Last week, AWFS® staff and SWM (Society of Wood Manufacturing) volunteers spent time outside of the office connecting directly with school counselors, educators, and students at three different events.
SWM volunteer Mike Trejo talks with counselors at CASC.
SWM exhibited at the California Association of School Counselors (CASC) conference on October 6 in Riverside, California, introducing hundreds of school counselors about careers in the wood industry. The conference was sold out with over 1,300 attendees registered. The attendees were elementary, middle school, and high school counselors and counselor educators from universities.
At the event, SWM unveiled their newly completed mobile CNC cart. This cart was built by SWM volunteers (seen in this picture on the left). It holds a Shark SD 100 CNC machine, donated by NextWave Automation. There is storage underneath for accessories and a drawer for a 30″ monitor. The monitor was used to display images and videos about careers in the wood industry.
Counselors expressed appreciation for the resources that SWM shared, some commented they “had no idea the wood industry was so large or had attractive careers” and shared that they can share this information with their students. The messaging focus was on the YouWood.com industry-wide career awareness campaign and student-focused website.
Students at the MFG Day event at Reborn Cabinets.
AWFS® staff and SWM volunteers participated in two events for MFG Day on Friday, October 7 that served nearly 500 students and their teachers in Southern California. The students came from several different schools throughout Orange County, Los Angeles County, and San Diego County. Due to COVID, many had never been to a MFG Day event or seen a manufacturing facility. One teacher shared that his students were still talking about the event days later and some parents had sent him thank you e-mails. One of the events was held at Reborn Cabinets. Reborn has been a long-time education supporter and MFG Day host. Over 400 students visited their production facility and showroom in Anaheim. The students were treated to a tasty hamburger lunch by Reborn, and were able to visit with local vendors/employers including SWM, HopeBuilders, Dale Carnegie, and Royal Plywood.
Another event took place at DBS (Drawer Box Specialties) in Orange, California. Students toured the facility and received a hearty lunch of pasta and sandwiches courtesy of DBS. AWFS, SWM were among the exhibitors and also served as volunteers supporting the event. Approximately 250 students attended. DBS also provided a fun drawer box assembly project for the students; each student was able to take home a pencil-cup sized drawer box. There was also a station where the logo of the students’ school could be laser engraved on their take home box.
AWFS recognizes and thanks DBS and Reborn Cabinets for their hard work in hosting these events and their dedication to industry education and career awareness.
If you would like to learn more about connecting with education and hosting MFG Day events, contact Adria Salvatore (adria@awfs.org).