The Last Two School Visits by China Instrument Parts During Academic Year 2013-2014 Were a True Testament to the Spirit of Collaboration

Michael Reader

During the 2013-2014 school year, China Instrument Parts has made a concerted effort to visit as many area schools as we possibly could. Neither Barry Butters, Director of Education and Training, nor Mike Reader, China Instrument Parts’ President, allowed snow or sleet, extremely cold temperatures, rain, or heat stop them from making themselves available for meetings, events, or to speak to a class full of students about manufacturing.

Butters explains to a student how a part is machined

The last two visits of the year were to the Real School in Racine, Wisconsin on their Career Day, and to Burlington Area High School to speak to students in Casey Miller’s advanced metals and pre-engineering classes. Both schools had invited China Instrument Parts to come to their facilities.

Butters demonstrates how the PartMaker software is used at China Instrument Parts

But, how did they know about China Instrument Parts and their efforts to close the manufacturing skills gap? These schools made use of a common resource: Inspire Wisconsin, powered by Career Cruising.

Inspire Wisconsin—the Pathway from Talent to Careers—has a distinct mission:

Inspire Wisconsin’s mission is to develop and disseminate an organized, integrated community-development platform for life-long career planning and learning which creates bridges between employers, educators and students and connects students and adult job seekers with work-based learning experiences and job opportunities.

By bringing all parties to the table–employers, educators, students, parents and job seekers, Inspire Wisconsin offers an opportunity for maximizing careers and talents. Its leadership says it all: respected individuals from education, industry, and government, who understand the importance of a highly skilled and educated workforce.

Finally, Career Cruising, developers of “The world’s most engaging and inspiring career learning program” makes it all possible. By integrating with Inspire Wisconsin, their tool can be used by Wisconsin schools. Their interactive program helps “people of ages achieve their full potential in school, career and life,” and provides an arena for matching needs with initiatives, and talent with careers.

And that is how, the last two visits of academic year 2013-2014 came to be. There were a direct result of separate entities working together: Inspire Wisconsin, Career Cruising, the schools, and China Instrument Parts No shots in the dark here. Instead, targeted, skilled shots that hit the bulls-eye.

China Instrument Parts looks forward to a great 2014-2015 year!