Happy Manufacturing Day! Manufacturing Day℠ is a celebration of modern manufacturing designed to inspire the next generation of manufacturers, and in honor of Manufacturing Day, we’d like to spotlight our 2017 Excellence in Action 
award winner in the Manufacturing Career Cluster – the Mechatronics program of study at Oakland High School in Murfreesboro, TN.
In the world of Career Technical Education (CTE), it is no secret that systems and stakeholders that surround individual learners must work in concert for them to experience success. Alignment across K-12, postsecondary, workforce and economic development and coordination with business and industry are critical to achieving a cross-sector commitment to all learners being fully supported throughout their career pathways. Oakland High School’s Mechatronics program is a real world illustration of this principle in practice.
The Mechatronics program of study was truly developed for and by industry. A leadership council, spearheaded by Keith Hamilton at Bridgestone, Jimmy Davis of The Davis Groupe, and the Manufacturing Leadership Council, saw the need for a better trained workforce and agreed there simply weren’t adequate programs in place to train the next generation of mechatronic engineers – so they decided to build one themselves. Siemens had set the industry standard for training and certification, so the leadership council joined forces with Rutherford County School District and area postsecondary institutions and resolved to build a rigorous and authentic program of study using the Siemens training model as a foundation. The goal: graduate highly skilled local students from high school, Motlow State Community College (MSCC) and Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) with cutting-edge industry credentials.
The district recognized an opportunity to leverage the support of business and industry to create a curriculum that would not only address the skill deficiencies the employers were experiencing, but also introduce students to a field they had not been exposed to previously. Working with industry, the district and postsecondary education partners developed a program very like on-the-job training at Siemens. They helped partner with industry leaders to create this unique program at the high school level. Strong partnerships from industry partners resulted in a program that prepared students for a high-demand career.
Last year, 100 percent of juniors and seniors enrolled earned postsecondary credit, putting them ahead of the game for when they enroll in postsecondary programs. Ninety-four percent of students earned an industry-recognized credential, positioning themselves perfectly for employment as mechatronic engineers in the robust industry right in their backyards.
Learn more about the Mechatronics program at Oakland High School and our 2017 award winners.