Deshler Public Schools

In our recent reVISION reFRESH work, Deshler Public Schools looked very closely at what we are currently offering and where we wanted to expand in our Career & Technical Educational areas of:  Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources, Business, Marketing, and Management, Computer Science and Technology, Health Sciences, Human Sciences and Family and Consumer Sciences, and Skilled and Technical Sciences.

Last week, we focused on Healthcare and highlighted Addy Hintz and Danessa Buckles' internships at Thayer County Health Services. Skilled & Technical Sciences is this week's career & technical education pathway of the week.

This week, we will highlight senior Holden McDonald, who is working with Doug Wilkinson and Joe Dunlap of Reinke Manufacturing, for training in STS. Holden is interested in electrial engineering at UNL and is one of our high ability learners, who is already challenging himself through his advanced studies, including taking Calculus classes independently this year through Central Community College, as well as College Algebra and College English through Southeast Community College. Holden is also in our STS pathway classes, which include instruction using our new plasma cutter and laser featured later in the article.

Deshler Public Schools already had an elite CTE program for well over a decade with a strong, long standing partnership with Reinke Manufacturing. But this senior needed something more streamlined with his career interest, and Reinke was willing to provide this opportunity as an on-the-job training opportunity for Holden through a paid internship. Holden reports to the designated area of the shop during the school day where he creates parts for Reinkes. A huge thank you to Doug Wilkinson and Joe Dunlap for your coordination with our schedule to make this happen as going on-site wasn't an option with Holden's course load.

Senior Tegan Hickey is another student taking advantage of the more traditional on-the-job training with Reinke Manufacturing, where he leaves daily after lunch to work on-site with Josh Vacek as his supervisor in the electrical and sprinkling department. This is very much a hands-on, paid opportunity for a real work experience for Tegan.

Looking back at our partnership with DPS, Reinke Manufacturing has furnished a welding shop, including robotic welders, as well as providing DPS with a commercial level robotic arm and metal CNC lathe. In addition to equipment, they have also sent staff to teach our welding courses and coach a robotics team for us (which had the opportunity to go to nationals AND we are working to restart a robotics program in Thayer County now!). 

Many of our students have graduated with multiple levels of welding certifications, making them both career- and college-ready. We are fortunate that Reinke Manufacturing sends their techs over to teach both student classes and adult welding classes in our facility, and that we have teachers who have stepped in (outside of their certification areas) to learn the trade as well. 

In our work with Reinke Manufacturing, there was a need to expand our programming.  We are now teaching SolidWorks, as well as hands-on Irrigation and Electrical exploratory classes to our junior high students, and recently introduced a small engines class.  A big thank you to Dave Staroscik, Chuck Hatzenbuehler, Junior Drohman, Jake Beam, A.J. Gausman, and Kevin Miller from Reinke Manufacturing who all come in person to DPS to teach classes to both students from here and surrounding communities.

Just this year, we were able to purchase a CNC plasma table and an Epilogue laser so that our students would be able to expand their knowledge in the area of metal fabrication.  We are hoping that these purchases help to expose our students to entrepreneurism as well as building a school-based enterprise.  Training for the Eiplogue laser will be this Thursday and the training has already occured for our plasma table (shown below) with both DPS and Reinke staff.

The reVISION grant allowed us to purchase $69,729 worth of equipment for this program under the direction of Ms. Amanda McKenzie, who was also the recipient of our Health Sciences' grant featured last week.