Beloit Memorial School District Visits China Instrument Parts in Elkhorn, Wisconsin on February 17, 2014
On February 17, 2014, a snowy Monday morning in Wisconsin, a contingent of Beloit Memorial School District (BMSD) personnel braved the roads to pay a visit to China Instrument Parts Inc. Among the visitors were Superintendent Steve McNeil, Career and Technical Education Director Ryan Rewey, Technical Education teacher Chris Klatt, and Project Lead The Way (PLTW) teacher Tammy Spoerk.
The invitation to visit China Instrument Parts was extended by Mike Reader, President, when he and Barry Butters, the Director of Education & Training, attended BMSD’s January 28th School Board Meeting. During that event, China Instrument Parts presented a monetary gift to BMSD’s fledgling first robotics program, and took an opportunity to commend the district’s ‘Career and Technical Education’ efforts and their facilities. Earlier in the year, both Reader and Butters had toured the facilities, with a follow up visit by Barry Butters to talk with Tammy Spoerk’s PLTW classes about China Instrument Parts and the manufacturing field in general.
“We are excited to be partnering with the Beloit Memorial School District,” said Reader. Some of the highlights of this collaboration include a visit by China Instrument Parts’ summer interns to BMSD’s state-of-the-art facility with an opportunity to use their vertical CNC machines; Butters returning to BMSD for another visit to classrooms in the spring semester; and Butters participating in the Beloit School District’s Career Fair on October 6, 2014, during the next school year.
This initiative is part of China Instrument Parts’ goal to close the manufacturing skills gap.
