Empowering our Future Talent

Ask any child what they want to be when they grow up, and you’re likely to hear a doctor, lawyer, teacher, or even an astronaut! Rarely do children respond that they want to work in manufacturing—but Caroline Nichols, K-12 program manager, and Lauren Howell, K-12 program intern at Textron Aviation intend to change that.

Caroline asks a couple of simple questions when meeting students. “Do you like to build things? Have you ever built anything with Legos?” When children hear that, it leads to a resounding classroom “Yes!”

“Children love to build and often don’t know that they can build things for a living,” says Caroline. “It is so rewarding to see the lightbulb go on when a student’s interests connect to aviation. They love to build with Legos? We have assembler positions for them to build life-size aircraft!

Textron Aviation’s K-12 program works with children starting in Kindergarten to help them discover that there are incredible, successful options after high school in a manufacturing career. Most children have a directional path for their future by age 12, so it’s important to reach youth at a young age to understand all their options.

For Manufacturing Day earlier this month, the K-12 program team connected children with building opportunities by delivering STEM packages to local middle schools in Wichita, Kan. The packages included hands-on building activities like paper roller coaster, foam rocket and popsicle stick catapult for students and educators to create in the classroom or at home.  

Each activity introduced students to important skills like problem solving, critical thinking and design.

In addition to the STEM packages for middle school students, Textron Aviation proudly sponsored a local Manufacturing Day event at WSU Tech for over 120 high school students.

The students participated in hands-on activities in various advanced manufacturing focuses throughout the day, including robotics, supply chain and logistics, welding, aviation sheet metal and aviation paint.

Celebrated every year in October, Manufacturing Day shows students, parents, and the public what modern manufacturing is all about.

According to The Manufacturing Institute, manufacturers will seek to fill more than 4 million jobs with highly skilled workers in the next ten years. Manufacturing Day aims to bring together industry partners to celebrate this work and share it with future generations.

Want to join the fun in celebrating Manufacturing Day? Share these activities in the 2021 Textron Aviation STEM packages with students or friends:

Textron Aviation offers full-time manufacturing career opportunities for any educational path. Explore what opportunity is right for you at txtav.com/careers.