for only half the day, students involved with the program will still take the same classes and get the same amount of schoolwork as students going to normal high school.

“We blend our classes together and rotate, so one semester we have social studies, and one semester we have science,” Porior said. “Students get their two credits from each class, and they’re meeting their requirements for multiple courses at once. They’re taking school for fewer hours a day, but they’re still meeting the same graduation requirements.”

One significant benefit the School to Work program brings to students is the teaching of employability skills.

“We see a lot of learning to be professional in a business setting,” Phillips said. “Attendance is stressed, and so is communicating effectively, so everyone working together will be on the same page. Some things we have done with seniors as well is resume building, mock interviewing, and job shadowing.”

Senior Andrew Thill knows that the work he does on trucks is essential and will have a real impact on the people who use them.

photo courtesy of Jes Phillips

A student diligently listens to a mentor explaining instructions. Students are partnered with a different experienced mentor on a daily basis.

“I feel a sense of pride when I get done with a truck because I know the truck I just put pieces on or painted is going to go and protect soldiers,” he said. “I see it as I’m giving back to the servicemen and women who are giving their all to keep us safe.”

One of the unique and memorable aspects of this job, as opposed to other employment, are the advisors who help the students every step of the way.

“Kids are paired with mentors who take the students on as their apprentices and teach them their job,” Porior said. “Students work one on one with a mentor every day of that rotation. When they move on to the next rotation, they’re assigned a new mentor.”

Fischer has witnessed the close bonds that form between student and mentor and is grateful the students have seasoned workers to look up to.

“Our mentors truly invest in and care about our students and want them to be there to learn and grow,” she said. “I feel that our mentors are always putting our students’ interests first and giving them real-life experience, correcting them, and providing feedback on how to be better.”

Through his experience in the School to Work program, junior Nathan Obershaw discovered one trait that proved to be more useful in the manufacturing environment than anything else. 

“The most important trait a student should have when they join the program is flexibility,” he said. “In the workplace, things are changing almost weekly, and being able to adapt to the changes quickly is important to succeed.”

One of the biggest takeaways Thill has taken from his time in the School to Work program is the new knowledge he gained that he wouldn’t have acquired without this opportunity.

“The experience I have gained has prepared me for working in all different areas of manufacturing from paint and trim, to assembly, to quality control,” he said. “It builds connections and gives me a wider skill set than someone coming straight out of traditional high school.”

by Abby Furcy

Published February 26, 2021

Oshkosh West Index Volume 117 Issue 5