It’s a well-known fact that copper wire shares in the responsibility for connecting the world we live in today. Cell phones. Automobiles. Aviation. Appliances. Every place you look in the civilized world, there is copper wire to be found in your view.
For those of us in Camden, NY, that understanding carries a different meaning. It’s different because at any given time, we could be holding a hometown connection in the palm of our hand anywhere in the world. And we might not even know it.
The International Wire Group is a global company that produces 450 million pounds of copper products each year. They have 1,100 employees located at 19 facilities across the region and globe. And their heartbeat is in our hometown.
Because of International Wire’s headquarters, copper is part of our economy, our villages, our towns, our workforce and our way of life. And as it connects the world, it connects our community. So why not make that connection stronger?
The Camden Central School District, International Wire Group, Mohawk Valley Community College, and Madison-Oneida BOCES have teamed up to do exactly that with a brand new school-to-work program. The program was introduced to Design for Drawing and Production classes through a presentation with International Wire representatives on Tuesday, December 19th. That presentation included CHS graduate Chris Lyon, who works with the company.
The program will connect students with an opportunity to explore careers in engineering and manufacturing through real-world experiences at International Wire Group, and progress toward earning their high school diploma through dual-credit opportunities that include up to 23 transferable college credits from Mohawk Valley Community College. Madison-Oneida BOCES has been providing administrative support for the program that lines up with its organizational value of helping students to become career-ready.
In its fully-envisioned form, this program will start with a student’s freshman year and extend throughout their time at Camden High School. Students will have college-level coursework crescendo into a capstone course during their senior year. That course will feature field experiences at International Wire, where students will have the opportunity to solve real-world problems from the factory floor.
Juniors Jake Lago and Alana Collins will be piloting the program’s capstone course as its inaugural participants with the intent of setting the groundwork for a larger roll-out.
When a student completes this path, they will have a wide array of enriching experiences that can inform their choice of career. If a student does not want to choose college for their future, the program will create value by giving them immediate employable skills and valuable networking opportunities. It will also create an awareness of the careers available in manufacturing and the trades, including at International Wire Group.
To technology teacher Jake Bates, creating that awareness of the opportunities out there was a primary goal in getting the program started.
“A lot of students just need to know what is available to them out there in the world,” Bates said. “This opportunity will steer them in a direction where they get college experience and get a chance to network with engineers, and that will be so beneficial to them.”
Giving students a pathway to success is the primary goal, but each partner in the program also sees a big picture opportunity for workforce development. For International Wire CEO Greg Smith, knowledge of past and present workforce trends makes this a great time to start investing in the people that can drive the company’s future.
The industry saw some sagging interest in the 1980s and 1990s as jobs were outsourced to overseas markets, and finding new interested candidates will be integral to sustainability.
“We constantly need talented people and this is a great way to get a head start,” Smith said. “It’s a competitive environment to find people, so anything we can do to expose young people to what we do and inspire them to want to be part of it is very advantageous… We need to make the investments in the future people that will help us run these businesses. That’s what brings us together with the District, and with MVCC. We want to foster the inspiration for manufacturing being a career.”
For Camden High School principal Christopher Centner, the new offering will also make a lasting impact on the community. It will give interested students the chance to potentially stay here long-term and continue to build up the community they grew up in.
“Students are going to get a great opportunity to see how what they do in the classroom can be used in careers later in life,” Centner said. “This will make that connection between school and work, and we can do it all right here in Camden. We’ve got great families and an incredible community, so why not equip them with the training to stay in that community?”
As time goes by, take a minute to consider the products you see on a daily basis. There could come a time where the handiwork of today’s CHS students will be in your homes tomorrow.
Interested students should speak to their technology teacher or school counselor.
What They’re Saying:
“We’ve become a transient world. A lot of young people go off to college, and not all of them come back to their home community to live. Here is an opportunity where we can collaborate with the local community and develop bonds and relationships between industry and academia where folks can feel like they can stay in their hometown, build a nice career, and have a prosperous existence.” - International Wire CEO Greg Smith
“I think it’s going to be really helpful for our students to get this kind of experience outside of the classroom. And on top of that, they’re going to be able to walk away with all these transferable college credits. That will be helpful no matter what they go into. And while we’re meeting with engineers and going through this program, this isn’t just for engineers. It’s open to any student who wants to learn about this kind of thing and perhaps go into the trades.” - CHS Technology Teacher Michael Petrie