Creativity in cooking: CLCS, Brocton students assemble rocket stoves

Chautauqua Lake and Brocton students were recently photographed at Chautauqua Lake Central School as part of a collaborative project led by Dream It, Do It WNY.

MAYVILLE – Girls from Chautauqua Lake and Brocton Central Schools recently came together for a day of projects and career exploration as part of the Girls in Manufacturing event sponsored by Dream it Do it Western New York.

During the event, the girls engaged in welding, CNC machining and assembling rocket furnaces. With the help of CLCS technology students, manufacturing representatives and teachers, the girls’ team learned about manufacturing careers, the manufacturing process, and took home their own rocket furnace.

Dream It Do It Western New York, an initiative of the Southern Tier Manufacturers Association, hosts events such as Girls in Manufacturing Day as an outreach and preparation program to build a talent pipeline to support the manufacturing economy.

“We see a huge opportunity to get more girls into manufacturing careers by empowering them and helping build confidence that these traditionally male-dominated careers are a viable option for women.” said Todd Tranum, president of Dream It Do It Western New York and executive director of the Southern Tier Producers Association. “Manufacturers continue to struggle to fill jobs at a time when the sector is growing and creating jobs, and a wave of retirements continues to leave positions vacant. Our strategy through Dream It Do It focuses on building an early-stage talent pipeline by connecting with students through manufacturing technology tours, hands-on, project-based experiences, and building meaningful, long-term connections with manufacturers in our region.

During the event, middle school students from Brocton and Chautauqua Lake learned about all stages of the manufacturing process and had the opportunity to use machines such as mills, lathes, CNC lathes and mills, as well as welding and fabrication equipment to create projects.

“Programming like Girls in Manufacturing engages young women by inspiring them through fun, hands-on, project-based learning and connecting that experience to a career in manufacturing.” said Heather Turner, president of Blackstone Advanced Technologies. “The Dream It Do It initiative is an important part of our strategy to connect with middle and high school students to help them learn more about what we do at Blackstone Advanced Technologies and the career opportunities we offer. Thanks to Dream It Do It, students from various schools toured our facility, we met with almost 1,000 students at the recent STEM Wars event, and I had the opportunity to talk to participants of the Girls in Manufacturing camp held at Chautauqua Lake Central School. All of these interactions are part of our efforts at Blackstone to build an early-stage talent base that we believe is essential to the future growth of our company.”

With the help of Chautauqua Lake technology students, manufacturing representatives and teachers, the girls’ team learned about manufacturing careers, the manufacturing process and took home their own rocket stove and a creative epoxy wood floor stand. Chautauqua Lake technology teachers played a leading role in bringing this event and projects together.

“For me, as a teacher, it’s always exciting to see someone learn a new set of skills, but that’s what it’s all about when they use that skill to create something that is meaningful and personal to them.” said teacher Bill Persons. “We hope that with Dream It Do it and programs like Girls in Manufacturing, we can help organize events like this in the coming years to show our younger students the unlimited potential in manufacturing.”

Chautauqua Lake Principal Rachel Curtin was also excited to see participants’ confidence grow as they worked on their projects.

“With any creative project, it can be difficult to take the first few steps through trial and error. It takes courage to start taking action, and then confidence and focus to see it through to completion. Curtin said. “Some of these rocket furnace welds were truly unique and represented the unknown potential of our students. What makes this event so great is that as the day progressed, we saw both the girls’ creativity and confidence shine through as they developed an eye for detail and craftsmanship in what they were working on.”

To learn more about Dream It Do it Western New York and to enroll in the Dream It Do It Advanced Manufacturing Program, visit didiwny.com.

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