Wednesday, January 10, 2024
www.thepapersonline.com
Serving Kosciusko County and parts of Elkhart, Marshall & Noble Counties Know Your Neighbor . . . . . 2➤ Good Neighbors . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Nappanee Area News . . . . . 6-7
Vol. 53, No. 29
Milford (574) 658-4111 • Warsaw (574) 269-2932 • Syracuse (574) 457-3666
114 W. Market, Warsaw, Indiana 46580
Pathways CTE Cooperative
announces POLYWOOD Academy ADVANCED MANUFACTURING — POLYWOOD employee, Jeremiah, demonstrates a machine, which POLYWOOD Academy students will learn about and be trained on. Pictured from left is Jon Everingham, Jeremiah, and Ryan Zimmerman. Text and Photos By MARISSA SWEATLAND Staff Writer
place . Working with an organization fully committed to supporting the students is always exciting,” Deck stated . “We are delighted to join forces with POLYWOOD and Wawasee Community Schools Pathways CTE Cooperative to crehas announced its latest addition ate a transformative, educational to its Pathways CTE Cooperative experience that prepares students menu of hands-on, career-focused for the challenges and opportuniexperiences with POLYWOOD ties of the modern workplace .” Academy . Purdue University IN-MaC Pathways CTE Cooperative provides programs and services to currently offers 15 career and techenhance the talents and capabilinical education programs, ranging ties of Indiana’s current and future from architecture to law to advanced workforce by bridging connections manufacturing . between educators and industry Pathways is a cooperative beleaders . tween Whitley County ConsolidatPOLYWOOD Academy is set ed Schools, Wawasee Community POLYWOOD ACADEMY — Jon Everingham, left, and Ryan Zimto open for the 2024-2025 academic Schools and Fairfield Community merman, right, are two of the brains behind POLYWOOD Academy. school year . During the program’s Schools . POLYWOOD Academy is a collaboration between Pathways CTE Coinaugural year, the program will POLYWOOD Academy is the operative, POLYWOOD, Orthoworx and Purdue University IN-MaC. accept eight to 10 students . As the brainchild of Jon Everingham, CTE program grows, so will the class director; Ryan Zimmerman, vice size . president of human resources at Students will apply for the program and go POLYWOOD; Erin Serafino, talent coordinator at technology and industrial-electrical fundamentals . OrthoWorx; and Lisa Deck, program manager of In year two of the program, students will ap- through an interview process . The teacher for the Purdue University Indiana Manufacturing Com- ply their knowledge of the curriculum by partici- program will be employed through Wawasee Competitiveness Center . pating in an industrial electrical capstone, which is munity School Corporation, due to licensing and CTE funding . Polywood is supplementing the sal“The POLYWOOD Academy’s Industrial a paid internship through POLYWOOD . Maintenance is a collaboration with Pathways “POLYWOOD is excited to develop this part- ary costs . “The new POLYWOOD Academy is an opporCTE Cooperative, POLYWOOD, Orthoworx and nership with Pathways CTE to create POLYWOOD Purdue University’s IN-MaC program,” Evering- Academy powered by Pathways . Not only will this tunity to shape a new generation of manufacturham explained . “This innovative program merges provide exposure to students on developments and ing employees and ensures that students are well POLYWOOD industry expertise with Pathways’ advancements around advanced manufacturing, it equipped for the challenges of the manufacturing forward-thinking educational approach, offering will also provide them with a solid foundation of employees and ensure that students are wellstudents a relevant manufacturing curriculum and both technical and real world experience,” Zimmer- equipped for the challenges of the manufacturing hands-on experiences in industrial maintenance, man explained . “This experience will set them up landscape in Kosciusko County,” Everingham exrobotics and engineering .” for success for either directly enter the workforce plained . “The POLYWOOD Academy provides a diStudents enrolled in POLYWOOD Academy in an advanced manufacturing role and/or con- rect bridge from education to fulfilling, in-demand will participate in a two-year program . In year one, tinue their technical career education beyond high careers in the Wawasee-Syracuse community .” For more information about POLYWOOD students will focus on curriculum designed to build school .” practical skills and the application of theoretical “This partnership underscores a shared com- Academy or any other Pathways CTE Cooperative understanding . mitment to empowering students by equipping program, visit pathwayscte .com or contact EverThe curriculum includes the principles of ad- them with essential academic, technical and pro- ingham via email at jeveringham@wawasee .k12 . vanced manufacturing, advanced manufacturing fessional skills for a successful future in the work- in .us .