The diversity of roles and backgrounds of employees at Valeo Lighting Systems in Seymour amazed a Brownstown teacher.

Kasey Proehl was especially intrigued with one employee who studied writing and literature in college, started as a temporary worker at the company and now works in customer service and is pursuing a master’s degree in business.

“Sometimes, getting into an environment is beneficial for them,” she said. “There’s a lot about what (industries) do that you see from the inside.”

Teacher Robin Perry was impressed by the in-house opportunities at Valeo and Wal-Mart Distribution Center. She learned about some people with a high school education who rose up the ranks.

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“I thought that was very encouraging to students who don’t know yet what they want to do,” she said.

Guidance counselor Derrick Koch had no idea Valeo is one of the county’s largest employers and supplies headlamps to a majority of automotive brand manufacturers.

These three Brownstown Central Community School Corp. employees were among 15 educators from county schools who visited and toured Valeo and Schneck Medical Center on Tuesday as part of the Educator to Industry Summer Externship.

The program, organized by Jackson County Industrial Development Corp., gives teachers, counselors and administrators an opportunity to learn more about some of the county’s industries and the hospital. They also learn about the education and skill requirements.

Five dates, with two stops each, are being offered this summer. Tuesday was the third. The others will be July 9 and 15.

Jackie Hill, workforce director with the development corporation, said about 40 people are involved in the program this year. Each day has a maximum of 15 participants.

Hill said the program was offered several years ago during the summer. It then was switched to the school year, but that didn’t work out well because it took teachers out of their classroom.

Through funding from the Jackson County Education Coalition, it was brought back this summer.

“Companies have always voiced their opinion that getting educators out into the workforce is a great way for them to see firsthand what happens in manufacturing, careers and jobs available and how they can incorporate it into their classroom curriculum, especially if it is STEM-related,” Hill said.

That includes science, technology, engineering and math. But some participants teach other subjects or serve in other capacities at local schools.

Hill said the program is good for educators because many of them go through school themselves from kindergarten through college, land a teaching job and never get to experience or see what happens in manufacturing.

“It gives these educators an up-close look at what is going on in these large buildings,” Hill said.

Melissa Wagner has seen the best of both worlds. She spent a year working in manufacturing before switching gears to teach. She has been teaching French at Seymour High School for 16 years.

“I was a machinist and did detailed measurements, and we dealt with some robotics, quality control,” she said. “It was just a great learning experience. I knew it was a good place to start, but that’s not where I wanted to end.”

Even though she didn’t stay with manufacturing, Wagner said, it has been interesting to see it progress.

“The face of manufacturing has completely changed,” she said. “It’s not what I was familiar with 17 years ago, which is a good thing. It has improved for the better.”

Participants will be required to tell how they plan to incorporate the information and contacts they made into their classroom or position.

Wagner said she wants to tie it into the school district’s goal of college and career readiness.

“This will help explain to some of my students, especially in the foreign language classroom, if they go to a university and they minor or major in foreign language, how that can help them out in the world of careers and further along in college,” she said.

“As much as we can take back to our students in the classroom and let them know, ‘Hey, this is what’s out there, this is in Seymour, this is in Jackson County,’ there are opportunities no matter where you are across the spectrum,” Wagner said.

Debra Baker-Schneider, who is entering her 35th year of teaching Latin at Seymour High School, also is participating in the program. Her goal this summer is to find out from employers what kind of skill sets students need. That includes soft skills, such as learning to be responsible, organized and on time and paying attention to detail.

“It’s nice to be able to tell my students, ‘No, I’m not asking you to get the spelling of the accusative plural right just to make me happy, but I want to see that you can follow through and have that kind of attention to detail that employers expect you to have, regardless of where you work,’” she said.

Baker-Schneider plans to integrate the soft skills she learned about into her classroom.

“It’s good for the students to know that that’s coming from another place and not just from their teacher,” she said. “It makes a difference.”

Koch said he plans to use what he learned to connect students to the school-to-work program, where they spend part of the school day at a job.

“Our goal at Brownstown Central High School is to give more kids more opportunities,” he said. “That’s why we’re trying to reach out.”

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Educator to Industry Summer Externship 2015

June 16: Cummins Inc. Seymour Engine Plant, Aisin U.S.A. Mfg. Inc.

June 24: Wal-Mart Distribution Center, PD Pharmatech LLC

June 30: Valeo Lighting Systems, Schneck Medical Center

July 9: Kremers Urban Pharmaceuticals Inc., O&k American Corp.

July 15: Aisin Chemical Indiana LLC, Pet Supplies Plus

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“Companies have always voiced their opinion that getting educators out into the workforce is a great way for them to see firsthand what happens in manufacturing, careers and jobs available and how they can incorporate it into their classroom curriculum, especially if it is STEM-related.”

Jackie Hill, workforce director with the Jackson County Industrial Development Corp.

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