H-H Students to Get Hands-On Taste of Engineering

juniors curious about becoming engineers can take a closer look at the fast-growing career field during a visit to Maida Engineering Friday.

Students math and science have been invited to tour the Fort Washington company's offices and learn more about the fields of electrical and mechanical engineering.

The visit is being made possible through a partnership the high school has established with the Montgomery County Education and Workforce Partnership and Maida. The trip is just one way the high school is hoping to introduce students into one of the Delaware Valley's high-priority professions, according to Sue Fox, Career Education and Work Curriculum coordinator. The high school will also be offering a pre-engineering course as a math elective next year to prepare students for work in this fast-growing field.

"It's important for high school students with an interest in math and science to know what engineering can involve," Fox said. "Engineering majors drop out en masse once they get into their college courses because they sometimes do not understand the preparation or the skills that an engineer must master."

Giving high school students a chance to explore careers before they declare college majors can be instrumental in helping them to save on college tuition costs in the future, she added. With high school career experiences, students have a better idea going into college of what to expect in terms of their studies and which major will help them prepare best for the professional world.

Career Field Trips like the one planned for Friday are not limited to the engineering profession. Since health care is another career field expected to be in demand, Fox said students were taken earlier this year to Horsham-based Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Research Services, Inc. The trip gave students with an interest in science the opportunity to see how chemistry and other sciences can be applied in the "real world."

The hope is to plan more outings or bring in area professionals to classrooms so teachers can connect their curricula to what's going on outside the building, she said.

"Our school and our business community want our kids to be prepared to assume the jobs that will be here in our region when they complete their post-secondary educations," said Fox.