IRONTON Ƶ The Center of Science and Industry (COSI) began its Workforce Roadshow on Wednesday, making its first stop at Ohio University Southern, in Ironton.
ƵWe are traveling ... all over the state, and delivering opportunities for kids, middle school, high schoolers, to connect directly to businesses, to learn about in-demand careers and jobs that are available,Ƶ COSI Chief Strategy Officer Stephen White said.
ƵWhat weƵre doing is weƵre not only introducing them to those businesses, but then weƵre giving them hands-on, fun experiences that are connecting them to the knowledge, the skills Ƶ that they need to get those jobs.Ƶ
White said STEM jobs are in high demand in Ohio right now and are some of the fastest growing professions. Still, he said not enough college graduates are going into those fields.
ƵItƵs reflective here in Ohio. You got a lot of kids graduating from high school, but itƵs not matching the career pathway opportunities with the fastest growing fields, which are manufacturing jobs, aerospace and aviation,Ƶ White said.
ƵAnd theyƵre not dark, dangerous and dirty, theyƵre exciting. TheyƵre using artificial intelligence. YouƵre using computer technology. These are really incredible jobs that are available right here in this community, and we want to get families and youth to know about those opportunities.Ƶ
To encourage local youth to take interest in STEM careers, COSI invited Vistra, Vertiv and Marathon, among other companies, to showcase themselves in a way that makes students Ƶbelieve that they can do that job in the future,Ƶ White said.
ƵTheyƵre having a chance to facilitate mentor-mentee relationships. And then weƵre also giving them a little bit of knowledge, a little bit of skill around those jobs. We call it the hive model.Ƶ
Kids were introduced to these skills Wednesday through hands-on activities, including lava lamps to understand chemical activity, shooting off rockets to learn safety protocol and engineering processes, and making solar panels to connect to cellphone batteries.
They also had the opportunity to test virtual reality headsets and artificial intelligence and learned about topics like electricity, welding, plastics and water density.
ƵAll of those things are connected back to the jobs from the companies that theyƵre being introduced to today. ThatƵs the hive model,Ƶ White said.
By the end of the event, each child received a certificate from COSI and the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce to show theyƵre interested in going into STEM careers. They also received Learning Lunch Boxes, which each contained 10 hours of science activities to take home.
COSI will continue its roadshow throughout the summer in six other counties Ƶ Monroe, Gallia, Hawking, Meigs, Harrison and Vinton.
David Hazlett, a high school junior in the Tri-State STEM+M School, volunteered to be a group guide during WednesdayƵs event. He said he chose the STEM school because learning through hands-on activities made school a more encouraging environment for him.
ƵItƵs a really good opportunity,Ƶ he said of COSIƵs roadshow. ƵSeeing all the kids that are here, especially younger ones Ƶ seeing that these little kids get the opportunity before they actually need to go into the (Tri-State STEM+M School), itƵs just encouraging because it shows that our school and our stuff that we do, it helps the world.Ƶ
Zachary Smith, an engineering teacher at the Tri-State STEM+M School, said seeing the push for STEM in education was Ƶencouraging.Ƶ He said he feels itƵs important because of the Ƶbrain drainƵ the Tri-State area is experiencing, in which students graduate from local colleges and build careers elsewhere.
ƵWhen we have all this opportunity and the talent that we want to keep in the area, this is the first step of that pipeline, I think, to retaining talent for STEM careers in the Tri-State,Ƶ he said.
Overall, he said connecting students with career opportunities is important because it adds ƵauthenticityƵ to their education in showing them how those skills can be used in the real world.
Julie Reisinger attended the roadshow Wednesday with two of her grandchildren. She said she was impressed with the event and was excited they had an educational opportunity during the summer months.
ƵI think itƵs very interesting. And both of the kids are Ƶ theyƵre in a gifted program,Ƶ she said. ƵI think this might be something that they might be interested in. I mean, itƵs out there, and itƵs the future. So yeah, I think itƵs good to teach them a little bit about things they may not get in school.Ƶ
ReisingerƵs granddaughter, Hadley Ward, 11, said she learned about positive and negative circuits using LED lights. She said the experience was fun, and she would like to see the COSI facility in Columbus.
ƵAfter seeing the elephant toothpaste experiment, I wanted to be a teacher of some sort, and so a chemist teacher went into my head,Ƶ she said.
