Student Feature Friday - Jacob Spencer & Izaiah Wadsworth Attend BVEF's Manufacturing Day

Jacob Spencer and Izaiah Wadsworth:
Nipmuc's Representatives for Manufacturing Day

One of the exciting additions to Nipmuc's programming is the establishment of its 21st Century Learning Center and its expanded efforts with college, career, and community readiness. As part of this focus, Nipmuc was excited to participate in Manufacturing Day. On October 2nd, Nipmuc seniors Izaiah Wadsworth and Jacob Spencer, accompanied by teacher Roy Spindel, traveled to Omni Controls in Whitinsville for a day of learning about the momentum behind American manufacturing and the possibilities of a career in this field.

The event was brought to Nipmuc through the Blackstone Valley Education Foundation, providing a meaningful connection between the academic culture of our school and opportunities to apply that learning in the real world.

We were thrilled to be able to send Jacob and Izaiah to this opportunity. In meeting with them, I was impressed with their explanation of the day's activities, their interaction with the CEO of Omni, and the takeaways they gained form this experience. 

The event was organized by Nipmuc's Community and Career Coordinator, Elizabeth Hennessy. In discussing the practical and inspirational value of the day she stated,  "Manufacturing Day provided an authentic context for the practical application of skills taught in high school.  This experience enabled students to envision themselves in manufacturing career pathways and  STEM careers they had not known existed in the Blackstone Valley."

We are thankful to the Mrs. Hennessy, Omni Controls, and the BVEF for providing this experience to Izaiah and Jacob. I'm happy to share some of their thoughts about the day below.

Izaiah Wadsworth
Q. What were some of the most interesting parts of the experience?
A. Manufacturing day was a great experience. It had a lot of opportunities and hands-on activities that I was able to incorporate into the day. My view on manufacturing as a whole really changed and gave me a lot of information that I didn't know about at the time.
Q. What did you learn about manufacturing and the skills needed to succeed in the manufacturing field?
A. I learned many new things about manufacturing such as, how it works, the procedures and steps needed to succeed in the field.
Q. How will this experience affect your future?
A. This could really affect my future because it gave me a lot of new ideas for careers and also interested me enough to maybe even pursue something in the manufacturing field.

Jacob Spencer
Q. Tell me about manufacturing day. What were some of the most interesting parts of the experience?
A. We experienced how to design large computer boards, and we were allowed to build the basics of one ourselves.
Q. What did you learn about manufacturing and the skills needed to succeed in the manufacturing field?
A. I learned that hands-on skills are important with this field, and that the process is a lengthy design process.
Q. How will this experience affect your future?
A. I now have interest to go into this field.