Ready to make some sparks - Career Academy students look at the future of manufacturing

Juniors and seniors across the nation are starting to think about their future.  Will they go to college?  Is a training program more what they’re looking for?  Maybe they should go straight to work?  Those are the questions they are looking for answers to, and for many, they are finding those answers at the North Central Iowa Career Academy in Eagle Grove.

This facility, a branch of Iowa Central Community College, offers high school students the opportunity to take college level classes, earning them credits for both high school and college - free of charge.  Not only does it save them money, but it also gets them into course study of fields they think they might be interested in, and into the doors of businesses and talking with people who actually do their potential job for a living.  For some, it gives them the confidence to know they are headed in the right direction. For others, they discover a field perhaps isn’t for them and can change course before they spend time and money in college.

On Wednesday, Oct. 12, students in the manufacturing strain at the Career Academy had the chance to learn first hand about their field from David McQuaid, president of the American Welding Society.  McQuaid started his career in welding in 1970 and has since dedicated his life to the field.

For the full story, see the October 20 edition of the Monitor.