Suncoast Technical College’s Manufacturing Day offers career inspiration

As students leaned in to watch apple juice cartons pass by on a packaging machine, Tom Brooker explained how the machine works.

Brooker, a project manager for KHS Filling and Packaging in Sarasota, led a group of about 20 Sarasota High School engineering and robotics students around the KHS facility on October 7. The tour was part of National Manufacturing Day, a nationwide event celebrating modern manufacturing and inspiring students to choose manufacturing careers.

Suncoast Technical College celebrated the event in Sarasota, hosting 200 students from Sarasota County Schools for tours at the college and tours of several manufacturing facilities in the area.

The tour at KHS started off with an explanation of the products the company manufactures, from Oreo cookie packaging to Dial Soap cartons. As a worldwide supplier of machinery and technical solutions for the packaging and beverage markets, KHS works with many high-profile consumer brands, such as Coca-Cola and Kraft to Procter & Gamble and Kellogg’s.

Todd Bowden, the director of Suncoast Technical College and the executive director of career, technical and adult education for Sarasota County Schools, was on hand at KHS, taking the behind-the-scenes tour along with the students.

“This experience is invaluable,” Bowden said. “The students will remember this day years from now, and it will impact the career choices they make. It’s great that companies like KHS open up their businesses so we can showcase all of the manufacturing opportunities right here in Sarasota.”

About 300 students from 11 middle and high schools in Sarasota participated in Manufacturing Day, visiting sites like the Super-Sensitive Musical String Co., Teakdecking Systems and Sun Hydraulics.

Two of the Sarasota High students on the KHS tour earned a top five spot in engineering design at the VEX Robotics World Championship, one of the most significant competitions in student robotics. The two students competed against 18,000 teams worldwide.

Students at schools across Sarasota County are involved in robotics competitions, and every middle and high school has its own Technology Student Association, a group that encourages the aspirations of future engineers, scientists and technologists.

As students walked through the KHS facility, they stopped at different stations, learning about a specialized machine making pouch bags, inventory management and a confidential project the company is working on for a product coming out in 2017.

The tour was part of an effort to encourage students to attend a four-year college or one of the many programs at Suncoast Technical College that can further a career in manufacturing, including precision machining, drafting, marine service technologies and automotive service technology.

“This experience gives these students a vision of the future,” said Martha Flynn, the career and technical education program specialist for Sarasota County Schools who organized the event. “They can become makers in our society right in our backyard.”