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Xander Crowder, a senior at Sauk Prairie High School, works on one of the new digital welders in the school’s newly revamped Advanced Manufacturing Lab. “I feel a little bit more comfortable going into that career,” Crowder said of his use of modern equipment. “I feel more confident than I was before.”
Sophomores Austin Frisch, left, and Logan Ballweg operate a TIG welder before Tuesday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony for Sauk Prairie High School’s new Advanced Manufacturing Lab.
Sauk Prairie High School senior Chayton Stanford uses a hand-held cutting torch to cut the ribbon for the school’s revamped Advanced Manufacturing Lab. Sauk Prairie School District Superintendent Jeff Wright is left of Stanford.
Technology and engineering instructor Jacob Brickl works on the torch from the ribbon cutting. “When our students come in here, they have an opportunity to work on the equipment they are going to see in the industry and make them more prepared for it,” Brickl said of Sauk Prairie High School’s Advanced Manufacturing Lab.
Sauk Prairie High School Principal Chad Harnisch turns off a CNC router machine at the lab. “It allows us to start training kids for exactly what they need to do when they walk into the workforce tomorrow,” Harnisch said of the school’s revamped Advanced Manufacturing Lab.
Sauk Prairie High School received a major state boost for its trade education program and revealed a revitalized technical education wing on Tuesday.
A Workforce Innovation Grant of just over $2.4 million helped fund the high school’s revamped Advanced Manufacturing Lab, which features modern manufacturing and welding equipment and connects all four department rooms. The district received the grant funding through the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, or WEDC, and the Department of Workforce Development in 2021.
The renovated area was completed in January and had a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday with current and former students, trade instructors, district officials, area business leaders and representatives from state government agencies.
”Sauk Prairie High School already has more students in recognized apprenticeship programs than any other school in our region,” district Superintendent Jeff Wright said. “Many of these apprenticeships are in the trades. This new lab helps ensure that students have access to similar technology and equipment they are likely to encounter in these apprenticeships and will help expose students to the choices they have as they plan for life after high school.”
Xander Crowder, a senior at Sauk Prairie High School who is looking to pursue a welding career, said he did introductory welding while in middle school at the high school lab. He said the new equipment is better than the previous welding material and the digital machines are easier to set up and use.
”I feel a little bit more comfortable going into that career,” Crowder said of his use of modern equipment. “I feel more confident than I was before. Definitely enjoying this class now.”
New equipment in the lab includes upgraded computer numerical control, or CNC, machines, digital welding devices, larger welding booths with gas lines directly linked to them, and upgraded tools. Newly-installed doors link the Advanced Manufacturing Lab with the school’s automotive, wood and finishing rooms, eliminating the need to go from one room to the next via hallways.
”This new classroom and equipment help us figure out what we like,” sophomore Logan Ballweg said in a WEDC news release. “Now I see career options I didn’t think about before. It’s pretty neat that we have it.”
”It’s an opportunity for us to give them — students — the real-world experience,” said Jacob Brickl, a technology and engineering instructor at Sauk Prairie High School. “When our students come in here, they have an opportunity to work on the equipment they are going to see in the industry and make them more prepared for it.”unded revamp, the lab was “dark and dirty,” school principal Chad Harnisch said. The state funding helped modernize and create a more open concept with increased room to work and roam, he said. Each new large machine was more than $10,000, Harnisch said, emphasizing the importance of the grant.
”It allows us to start training kids for exactly what they need to do when they walk into the workforce tomorrow,” Harnisch said, adding that modern manufacturing is largely done by programming machines instead of physically operating them.
”We know that we need to equip our up-and-coming workers with the skills that they need to be successful and the skills that our employers need to remain competitive,” Jennifer Sereno, assistant deputy secretary for the Department of Workforce Development, said prior to the ribbon cutting.
Students also have apprenticeship opportunities, including businesses that partnered with the school on the project such as Milwaukee Valve, which has a location in Prairie du Sac, and McFarlane Manufacturing, a farm equipment supplier in Sauk City.
”Our local advanced manufacturers helped select the equipment that they felt would best prepare students for apprenticeships and long-term employment,” Wright said.
Sauk Prairie High School’s new manufacturing lab is open to community members as well as students. The Workforce Innovation Grant also helped fund the school’s new greenhouse and its Medical Careers Lab. Wright said community feedback drove the district’s decisions for how it would spend the funds.
”It has been incredible to see the way the community has come together and worked together to create these different facilities and give you all the opportunity to learn like you are,” WEDC Secretary and CEO Missy Hughes said to students.
Reporter John Gittings can be reached via phone at (920) 210-4695.
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Sauk Prairie High School unveiled its revamped Advanced Manufacturing Lab on Feb. 6.
The Portage Area Chamber of Commerce is hosting its annual meeting and awards show, at 8 a.m. on Feb. 14, at the Best Western Resort, 2701 Sou…
Xander Crowder, a senior at Sauk Prairie High School, works on one of the new digital welders in the school’s newly revamped Advanced Manufacturing Lab. “I feel a little bit more comfortable going into that career,” Crowder said of his use of modern equipment. “I feel more confident than I was before.”
Sophomores Austin Frisch, left, and Logan Ballweg operate a TIG welder before Tuesday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony for Sauk Prairie High School’s new Advanced Manufacturing Lab.
Sauk Prairie High School senior Chayton Stanford uses a hand-held cutting torch to cut the ribbon for the school’s revamped Advanced Manufacturing Lab. Sauk Prairie School District Superintendent Jeff Wright is left of Stanford.
Technology and engineering instructor Jacob Brickl works on the torch from the ribbon cutting. “When our students come in here, they have an opportunity to work on the equipment they are going to see in the industry and make them more prepared for it,” Brickl said of Sauk Prairie High School’s Advanced Manufacturing Lab.
Sauk Prairie High School Principal Chad Harnisch turns off a CNC router machine at the lab. “It allows us to start training kids for exactly what they need to do when they walk into the workforce tomorrow,” Harnisch said of the school’s revamped Advanced Manufacturing Lab.
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