MANSFIELD — The North End Community Improvement Collaborative will be hosting its third annual summer manufacturing camp Julyu 2-=24 from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. This year it will be held online.
NECIC runs the annual camp in partnership with EPIK, the Regional Manufacturing Coalition and the office of U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Mansfield Senior graduate.
The free, five day camp is open to fifth through eighth grade students in any Richland County school district. Students will learn about STEM, workplace safety and business financing as well as local secondary and post-secondary education opportunities.
Although the camp will be remote this year, campers will still get the chance to digitally tour local manufacturing companies and talk with employers.
“We’re still going to have people come in from different businesses and talk to the youth about the job opportunities and what that particular company does,” said Nyasha Oden, community organizer for NECIC.
Each camper will also receive a take home box the week before camp with snacks and all the necessary supplies for daily hands-on projects.
Oden said families are encouraged, but not required, to assist their child with the activities.
“The projects shouldn’t be super complicated, but we actually do want the families to be involved,” she said. “We do want parents to help if they can, just to build that relationship with the child.”
Steve Cummins, president of the Regional Manufacturing Coalition, said that over the last couple of years area employers realized engaging the next generation of workers can’t wait until high school.
“You really have to try to sow the seeds of interest in manufacturing and STEM at a younger age,” Cummins said. “You start to form opinions about what you want to do pretty early on.”
One goal of the camp is to help change any outdated perceptions about the industry. Most students unfamiliar with modern manufacturing tend to picture the industry as their grandparents experienced it. However, today’s manufacturing jobs are highly skilled and integrate technology and data analysis.
“We really want to give kids a different outlook. We really want to get them involved and to know that it’s not all an assembly line,” Oden said. “There’s a number of different things that you can do within a manufacturing company.”
The camp also helps raise awareness of the numerous opportunities that exist within the field.
According to the Ohio Manufacturing Coalition, manufacturing was the third largest sector in the Buckeye state in 2017, providing 686,800 jobs.
Despite the pandemic’s impact on the economy, there were 8,600 manufacturing jobs in the Mansfield area in May 2020, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Oden said she’s proud that the manufacturers and organizers involved in the camp were able to transition to an online format. Many similar camps in the surrounding counties have simply postponed until next year.
“We know this is something that kids have started to look forward to every year, so if we could, we wanted to still produce it,” Oden said. “Even if it’s not perfect, the fact that we gave it our all to still show up for the youth and provide them with opportunities for the summer, it speaks volumes.”
Registration is free, but limited. Families can register at NECIC’s website.
