Manufacturing summer camps offer real-world learning experiences for kids, and a valuable new talent pipeline for manufacturers.
The ice cream trucks are prowling neighborhoods, sidewalks are sizzling, and peals of children’s laughter ring from unexpected corners — how do they manage to find all the places you don’t want them to go?! School’s out for the summer, and the countdown to “Mom, Dad, I’m borrrrrrred!” is on! All those toys and books you painstakingly stocked up in anticipation of the long weeks ahead have an entertainment expiration date that’s rapidly approaching — or has already hit (I stand in solidarity with you, tired parent). But there’s a solution! Get those kids tinkering and thinking… and out of the house. Get them to manufacturing camp! Here’s how to find one.
As a former teacher, I can confidently say that real-world experiences and connections are the Holy Grail of education. When an educator can demonstrate how skills apply outside of the classroom, students almost immediately invest more time and effort into their learning. It builds motivation, problem-solving, and purpose, all while encouraging kids to think about future careers and how to achieve their goals. It’s hard to get more real-world than manufacturing camp. It’s here that kids learn skills with industry tools, like CAD design and CNC machines, and almost immediately apply them to make something that has value beyond the confines of the classroom. Luckily, there’s a nationwide network of more than 340 manufacturing summer camps that do just this and plenty of local options beyond that.
Designed for students between 12 and 16 years old, the Fabricators and Manufacturers Association’s Spark Force (previously called Nuts, Bolts & Thingamajigs) summer camps offer a hands-on learning environment where kids can experience modern, high-tech manufacturing. More than 5,500 students are expected to attend SparkForce camps this summer. Scroll to the map at the bottom of this page for a listing of SparkForce camps across the country.
Last year, the Pennsylvania College of Technology in Williamsport, Pa., hosted a SparkForce camp that earned glowing reviews from its students:
“I got to experience stuff that I never knew about or knew was even an option for me,” said Khloe Outlaw-Mack, a sophomore at West Catholic Preparatory High School in Philadelphia. “Welding was most interesting to me. I could see myself majoring in welding.”
Young adults with special needs or disabilities can also participate in this awesome learning experience through SparkForce’s Inclusion Manufacturing Camps. It’s here that individuals with disabilities gain hands-on instruction to prepare them for a job with a local manufacturing employer and the soft skills they’ll need in any employment setting. Check out the map at the bottom of this page to find an Inclusion Manufacturing Camp near you.
One manufacturing partner in the Inclusion Manufacturing Camp network told Wisconsin’s WBAY in 2022 that their program in Appleton helped both students and local employers:
“A lot of times young adults with disabilities might not get the same opportunities that their fellow students had,” Tara Havlicek with the Mitsubishi Electric Foundation said, “and we’re seeing the manufacturing industry rise within the United States, and there’s more jobs that need to be filled, and we want to make sure students with disabilities are included in those opportunities.”
If SparkForce doesn’t offer a camp near you, be sure to check with your local community college and manufacturers to see if they host their own program or simply do a quick Google search for manufacturing and STEM camps near you. For example, Ohio has cultivated a robust statewide summer manufacturing camp program, championed by former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio).
If you’re connected to a manufacturer or a school, consider hosting a camp to build community engagement and create new workforce development pathways. With an estimated 3.8 million additional workers needed in the United States by 2033, it’s vital that manufacturers connect with new potential employees. In a SparkForce survey, 81% of camp host organizations reported that they found the experience extremely beneficial.
SparkForce has resources available for organizing and a donation page to contribute to their manufacturing camp grants.