Over the din of a heavy duty industrial crane lifting tons of steel rolls, Mitchener said the new experience has been eye-opening and eventually will help him give students a better understanding of the wide variety of work opportunities awaiting them after graduation.
“Coming from a background of not having much experience in the manufacturing industry, it’s so amazing seeing how all this stuff is produced right in our backyard here in Monroe,” he said.
“I’ve really taken a lot away from this as an educator because now I’m able to advise my students who might have a different career path than going straight to college or the military,” he said. “I can let them know about a wonderful opportunity right here in their own backyard where they can really start right out of high school making a good amount of money as an adult.”
Entry level pay at Worthington Industries starts at $30,000 per year in base pay with an additional $12,000 available through the Columbus-based company’s profit sharing plan for employees.
The company takes in tons of steel from AK Steel - and other companies - and processes it according to manufacturers’ specifications for use in a wide variety of industries.
Michael Perry, human resources manager for the Monroe plant, praised Butler Tech’s first-year MEET (Manufacturing Educator Externship Team) program.
“It’s an initiative to show teachers what manufacturing is like today … showing them that it’s not the stereotypical dark and dangerous environment. One of the goals is to have teachers share their experiences with other educators and students about to transition to the workforce,” said Perry.
That part of the process will start when classes open in August for the new school year at Butler Tech’s partner school systems, said Megan Reed, career specialist for the career school.
“I’ve gotten fabulous feedback so far from the (participating) businesses and they said it is going great,” said Reed.
“Our main goal is to take non-career tech teachers and introduce them to manufacturing careers so they can then go back and share with students and parents their first-hand experience was like,” she said.
“When teachers have first-hand experience that is shared in a formal or informal way it is so much more impactful than them just telling students this is something I’ve read. It’s more human and it’s so much more impactful,” said Reed.
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