STEM

The program earns scouts a Business Jumpstart or Business Creator badge while educating girls about careers in STEM

Oatey Co., a leading manufacturer in the plumbing industry since 1916, recently hosted a career education workshop for Connecticut Girl Scouts at its Farmington, Conn., location, welcoming nearly 30 Girl Scouts to learn about careers in manufacturing and STEM.

The program was organized by Oatey’s Women’s Resource Network, an associate resource group dedicated to the professional, personal and leadership development of women. Oatey developed the event as part of the Girl Scouts’ BADGE BOSS program, which connects local professionals with Girl Scouts to share their expertise, advice and passion, while enabling the scouts to earn a relevant Girl Scout badge. After piloting a similar event at the Oatey University facility in Cleveland last year, members of the Women’s Resource Network in Farmington took the lead on a program in their own community.

Attendees at Oatey’s workshop, which took place on November 9, gained hands-on exposure to careers across manufacturing, while also exploring their own interests and passions. Key components of the two-hour workshop included:

• A panel discussion in which Oatey associates explained their roles in the development and delivery of Oatey products
• An overview of plastic tubular manufacturing and commercialization
• A hands-on plastic tubular engineering challenge, in which Girl Scouts applied problem-solving skills to determine the most efficient way to move an object

All Girl Scouts who completed the workshop qualified for either a Junior Business Jumpstart Badge or a Cadette Business Creator Badge.

“Oatey’s Women’s Resource Network is pleased that we could expand our partnership with the Girl Scouts through our second STEM Career Education Workshop,” said Dawn Lawson, co-chair of the event and associate at Oatey’s Farmington location.

Kelly O’Donovan, also co-chair of the event and an Oatey associate in Farmington, added, “It is critical to educate girls and women about the robust STEM career opportunities available to them, including the development of products we use every day. It was a joy to welcome the Girl Scouts to our facility and share our passion for what we do.”

ABOUT OATEY CO.

Since 1916, Oatey has provided reliable, high-quality products for the residential and commercial plumbing industries, with a commitment to delivering quality, building trust and improving lives. Today, Oatey operates a comprehensive manufacturing and distribution network to supply thousands of products for professional builders, contractors, engineers and do-it-yourself consumers around the world.

Oatey is based in Cleveland, Ohio, and has locations in the United States, Canada, Mexico and China. For more information, visit www.oatey.com, call (800) 321-9532 or follow Oatey on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.

RIDGID, part of Emerson’s professional tools portfolio, has a long history of supporting local education

As part of its ongoing commitment to support education, RIDGID®, a part of Emerson’s professional tools portfolio, and its employees donated a variety of school supplies to the Elyria City School District as part of a back-to-school supply drive sponsored by Mosaic, an Emerson employee resource group focused on serving the community, celebrating cultural diversity, and supporting future leaders through educational initiatives. The supplies, including writing utensils, glue sticks, scissors and backpacks, will be used in elementary school classrooms across the district so all students have the resources needed to learn and succeed.

“RIDGID is proud to be able to support Elyria students by providing additional school supplies to classrooms through our Mosaic school supply drive,” said Manirajan Manivannan, sr. project manager, Professional Tools and Founder/Global Chair, Mosaic for Emerson. “One of our goals through Mosaic is to take part in activities that bring us together as a community and embrace how our diverse cultures make anything possible.”

As part of the donation, Emerson’s Mosaic team created special age-appropriate activity sheets for young students that encouraged them to welcome inclusive cultures within their classrooms. “We want to provide the next generation of leaders with information regarding the benefits of cultural diversity and empathy,” said Manivannan.

As part of RIDGID’s ongoing commitment to education and fostering the skills of the next generation, employees regularly volunteer in the school district and demonstrate the role science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) plays in manufacturing through student tours at its state-of-the-art manufacturing center.

Over the years, RIDGID has also sponsored many other key projects with the school district, including a technology lab, new computer equipment for students, and the district’s Maker Space – a learning area dedicated to fostering STEM education.

“We’re thrilled to have RIDGID’s support on such an important initiative. These extra supplies will go a long way in helping teachers and students focus on learning and eliminate concern over whether they will have the resources needed to make it through the school year,” said Amy Higgins, communications director, Elyria Schools.

To learn more about RIDGID, visit RIDGID.com.

Wilo, a provider of pumps and pump solutions for water management, building services and groundwater, was proud to sponsor Thomas University’s ‘Camp STEMtastic’ this summer through the Wilo-Foundation. The camp is the University’s science and technology-focused summer program for young students, and the foundation has been an active sponsor since 2015.

The students pose alongside camp leaders and Wilo USA’s Director of Operations, Darren McGuire, after an afternoon at Wilo’s production facility in Thomasville, GA.

Wilo USA was pleased to welcome this year’s group of rising 8th grade student campers to its production facility in Thomasville, GA as part of the STEMtastic program. The theme for this year’s camp was ‘The Human Machine,’ and campers’ activities and learning experiences throughout the week focused on simple and complex machines related to how the systems in the human body function together to complete specific tasks.

The students toured the Wilo USA facility on the fourth day of the camp and learned about the complex machines and systems used in production, as well as how Wilo pumps work to treat water supply and sewage within cities’ infrastructure. The campers also participated in a hands-on activity led by Wilo USA’s Director of Operations, Darren McGuire, in which they worked in teams to assemble two versions of a simple circulation system. They then used a Wilo circulator to pump dyed water through the piping structures they created, demonstrating how the human circulation system functions.

Students prepare to test their team project using a Wilo circulator to pump dyed water through a simple piping system.

On the last day of the camp, campers’ friends and family members attended a reception in which the students gave a presentation highlighting the events of the week. The group enjoyed a demonstration of the students’ project for the week, which was to build a simple machine to complete a specific task. Wilo was proud to take an active role in the program again this year and looks forward to continuing community involvement. You can learn more about the Wilo-Foundation and their ongoing support of science, education, culture and sport at www.wilo-foundation.de/en.html.