Impact Florida. Lead Nationally. Manufacturing Day Student Tours FLATE Florida’s Advanced Technological Education Center of Excellence Nina Stokes FLATE Project Manager

Impact Florida. Lead Nationally. About FLATE: Florida Advanced Technological Education Center National Science Foundation (NSF) Regional Center of Excellence National Science Foundation (NSF) Regional Center of Excellence Created in 2004 Created in 2004 One of 46 Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Centers of Excellence in the United States funded by the NSF Foundation. One of 46 Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Centers of Excellence in the United States funded by the NSF Foundation. ATE Centers are focused on improving STEM education and training to meet the technician workforce needs of American advanced technology industries. ATE Centers are focused on improving STEM education and training to meet the technician workforce needs of American advanced technology industries.

Impact Florida. Lead Nationally –present 400 tours to 234 FL manufacturing facilities Over 10,000 students, Almost 1,000 educators & parents FLATE Made in Florida TOURS

Impact Florida. Lead Nationally. 4 Opportunity to experience first-hand the world of modern manufacturing Varied high-tech careers the industry offers Exposure to real STEM workplaces Student surveys to discover what the students experienced from their own point of view and to help streamline and improve tours in the future. Made in Florida TOURS OFFER:

Impact Florida. Lead Nationally. 5 FLATE Made in Florida TOURS

Impact Florida. Lead Nationally. Manufacturing Day Annual event first held in 2012 – always the 1 st Friday in October MANUFACTURING DAY MISSION: “To empower manufacturers to improve the public perception of manufacturing careers and the sector’s value to the economic health of the U.S. by connecting them to business improvement, community resources, and next-generation workers.” Manufacturers host student tours to showcase the potential of modern manufacturing and foster interest in manufacturing careers.

Impact Florida. Lead Nationally. Manufacturing Day GOALS to introduce as many people as possible to the important role played by manufacturing locally and nationally to highlight the importance of manufacturing to the economy To draw attention to the many rewarding high-skill jobs available in manufacturing fields To dispel widely held misconceptions about what the manufacturing industry is and is not!

Impact Florida. Lead Nationally. In a Nutshell: Typically tours are on Manufacturing Day (first Friday in October) between 9am-1pm. FLATE secures companies to host student tours. School District provides transportation and assistance matching schools and companies. Manufacturers host tours and usually provide lunch so that students can interact with employees. Various organizations and associations and manufacturers provide donations for t-shirts Tours typically last 90 minutes to 2 hours (including lunch) Supporting Curriculum Surveys (students complete the survey after the tour and then they are sent back to FLATE for compilation/analysis) T-shirts – to be worn during the tour and kept as a memento

Impact Florida. Lead Nationally. Manufacturing Day 2014 Based on 1,175 individual responses, student interest in advanced manufacturing careers increased by % statewide. Governor’s Proclamation “It was really cool and interesting, and provided a unique experience.”

Impact Florida. Lead Nationally. Florida Manufacturing Day 2014 Counties39 Student Tours95 Educators174 Parents113 Students3,150 Students Surveys1,496 Manufacturing Companies 88 2 nd year FLATE coordinated statewide events Worked with partners and collaborators around the state manufacturers associations, colleges, workforce organizations, Florida TRADE consortium. Placed Florida firmly on the national manufacturing map Manufacturing Day 2014

Impact Florida. Lead Nationally.

Impact Florida. Lead Nationally. Manufacturing Day 2014 Student Survey Data Analysis Manufacturing Day 2014 analysis conducted with an added emphasis on parsing out “themes” of student feedback to the question: “What did you like most about the tour?” Theme categories were identified and quantified.

Impact Florida. Lead Nationally. THEMES Hands-on/Interactive/Real-Life Machines - how they work /in action – assembly line Manufacturing Image/Importance Careers Tour Guides

Impact Florida. Lead Nationally. Hands-on/Interactive/Real Life  I really enjoyed seeing the huge CNC machines at work, and the real life experiences of being in manufacturing.  I liked the information followed by examples. Also the staff that showed us around helped us get a feel of what the workplace would be like.  I liked that we got to walk and experience the things these people do. I also liked that it was a learning experience rather than just a field trip.

Impact Florida. Lead Nationally. Machines - how they work /in action – assembly line  I liked when we walked through and saw the production process.  I most enjoyed getting to see what I’ve heard about in action.  Also the staff that showed us around helped us get a feel for what the workplace would be like.

Impact Florida. Lead Nationally. Careers I enjoyed learning about the various jobs here. My favorite part of the tour was learning that there was no degree needed for working here. The incentive of an on the job training has inspired me to try out a career in advance manufacturing. Employees took the time to interact with us during the tour and thoroughly explained to us what they were working on and what training and courses they took to get to the point that they are now.

Impact Florida. Lead Nationally. Before tour, 46% of the students had never considered a career in manufacturing 60% said tour made them think about careers in advanced manufacturing over half (55%) now considering a career in the field 81% students learned about technologies used in today’s advanced manufacturing industries 74% of students felt tour helped them understand how STEM subjects they learn in school are put to work in advanced manufacturing industries Manufacturing Day Numbers In-a-Nutshell

Impact Florida. Lead Nationally. These are significant findings and provide strong evidence to reinforce that manufacturing facility tours are: An invaluable and significant tool to dispel misconceptions about the industry and what it’s like to work in manufacturing A highly effective way to raise awareness of many, exciting, high tech and high wage careers available

Impact Florida. Lead Nationally. A WIN-WIN for all!

Impact Florida. Lead Nationally. fl-ate.org madeinflorida.org flate.pbwiki.com Find this presentation on FLATE’s wiki under FLATE Presentations: fl-ate.org madeinflorida.org flate.pbwiki.com Nina Stokes FLATE Project Manager (813) madeinflorida.org/manufacturing-day/