Trine University’s Trine Center for Technical Training (TCTT) and the Garrett-Keyser-Butler Community School District have entered into an agreement that will allow Garrett High School students to earn advanced industry training through the TCTT.
“Garrett is always striving to be innovative, so it makes sense to partner together with an innovative institution like Trine University,” said Corey Schoon, director of Garrett-Keyser-Butler’s Career Development Program and a Northeast Indiana Works board member. “It’s a great opportunity to prepare our students for the next generation of manufacturing and industry.”
Jason Blume, executive director of Trine innovation 1, which includes the TCTT, said the university and Garrett-Keyser-Butler began exploring opportunities to work together after being connected through Northeast Indiana Works.
“This is a northeast Indiana high school partnering with a northeast Indiana university to meet the needs of northeast Indiana industry,” Blume said. “We are collaborating to create a mutual resource that helps this area and region retain talent.”
Supported by a 3E Grant from the Indiana Department of Education and a grant from the Don Wood Foundation, the new partnership will allow Garrett High School students who take the school’s Introduction to Manufacturing course to earn Smart Automation Certification Alliance (SACA) C-101 certification.
According to SACA, the certification prepares individuals to succeed in modern production environments that use Industry 4.0 controls, automation and processes.
Jacob Bradshaw, program lead for the TCTT, will train Garrett High School teachers so they can earn certification. Bradshaw and other TCTT staff will administer exams for SACA Silver and Gold certification at the high school.
Garrett High School has 61 ninth-grade students enrolled in the Introduction to Manufacturing course. The students will have the opportunity to earn additional certificates throughout their high school years, providing them with industry credentials and skills they can apply to an apprenticeship or their future career.
Garrett students have the option to complete an apprenticeship during their junior or senior year.
The students also will be able to apply the credentials toward other industry certification programs or toward academic programs at Trine University.
“This program offers a bridge to many other opportunities,” said Blume.
In addition, 17 Garrett High School seniors enrolled in the school’s Advanced Manufacturing course will, as their capstone experience, fabricate projects designed by Trine University senior design teams.