On Feb. 20, KCI Technologies, in partnership with Junior Achievement of Central Maryland (JA,) hosted a JA Job Shadow at its Sparks, Md. national headquarters on National Shadow an Engineer Day for 25 Pre-Engineering Academy and Business/Finance Academy students from Oakland Mills High School in Columbia, Md.
KCI is an engineering, consulting and construction firm serving clients throughout the United States and beyond.
The job shadow’s main objective was to make students aware of the variety of exciting opportunities for engineering and science careers available to them.
To prepare, the Oakland Mills students spent weeks studying KCI and their innovations. The business students developed business plans and incorporated the KCI business model into their research. The engineering students used the design process to create products that solve real world problems.
During the job shadow, the students toured KCI’s LEED Certified Gold building, dialogued with some of the company’s young professionals and witnessed some of the company’s projects, several of which they had studied.
“It is important for our students to see the connection between what’s taught in school and what’s happening in real life,” said Skip Yarn, STEM coordinator at Oakland Mills High School and a teacher of Project Lead the Way for youth who wish to pursue careers in engineering.
“Through this program, they realized that more goes into a building than bricks and mortar.”
“They learned how to make buildings more ‘green,’ as well as the importance of good design, saving money and having an impact through the work you do,” Yarn added.
The kids involved said that ‘KCI is such an awesome company,’ and provided them amazing and informative insights into how engineering helps the environment.
JA Job Shadow takes students into a real-world workplace like KCI to learn about careers. The program provides an authentic experience for the students, enhanced with classroom preparatory and follow-up activities.
In recent years, Junior Achievement has partnered with the following companies in Maryland to host JA Job Shadows: Bechtel Power Corporation, Toyota, Financial, AT&T, Glass Jacobson and Stanley Black & Decker.
For more information, visit the Junior Achievement of Central Maryland website.
Click here for additional information on KCI .
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