Muskogee Students Spend Day Learning About Jobs In Manufacturing

Muskogee 8th and 9th graders got to learn about jobs in manufacturing Tuesday.

They did that by taking on building challenges, but instead of using brick and mortar, they used candy and toothpicks.

Each group worked together to use manufacturing as a way to solve a challenge.

Mazzy Waters is in the 9th grade and her group built a bridge that could make her commute to school a little faster.

"Because like with the bridge, it is hard, because we have to take like an extra 30, 45 minutes to get to school, so we leave Tahlequah at 6:30 every morning,” said Waters. “So getting a bridge that would actually help us get there quicker is a lot more important."

Organizers say there are 5,000-7,000 manufacturing jobs in Muskogee alone.

They hope students walk away from the activity knowing a little more about all that’s offered in the field.

"We need these youth to be able to bring innovative, creative ideas that can inspire and change the way we do manufacturing,” said Tyjuan Walker, with Advantage Controls “So today we're here just discussing manufacturing with them, introducing manufacturing to them, and just showing them how important it is."

Walker says it’s important to get students thinking about jobs while they are still in school.

"At some point, those jobs will become vacant,” said Walker. “And what's important is that if we don't find someone to fill those jobs, whether that's youth or in between, we could find ourselves in a hardship when it comes to manufacturing. So that's why we bring manufacturing to this level of education."

Waters says manufacturing is something that she’s been looking into, because it can do something good for others.

"You're going to be figuring out something to help other people, to help their daily lives, and something that can help their lives be easier for whenever their going to work or having to get up early to go to school," said Waters.

Organizers say manufacturing is just one of the careers they are trying to introduce kids to.

In the next few months, the Port of Muskogee will host a Health Care day too.