SAMP News

by Cesar Gutierrez, 

Precision Manufacturing Teacher Desert View High School

TEACHING AT DESERT VIEW HIGH SCHOOL in this close-knit area of Tucson, Ariz. can be quite a challenge. Our student body is about 90 percent Hispanic, and in many households both parents have to work.

At our school, we have taken on the responsibility of creating a program strong enough to compete with the many distractions for the attention of teenagers. Our success can be reported in numbers; in our NIMS accredited program we have about 320 students attending the drafting and machining program, with engineering students bringing the precision manufacturing department total to more than 400.

Our goal is to develop skills in our students that will be appreciated by manufacturers, resulting in job offers, and by colleges and universities that will enroll our graduates in their manufacturing engineering programs. In this way, our students’ success will help them, their families and their communities. In addition to myself, our program has an engineering teacher and an aide. It takes a lot of outside support to help the three of us succeed in providing quality education within the classroom shop setting.

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At Pima JTED’s Program completion ceremony on May 17, 2019, the speaker, Bill Westcott, Executive Director of Potoff Private Philanthropy announced the $1 million pledge from local philanthropist Ross Potoff.  

Potoff’s life was transformed when he was in his teens and he credits the career and technical education with helping build his confidence and skills. Potoff recently retired from the University of Arizona College where he was a highly accomplished research specialist at the College of Optical Sciences. With this gift Potoff wants to ensure young people have the same opportunities to pursue a successful and rewarding career like the one he enjoyed for 40 years.

The gift could not come at a more perfect time, Pima JTED is building a new 50,000 square foot building to offer programs such as 3D Animation and Game Design, Robotics, Automation, Mechatronics, and Health Care programs including Licensed Nursing Assistant and Registered Medical Assistant.  Pima JTED’s long term plans include adding two additional buildings of the same size to the Innovative Learning Campus.

SAMP celebrated interns who participated in the 2017 cohort and completed the Machine Tool Technology/CNC Operator Certificate at Pima Community College. SAMP interns complete coursework at PCC while working at SAMP member companies. The practical application of the principals learned in class are put into immediate action at the manufacturing companies.

The following students successfully completed the program:

Ricardo Cornidez

Anthony Covarrubias

Jesus Equiha

Sergio Lizzaraga

Gabriel Molina

Dannie Mozingo

Ana Ochoa

Pauline Revilla

Alejandro Solis

Octavio Ruiz

The Sunnyside District was delighted to host Arizona Governor Doug Ducey and State Representative, Daniel Hernandez, Jr. on a tour of Desert View High School's iSTEM Academy on Friday, February 15. Desert View students led the tour which included visits to engineering classrooms, precision manufacturing workspaces, computer aided design classrooms, engineering workshops and precision measurement labs.

Governor Ducey’s Fiscal Year 2020 budget seeks $10 million in support of Career and Technical Education programs to expand Arizona’s competitive workforce and prepare students for the jobs of tomorrow.

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Raymundo Soto, a student in the drafting lab explains his proof of concept and answers questions from Governor Ducey.

The Arizona Technology Council awarded SAMP the 2018 Southern Arizona Manufacturer of the Year.  Donny Theriault accepted the award on behalf of SAMP and the Southern Arizona Tech + Business Expo.

SAMP was recognized for leadership in developing a program that has shown proven results connecting industry-certified education at the high school and college level with real work experience with local manufacturers. This model is the future for developing and mentoring the manufacturing workforce of the future.

  

Listen to Arizona 360's coverage of SAMP's Industry Summit, where educators toured a local manufacturer to understand the career path in manufacturing.

From the show

"There's a shortage of skilled machinists across the country. In Pima County, initiatives led by the Southern Arizona Manufacturing Partners attempt to fill those demands. Local manufacturers have partnered with the county to recruit high school students interested in trade and manufacturing jobs. Instead of reaching out to students directly, they are getting the word out to school counselors and teachers whom students often seek advice from about opportunities after graduation. Lorraine Rivera joined a group of counselors as they toured a company in Tucson that manufactures archery equipment.

Watch the video

TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) - Creating, designing, and building. Inside Cesar Gutierrez's classroom are our future engineers.

"When I first saw these machines, I was terrified because they’re these big machines and I’m like, 'Oh my God. This is scary,'” junior Iridian Mong said.

Gutierrez is opening up a new world for students in the manufacturing program at Desert View High School.

"We can create your shoes. We can create a computer,” Mong said.

"They make that connection between real world and the actual theory behind math,” Gutierrez said.

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On January 11, 2017 SAMP members, students and teachers celebrated Desert View and Tucson Magnet High Schools and Pima Community College (PCC) receiving National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS) accreditation for their Machining Programs.  

NIMS accreditation means that the curriculum students are taught meet national standards. NIMS sets skills standards for the industry, certifies individual skills against the standards and accredits training programs that meet NIMS quality requirements.  

