Manufacturing a solution to skilled labor shortage

It didn’t take long for the conversation among legislators and elected officials to shift during a tour of Cedar Grove-Belgium School District’s public charter school last week.

The Rocket Academy in Belgium, which focuses on teaching juniors and seniors skilled trades, is about to enter its third year and is becoming an easier sell to students, businesses and politicians alike.

The concept was born out of a cry from industry professionals who are having an increasingly difficult time finding qualified employees, and the Academy is trying to meet those needs. Students are taught skills that they can put to use before they even graduate.

Core classes such as English are taught through courses called workplace fundamentals, interpersonal skills and career planning and networking, Academy Director David Friend said.

Science and math are more oriented toward a student’s career choice, such as welding, machining and heating, ventilation and air conditioning.

Friend said that drew questions from his wife, who is a high school math teacher.

“When she saw what we’re actually doing, she started borrowing our textbooks to kind of bring more real-life examples into her high school math class,” he said.

Friend taught agricultural education for 25 years before becoming the Academy’s first director. He is trying to step out of the classroom as much as he can and let industry professionals who have become teachers through a streamlined process by the state educate the students.

“They’re getting math and science credits from people who have worked in the industry for quite a few years,” he said.

Terry Martin is one example. He has 35 years of experience in manufacturing, along with bachelor’s and master’s degrees. He starts each day with a “huddle,” a quick morning meeting during which safety and assignments are covered. Instructors check in throughout the day to see how they can support the students.

“Just seeing where people are really helps,” student Nora Oehme said. “You can maybe start a conversation about where they are and if they need help or if you need help.”

Once students get in the shop, it’s measure twice, cut once, Friend said, and they start to help each other.

“You’ll start to see students have some of those conversations,” he said.

All the Academy’s classes last year were dual credit with Lakeshore Technical College. Friend said the Academy is on the verge of an agreement with Lakeland University for students to earn college credits through the Youth Apprenticeship program and is working with the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay on engineering.

Students are working before they graduate, then are ready to start their careers full time. The Class of 2025’s nine graduates  had 71 industry-recognized credentials that the Academy said demonstrates the alignment between classroom instruction and workforce needs.

“When they say they can measure, they can measure. To me, that’s one of the most valuable things they walk out with,” Friend said.

“This is what the state of Wisconsin has needed for so long,” State Rep. Rob Brooks, R-Saukville, said.

Oehme, a former Port Washington High School student, came to the Academy in January and will be a senior this year. She is already working as a welding apprentice.

Pulling in students from other districts creates an issue since most of the state aid money follows the student, creating competition among districts.

Brooks said he wants to figure out how not to repeat the same services in the same area.

“Taxpayers are duplicating all these programs. We keep passing capital referendums to keep all these programs going when we should just be paying for one geographically in these areas for a program like this, and sharing that revenue. How do we do that?” he said.

“That’s the million-dollar question,” Cedar Grove-Belgium Supt. Elizabeth Freeman said.

“That’s the conversation we’re staring to have, how many exact Rocket Academies do we need for advanced manufacturing?”

Freeman said she would like to see other academies address needs in their area, such as hospitality in Door County. Districts could then exchange students back and forth within a certain radius.

Any proposed changes to the state’s school funding formula, Rep. Joe Sheehan, D-Sheboygan, said, should start at the grassroots level.

“I think it has to come from the bottom up, not the top down, because if it comes from the Legislature, it’s not going to be pretty,” he said.

Brooks suggested even a pilot program to alter the funding formula.

“The funding formula is so complex with rolling averages,” he said.

“Always remember,” U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wisconsin, said, “if you change it, it could get worse.”

Funding has started to become a challenge for the Academy. While some of the equipment is donated or bought with grants, it needs state-of-the-art machinery to train students in today’s modern manufacturing facilities.

Demand is not an issue. The Academy expects to have 40 to 50 students this year coming from multiple districts. Sixty percent of the school, Friend said, comes through the state’s open enrollment program in which students may attend districts they don’t live in.

For more information, visit https://www.rocketacademywi.org.