The Fabricators and Manufacturers Association (FMA) organizes summer manufacturing camps for students aged 12-16. These camps offer a hands-on experience in modern manufacturing, where participants can create, build, and take home their own products. During the camp, students tour manufacturing facilities, learn about entrepreneurship, and interact with industry experts. Highlights of the camp include:
Experience a safe, hands-on learning environment.
Create products with Computer Aided Design (CAD).
Operate machinery under close supervision.
Discover their future career in manufacturing.
Several teams completed unique projects: Team Mouse, Inc. designed a computer mouse resembling a real mouse; Team The Students created a double-decker school bus with refurbished bedrooms for the homeless; Team Bionic Arm developed a bracket to connect a robotic arm to a wearer; Team Cat in the Box 3D printed a cat and a fan system to pressurize a cat-sized shipping box for cargo hold flights; Team FetchIt designed and programmed a robot dog to fetch tennis balls for a team member who plays tennis. TyShon Hill, an incoming Vicksburg High School junior and a third-year camp participant, remarked, "Every year at this camp, I learn something new, and each field trip we take gives me more insight into what careers are available here in Vicksburg."
Chris Bates, the manufacturing camp teacher, also teaches a pre-engineering Project Lead The Way (PLTW) Career Technical Education (CTE) course called Computer Integrated Manufacturing for both WCHS and VHS students at WCHS. The CTE director, Dr. Terrance James, asked him to host this manufacturing camp, which was coordinated and directed by Kayla Kivett. Caitlin O'Brien, the previous teacher, is the Hinds Fabrication Lab instructor, but her lab is currently being relocated to MCity downtown. Besides teaching at the camp, Bates also teaches three other pre-engineering PLTW CTE classes: Intro to Engineering Design, Principles of Engineering, and Engineering Design & Development Capstone. He said, "I tried to give campers a taste of the factory system that my pre-engineering students design as well as the capstone course that solves a real-world problem with a working prototype. I find that giving students the freedom to pick their problem helps them take ownership of it." As a first-year camp instructor, Bates was impressed with the campers' creative problem-solving skills and could envision some of their products being manufactured in the future. With 20 years of experience teaching STEM courses in the VWSD, Bates added, "I hope to inspire the next generation of engineers, so I have to stay up-to-date with technologies as they develop. For example, we even used the artificial intelligence large language model, ChatGPT, to help Team FetchIt write code to control their dog bot." Drew Drake, an incoming junior, said, "This camp has helped me discover my passion for coding and creating something from nothing."
The Vicksburg Hinds campus also offers courses in advanced manufacturing, machining, welding, carpentry, and simulation and animation design for those pursuing careers in design and manufacturing. For more information, visit the VWSD Career and Technical Education website.