Teaching the Teachers Wagstaff

Advanced manufacturing offers many careers that allow employees to engage in amazing opportunities to thrive. With roles such as engineering, machining, welding, and production operations, manufacturing offers employees careers using advanced technology with high earning potential.

Over the past two decades, many students and parents have lost touch with opportunities in manufacturing due to a lack of exposure. What many don’t realize is that:

• Advanced manufacturing offers high paying jobs for individuals with skilled training such as machinists and welders who are in very high demand.
• In two years or less of college (via community college or trade school), a student can enter the workforce with little or no debt and start out at a going rate of about $22+/hour plus benefits (before overtime and annual bonuses). This is based on the Spokane market.
• Engineers are in high demand in manufacturing.
• Production jobs integrate high tech with process engineering, requiring specialized knowledge, skill, and technical expertise. These are skilled positions that create interesting work for a lifetime.
• Employees tend to advance quickly, gain additional certifications, and earn higher wages shortly after entering their careers.

Our goal is to help educators understand the opportunities that exist in advanced manufacturing and production. The more we can help them understand what is available and the tracks that exist, the better educators can align students on the right pathways to help them succeed in their careers.

Wagstaff is hosting this Teaching the Teacher event to introduce teachers, counselors, and other educators to the world of manufacturing. We’ll share what we do and how we do it. We’ll also introduce you to various career tracks, the nature of these jobs, career expectations, qualifications, and the qualities we seek from new employees. Participants will also learn more about the work Wagstaff is doing with local schools to bring student into the workplace through several programs with its K12 partners and what students can do to learn more and prepare for jobs in manufacturing.

Workshops are open to all teachers, advisors, college & career readiness counselors, administrators in NEWESD 101. Clock hours will be provided to each eligible attendee.

Event Disclaimer: As we plan for this in-person event, we are aware of current health challenges and will continue to evaluate precautions as the date for this event nears. We are taking state-guided safety measures, including social distancing, providing hand sanitizer, food-handling directives, and adhering to the mask mandate. Further communications will be sent to registered attendees with more details, as needed.