Community Partnerships

On November 16, 2023 Flender Corporation hosted “Introduce a Girl to Engineering” night, exposing girls from Bartlett and Streamwood’s STEM programs to an array of career opportunities in engineering. Students were ‘hands on” with Flender’s engineering team, learning how to assemble gear boxes as well as experimenting with wind turbine blade modeling. The girls had the opportunity to incorporate their knowledge of physics, aerodynamics, blueprint reading, materials engineering, etc. Students also had an opportunity to tour the entire Flender operations seeing how gearboxes over 6 ft tall are assembled and overhauled for the wind turbine industry.

Nancy Coleman commended Flender for continuing to offer this program to introduce more high school girls to various engineering disciplines. “This program of Introduce a Girl to Engineering has been a showcase event for Flender for over a decade with girls meeting and working one on one with other female engineers to understand what educational and career pathways they chose to prepare for the profession.”

Thank you to the entire Flender team and especially its HR Team for planning and executing this event. We look forward to continuing the event and expanding it to other high schools.

U-46 automotive teachers from Bartlett, Elgin, South Elgin, and Streamwood spent the day with Altorfer’s trainers to learn more about the large equipment maintenance industry. The Altorfer team highlighted troubleshooting and research processes commonly used in the industry. This training held at Elgin High School was provided “hands on” because of the generous donation of engines to U-46’s automotive programs. The day also gave opportunities for networking and team building across the high schools.

Clint Peterson, automotive teacher and event host from Elgin High School, described the training as a “valuable opportunity to learn together and a great experience for collaborating with peers and business partners.”  The Alignment Collaborative for Education thanks Altorfer and the AED Foundation for introducing teachers and students to career exploration and employment opportunities in the large equipment maintenance industry.

Seniors Prepare for Employment at Job Fair 

Nearly 400 high school students from School District U-46 and Central School District 301 attended the Senior CTE (career and technical education) Job Fair on Thursday, April 20, 2023 at Elgin Community College. Representatives from about 60 businesses, corporations, non-profits, municipalities, trade unions, colleges, and universities were present to meet with students. “An event like this shows students, as they’re preparing their postsecondary plans, that there are good options to work directly after high school, which also prepare them to be more competitive as they seek their long-term career goals” said Alignment Executive Director Nancy Coleman. 

From all indications, this year’s job fair was an immediate success. “At least three job offers were made on the spot at the event,” said Terry Stroh, Executive Director, Northern Kane County Region 110 “including service technician positions at local auto dealerships and a maintenance position with a large equipment facility.” 

“We were impressed by how many students know the direction they want to go after high school.” said Chad Randich, the business unit manager at Elgin Sweeper. He noted many students he spoke to were interested in a career in welding, a vital role at the company. U-46 offers a welding certification for students and its lab at Elgin High School is an accredited testing facility.

Mitchell Briesemeister, U-46 Director of Educational Pathways, remarked, “This is a place where we can connect high-wage, high-demand opportunities to our students who are choosing to explore entering the workforce immediately after high school. It is also a great way for our students to leverage the industry credentials they’ve earned in our high schools, which are valuable to our local partners.”

Students who attended the Senior CTE Job Fair benefitted from the experience. Jesse Villagomez, a senior at Elgin High School, spoke with representatives from Hoffer Plastics. He was intrigued by the variety of products Hoffer Plastics produces, such as car speaker covers. A speaker was on displayed on the table for students to view up close.   

Villagomez is currently enrolled in Culinary Arts courses and he is grateful he will be able to cook confidently for himself, family, and friends.  As far as a career, he is looking at other fields.  “I don’t mind working hard,” he said. “The job fair opened my mind a little bit more. It’s making me flex my mind, thinking, ‘Is this what I want to do, or is it something more like this?’”.

Alignment’s community-wide work has focused on helping businesses offer educational experiences for students to demonstrate the link between high school completion and workplace opportunities.

Mark Seigle of the Seigle Foundation visited the event and was impressed at the large scale participation.  He complimented Alignment on its success and said, “I spoke to a student who said he loved it and an employer who noted it was a great use of his time.”

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