Students Offered Head Start On Manufacturing

Sixth-graders Tyler and Troy took turns peering at the instruction manual that illustrated how the walls and gears in front of them fit together — and imagining the claw robot (“clawbot”) that would soon be roving around by their own design.

The team shared their work with New Haven legislators and leaders in the entrance of the Hillhouse High School athletic center on Monday morning, as Board of Ed officials announced a new program geared toward technology-curious students like Tyler and Troy.

The announcement: Next year, 45 ninth graders and five to 10 adult education students will be able to pursue an associate’s degree in manufacturing engineering technology at Gateway Community College alongside their high school degrees.

U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, who represents New Haven in Congress, secured $2 million for the program as part of a federal ​“community project” (aka revived Congressional earmarks) funding package. That money will go toward building laboratories in Hillhouse and Wilbur Cross High Schools, which will serve students in the program from those high schools as well as Career High and adult education. The program is still accepting applications. 

As officials discussed the details of the manufacturing program, about a dozen sixth-grade robotics students from Barnard Environmental Science and Technology Interdistrict Magnet School worked diligently on their robots and showed off their work to the politicians. They demonstrated the potential impact that school leaders hope a manufacturing track will have on high school students.

That impact includes not only a technical knowledge of how robots and other devices work, but the resilience, focus, teamwork, and determination it takes to construct a complicated device as part of a team.

Hours before the robot exhibit and press conference event, Troy and Tyler’s robot had crashed to pieces on the bus ride to Hillhouse. But the team wasn’t fazed by the setback. They dove into their work, furrowing their brows and conferring with one another about which part was supposed to go where.

“It’s like a puzzle,” said Tyler, who said he wants to one day become an engineer. ​“You have to find all the pieces.”

Troy said he’s looking to develop expertise in hands-on technology projects like this one. ​“Maybe in the future, I want to build a robot myself.”

Superintendent of Schools Iline Tracey said the high school trade program is meant to serve both students interested in manufacturing as a career and students like Tyler who want to become engineers and scientists. 

“Many students will choose our manufacturing program because they want to find work that pays a living wage and graduate from high school with extra credits,” she said. ​“Others will find that studying manufacturing awakens an interest in science, technology, or engineering and they will pursue that interest through future college study.”

The program comes at a time when New Haven students, along with kids across the country, are struggling to weather the mental health consequences of the pandemic.

Mayor Justin Elicker recalled Keiron Jones, a beloved Hillhouse junior who died by gun violence in March. ​“We need to do so much more to keep our young people on track,” he said. Some students are not planning to go to college, he added, and the manufacturing program will give those students a pathway to success.

City officials and industry advocates also noted that the program fits into a broader agenda of supporting manufacturing businesses in Connecticut, as the sector faces job vacancies and recruitment difficulties.

Elicker connected the program to the war in Ukraine, noting that sanctions on Russia have illuminated ​“the importance of us relying on our own economy.”

“Who says manufacturing is not alive and well in New Haven?” DeLauro asked rhetorically.

Students and families interested in the program should attend an information session, according to Assistant Superintendent Ivelise Velazquez. The sessions will take place on April 5, April 14, and April 28 from 6 to 7 p.m. via zoom at https://us06web.zoom.us/j/3627….