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Elgin Company Hosts U-46 Bartlett High School STEM Academy Students
April 2, 2019
Ninety Bartlett High School STEM Academy students will get a first-hand view of a local precision manufacturing company on April 3 as part of School District U-46’s efforts to increase college and career readiness.
The students will tour the Elgin facility of HARTING to observe how engineering applications are integrated as an essential role in precision manufacturing. Founded in 1945, HARTING manufactures products for the connector industry for use in mechanical and plant engineering, broadcast and entertainment, factory automation, power generation and distribution. In October 2018, HARTING announced a $6 million facility expansion of the German-owned company’s North America location in Elgin.
The tour is arranged in partnership with The Alignment Collaborative for Education which brings together community partners to support the District’s priorities, including the expansion of high school academies with educational pathways that will give students more real-world work experience.
“Work-based learning allows students to apply what they are learning in high school to post-secondary choices and employment opportunities,” said Nancy Coleman, Alignment’s Executive Director “Without that experience, it would be difficult for students to graduate both college and career ready.”
Students will tour laboratory operations and product showrooms and view HARTING’s on-site warehouse and distribution center. The visit will expose students to products that support mechanical and industrial engineering and automation, broadcast entertainment, industrial electronics and telecommunications.
As U-46 expands its academy program by 2021, each of its five high schools will house a STEM Academy to better prepare students for jobs within the thriving science and engineering industry. Each academy will offer a variety of educational pathways that will give students work-based learning opportunities during high schools. Already, those experiences are being offered on a limited basis through a variety of experiences, including a summer internship program with the Village of Bartlett and, over the past five years, through a spring break career exploration program in partnership with the Village of Streamwood and Mayor Billie Roth.
In 2018, Elgin’s Mayor David Kaptain described the HARTING expansion as a “long term investment and growth in our community.” HARTING has now taken that investment a step further by focusing on the areas’ future workforce as early as high school. As a partner with the Alignment, HARTING welcomes the opportunity to make this investment.
“Part of our global vision is to “shape the future with technologies for people,” said Danny Malouf, Human Resources Manager at HARTING, Inc. of North America. “Whether at HARTING or elsewhere throughout the community, these young minds are the future leaders and innovators who will help our business and the surrounding community create value and accomplish our long-term goals and initiatives.”