Ribbon Cut On NHPS Manufacturing Lab

Hillhouse and Wilbur Cross high-schoolers now have the chance to work on lathes, mini-mills, 3D printers, and other high-tech gadgetry as they train during class time on developing the skills needed to land a job in modern manufacturing.

More than 100 teachers, administrators, students, school board members, and politicos gathered at Hillhouse High School Friday for a ceremonial ribbon cutting celebrating a newly built manufacturing lab that will serve as the venue for that New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) career training pathway.

The lab was funded in large part by $2 million in ​“community project” earmarks secured by U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro during her recent run as chair of the House Appropriations Committee. (With Democrats out of power, she’s now the committee’s ranking member.)

Per the lab’s lead teacher, Vincent Squeglia, 70 students from Hillhouse and Wilbur Cross currently take classes in the manufacturing lab. That number will grow next year by another 30 — 15 ninth-graders apiece from Cross and Hillhouse. The maximum capacity for enrollment in the program is 120.

Spirits were high as DeLauro, NHPS Supt. Madeline Negrón, and many others surveyed the machinery and computer programs that NHPS Science Supervisor Robert McCain said are critical tools for students to know how to use if they want to get a job in a 21st century manufacturing economy.

Participating students will earn a minimum of 12 college credits in such areas as blueprint reading, workplace safety, benchwork, metrology, and parametric design.

According to the lab’s syllabus, one class available for juniors in this program introduces students to Computer Numerical Control (CNC) programming for CNC Mills and CNC Lathe. 

Another course for juniors, called ​“Welding Theory,” focuses on the ​“equipment, supplies, and techniques used in Oxyfuel Cutting, Shielded Metal Arc Welding, Gas Metal Arc Welding, and Flux Core Arc Welding.” 

Still another course, for freshmen, is called ​“Foundations of Manufacturing Math.” It focuses on ​“the practical math skills used in the manufacturing industry,” including those involving fractions, decimals, tolerances, percentages, powers and roots, the metric system, ratios, and proportions.

Overall, the district’s manufacturing pathway provides training in computer-aided design, machining, additive manufacturing, welding, plastic manufacturing, laser engraving, and benchtop tools, according to a Friday press release.

“The bottom line is: They will have a career when they leave,” McCain said about students who graduate from this program. 

This has been a five-year process to build out the lab, he said, and it all started with DeLauro’s vision for how to fund and incorporate modern manufacturing training into NHPS.

“We want our kids to leave, get a job, continue in education, but also make wealth,” Negrón said, and not just land in minimum-wage jobs. Plus, she said, this manufacturing pathway program’s attendance levels are uniquely high: ​“They want to be here,” she said about students involved in this program.

De’andre Gaither, Savannah St. Surin, Nassibat Abdou-Mama, Luis Suarez, and Arrianna Jones all attested to exactly that. Current students in the program, they said that the new manufacturing lab and the pathway make school enjoyable to go to.

“You’re able to bring out your creativity” through this type of ​“hands-on” education, Abdou-Mama said.

During her time at the mic to address the crowd assembled before her, Abdou-Mama expressed her gratitude: ​“Being part of this program has been a unique and life-changing” opportunity. It’s shown her that, ​“with the right support and determination, anything is possible.”

According to NHPS spokesperson Justin Harmon, the manufacturing program is one of five career pathways currently up and running in NHPS that offer college courses, industry certifications, and hands-on learning. The others focus on healthcare, business, bioscience, and education.