This achievement wouldn't have been possible without the dedication of SAMP members and instructors Ray Wiggins and Chris Williams from Tucson Magnet and Cesar Gutierrez from Desert View High Schools, and Greg Wilson from PCC.

Watch the celebration video to learn more about NIMS accreditation.

The Southern Arizona Manufacturing Partnership, Pima Community College and Pima County One-Stop celebrated the graduation of four SAMP interns on December 14, 2016. 

Austin Bartel, Ernesto Moreno, Jonatan Ayala, and Elizaveta Packard successfully completed the Machine Tool Technology Certificate Program!

The interns successfully completed the internship program with SAMP manufacturers while attending Pima Community College. The program gave the interns a leg up on applying the information they learned in class on the manufacturing floor.

SAMP looks forward to the next graduating class in 2017!

When Hi-Tech Machining & Engineering was asked to manufacture parts for an oil separator assembly for North America’s biggest jet maker, Vice President Jeremy Schalk turned to a surprising partner to help fill the order: Desert View High School.

Schalk knew better than most the capabilities of students and their instructor at Desert View High School, located in the Sunnyside Unified School District. He is a founding member of the Southern Arizona Manufacturing Partners (SAMP), a consortium of area manufacturers who in 2012 came to Arizona@Work (formerly the Pima County One-Stop Career Center) for help in filling the critical shortage of skilled young machinists.

Arizona@Work reached out to area high schools and Pima Community College to revamp their machining curriculum and establish a pipeline of students ready to enter the field. Students pair their classroom training with internships at SAMP companies, many of whom go on to hire the students full time.

That’s what Schalk would like to do.

“I see this as training my future workforce,” Schalk said. His team will inspect the completed parts, and then he’ll write a check to Desert View’s Skills USA club. The funds will be processed by the school’s business office, with students voting on how the money will be apportioned.

The teamwork is typical of “Youth Career Connect,” a partnership of Arizona@Work/Pima County, the Pima County Joint Technical Education District (JTED), the Sunnyside and Tucson Unified School Districts, Pima Community College, and nonprofit partner, Tucson Youth Development that connects youth to STEM-related careers. Arizona@Work/Pima County is the facilitator and administrator of the U.S. Department of Labor-funded project on behalf of Innovation Frontier Arizona, which also includes Santa Cruz, Pinal and Yuma counties.

Each partner in creating a well-trained workforce brings something to the table, said Kathy Prather, Director, Career and Technical Education/JTED at SUSD. “We wouldn’t have known how to build our machining program if it weren’t for SAMP, who told us the right equipment to buy, and for JTED for funding the purchase of those machines,” she said. “This is workforce development being led by Pima County and by SAMP.”

The program at Desert View is the only Arizona high school program on the Manufacturing Institute's "M List," which recognizes best practices in manufacturing education. The National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS) also has accredited Desert View’s program -- a rigorous, three-step process that involves registering the program with NIMS, completing a self-study analysis and passing an on-site audit.

David Morgan chairs the machine tool technology advisory committee at Pima Community College after serving as the director of business development for NIMS, where he worked with community colleges across the country to implement their credentialing. He said the pathway these Pima County partners have created for students should serve as a model for other communities.

“The program between the high schools, JTED, Arizona@Work and industry is providing students with the knowledge, skills, and aspirations to have long-term employment with substantial earnings,” Morgan said. “There are not many communities where you find robust high school programs working in concert with higher education and industry to this degree. That’s the secret sauce here in Pima County.”

Desert View High School and Tucson Magnet High School feed students into the industrial technology program starting in their junior year. YCC also offers pathways to careers in bioscience, health technology and aviation. Desert View’s instructor of precision manufacturing and drafting is Cesar Gutierrez.

The first crop of students came into the program in fall 2014, with support from teachers, counselors and parents. They work toward STEM career pathways and along the way, they receive support, field trips, work experience and mentorships.

Each fall, a new group of juniors will be encouraged by teachers and counselors to join the program. By the end of the four-year project, approximately 900 students will have gone through one of the YCC STEM pathways.

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Pima County’s Community Services, Employment and Training Department administers programs to improve the economic and social sustainability of Pima County. The Department operates ARIZONA@WORK – Innovative Workforce Solutions (formerly Pima County One-Stop Career Center system), which works with industry partners, community organizations, government agencies and faith-based groups to deliver services efficiently and effectively.

Additional Contacts:

Sunnyside Unified School District: Kathy Prather, Director, Career and Technical Education, KathyPr@susd12.org, 520-545-2163 (work), (520) 205-0692 (cell)

Desert View High School: Cesar Gutierrez, Instructor, Precision Manufacturing and Drafting, CesarG@susd12.org, 520-545-5225 (work), 520-221-6230 (cell)

Hi-Tech Machining & Engineering: Jeremy Schalk, Vice President, jeremy@hi-techmachining.net, (520) 889-8325, ext. 12