Future manufacturers and marshmallows: Sherrod Brown visits engineering camp for kids

Twelve-year-old Matthew Ward likes to work with his hands and said he’s interested in going into a career where he gets to build things.

This week, Matthew got to weld metal flowers, construct pens, and engineer a marshmallow gun all while learning about careers in manufacturing.

The weeklong camp was a part of the Wood County Advanced Manufacturing Camp, an initiative spearheaded by the office of U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown’s (D., Ohio) to give students in fourth through eighth grade the chance to learn about career opportunities and hear from local experts.

“I love what this community does in manufacturing, and I know if these kids get more interested in manufacturing, their parents, grandchildren are more likely to live in northwest Ohio,” Mr. Brown said.

In addition to the items he crafted, Matthew, along with 21 other students, toured factories such as a First Solar plant, CIFT food incubator, and Principle Business Enterprises, which manufactures footwear safety products. The camp is in partnership with Owens Community College, which on Friday was filled with 22 students showing Mr. Brown their marshmallow guns before he handed them their certificates for completing the camp.

“We think this is living our mission to help expose folks in a way that they can have educated ideas about what opportunities there are in the work force for them,” said Dione Somerville, president of Owens Community College.

Mr. Brown’s office started organizing this camp, and others across the state, in 2013. This year, there are 50 different camps being held in 29 counties. He said he got the idea after hearing from parents that their kids wanted to be an engineer, and they wanted to provide an opportunity for them to get exposed to the field. After hosting the camps for more than 10 years, he said it has been a success.

“After we started these, we saw that more kids are going to UT in engineering or in some kind of technical work,” Mr. Brown said. “That makes this a victory. … It adds to their education during the summer and during the year.”

Christopher Nungester-Adams, 11, said his favorite part of the camp was learning how to build a marshmallow gun, which was constructed from PVC pipes. He showed Mr. Brown how it worked by putting the marshmallow in one end of the gun and blowing on the other. The marshmallow was sent flying across the room.

“I’ve had a lot of fun this week,” Christopher said. “I would consider coming back next year.”

Shannon Fisher, an employee with Ohio Means Jobs Wood County, said she’s used to working with older kids to help them determine a career path, but the manufacturing camp allows her to work with younger kids.

“I just really like seeing the kids learning and discovering new things that are out there that they can grow into a future career,” she said.

As Matthew prepares for the seventh grade at Eastwood Middle School, he said he was looking forward to learning more about engineering career options.

“If it means I get to keep building marshmallow guns, then, yes, I’m excited,” he said.