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Sen. Sherrod Brown’s office organizes summer camps for kids considering manufacturing careers

WASHINGTON, D. C. – In addition to touting the “dignity of work” on the campaign trail, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown spends some of his summers touting the dignity of manufacturing work to kids enrolled in summer camps throughout Ohio.

Brown’s office started organizing the summer camps in 2013 as a way to make students aware of available manufacturing opportunities. In 2019, it organized 27 camps all over the state. After paring that down to three virtual camps last year during the coronavirus pandemic, Brown said nine counties including Northeast Ohio’s Portage, Summit, Lake and Geauga counties, are hosting manufacturing camps this summer in conjunction with his office. He said he hopes the program will return to more counties next year.

“When kids hear the word manufacturing, maybe too often, they think about dirty, dusty, old jobs,” Brown continued. “Today, Ohio’s factories aren’t rusty, they’re innovative, they’re high tech.”

Campers learn about careers available in their communities and how products are made. In past summers, Brown said students participated in hands-on robotics activities, attended an aerospace engineering institute, and built model homes out of recycled materials. The camps can cost about $50 to $100 per child, but Brown said scholarships are provided, when needed, by manufacturers and local communities.

“We work to make sure that no boy or girl or parents are denied this opportunity if we can at all help it,” said Brown.

Kids who attend camps in Richland and Knox counties that are operated by Tyler Shinaberry of EPIK Ltd., aren’t charged because their attendance is funded by grants and manufacturers, Shinaberry told reporters on Wednesday.

“I’ve seen firsthand what a difference these camps can make in the lives of the children who participate,” said Shinaberry. “They give children in Ohio a chance to learn more about opportunities in manufacturing, to learn new skills and in many cases to gain confidence they may not have had before.”

Brown’s office provided the below schedule of this year’s camps . It said each has its own enrollment process and should be contacted directly.

JUNE 7-11: Makers of Tomorrow Experience Summit County: Email to RSVP: jstupica@conxusneo.jobs

JUNE 7-11: Makers of Tomorrow Experience Portage County: Incoming Students in Grades 8-10; Email to RSVP: jstupica@conxusneo.jobs

JUNE 7-25: Lake & Geauga Summer Manufacturing Institute by the AWT Foundation Lake/Geauga County: Incoming Grades 5 & 6; Email to RSVP: juliana@thinkmfg.com

JUNE 14-16: 2021 Summer Manufacturing Camp Defiance County: Grades 6-8; Email to RSVP: erika@defiancecountyed.com

JUNE 28-JULY 2: Microelectronics Mahoning County: Grade: 5-8; Email to RSVP: directorofed@ohwowkids.org

JULY 27-JULY 28: MADE – Materials Assembled and Developed in Jackson’s Economy Jackson County: Grade: 6-8; Email to RSVP: tammy.osborne-smith@jfs.ohio.gov

JULY 25-JULY 30: 4th Annual Summer Manufacturing Institute Knox County: Email to RSVP: tyler@epikltd.com

JULY 19-JULY 23: 4th Annual Summer Manufacturing Institute Richland County: Email to RSVP: nyasha@necic-ohio.org

Read original release here.

Eaton, Sabrina. (2021, June 16) Sen. Sherrod Brown’s office organizes summer camps for kids considering manufacturing careers. Cleveland.com.  Retrieved from https://www.cleveland.com/open/2021/06/sen-sherrod-browns-office-organizes-summer-camps-for-kids-considering-manufacturing-careers.html