New Manufacturing Center Helps South Campus Students

Project Lead the Way is the structure for the engineering curriculum at Arrowhead. It’s a engineering program that lets student complete hands on tasks that help with one of the highest growing job markets in America. according to Forbes.

Last year, North Campus had a section of the school dedicated to PLTW which included the woods center, metals room, a 10 car garage for autos, and a new engineering classroom with a computer lab. But at South campus, there was one classroom and a small woods classroom.

That changed over the summer.

Arrowhead partnered with  Menomonee Falls-based Ace Precision Machining Corp., Menomonee Falls-based Bradley Corp., Hartland-based Dorner Manufacturing Corp., Waukesha-based Midwest Engineering Systems Inc., and Hartland-based Price Engineering Co. Inc. to build a new manufacturing center at South Campus.

The manufacturing lab has welding stations, drill presses, bandsaws and other equipment.

But Arrowhead Technology & Engineering Department Chairman Tom Whelan said that South Campus is hoping to be able to add what he called “wow” machines.

“We have these big huge windows where to have a kid come down this hallway and just look and go, ‘Wow, what is that?’” Whelan said. “If we can get kids excited about it, we’re going to bring them in our doors.”

With the new equipment at South Campus, new classes were created. New classes at South Campus include Instruction to Engineering and Manufacturing, and Manufacturing and Engineering with Materials.

The instruction class will begin teaching kids hands on projects with manufacturing, while the regular class will use materials through the application of a variety of processes that use the materials of metals, plastics, woods and composites. Principles of Engineering, an existing course, will also be taught in the center.

Two hundred and sixty kids are currently taking manufacturing class at Arrowhead, according to a press release by Bradley Corp. titled “Arrowhead’s New Design Engineering Manufacturing Center Bridges Skilled Trades Gap at High School Level.”

With all the changes at South, there is empty space in some of the classrooms built. More is still coming, according to Superintendent Larah Myrah.

“It isn’t complete. We have some empty space,” Myrah said. “We have empty spaces in the manufacturing lab because we’re continuing to build and grow.”

Arrowhead is currently getting new equipment to help students have a better experience at South Campus. The area is now built, but won’t be complete for another couple years, Myrah says.

“We’re obtaining new equipment on almost a daily basis,” says Myrah, “And we hope to continue to do so for the next year or two.”