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Three Ankeny businesses will open their doors to a group of Ankeny High School teachers this summer in an effort to diminish misconceptions about careers within their companies, as well as to provide a bridge of opportunity to high school students who are unsure about their future.

“Living in Ankeny, there is a lot of pressure on students to go to a four-year college, but there are a lot of other ways to go about getting advanced degrees,” said Tim Allyn, a guidance counselor at Ankeny High School. “I don’t think students, teachers or parents think about all the different paths or routes; there are always different directions you can go and different paths you can take that will get you where you want to go.”

However, with an increase in dropout rates, Allyn said fewer students are presented with the opportunity to continue their education after high school, and in turn aren’t even aware of the jobs that fit their individual personalities.

“I think a big reason for the dropout rate is that kids can’t see the connection between what they are learning and what they are going to do for the rest of their lives. And if we say, ‘Here is something you can do, and you don’t have to do all the things that are stereotypical,’ hopefully we can get the kids’ attention and say, ‘Hang in, there is stuff for you, too,'” Allyn said.

The Ankeny Community School District is just one of the participating sponsors for the summer teacher internship program, which will take five Ankeny High School teachers and expose them to three local businesses over the course of three weeks. Teachers from language arts, social studies, math, science and industrial arts will be selected by Principal Brenda Colby to spend time at Snyder & Associates Inc., John Deere Des Moines Works and Siemens Building Technologies Inc., learning the nature of the jobs performed and the skills needed to be successful in those jobs.

“My perception of the ultimate goal is to let kids know what is out there for them and what they have to do to prepare for those jobs,” Allyn said. “We’re not just talking about someone with a five-year degree in engineering, but someone with a two-year degree in drafting. It’s not about finding the kids who want the white-collar jobs, but the kids who can’t afford college or don’t want to go.”

This sentiment about attracting kids regardless of the degree they wish to pursue is shared by all of the participating business sponsors.

“There is a certain segment of the student population that decides not to go to college, or they go and then decide it’s not for them, so we are trying to target a segment that really has been ignored when it comes to all of the opportunities that are out there,” said Kate Ferree, program development manager at John Deere Des Moines Works. “We have a lot of people that can’t afford to go to school, but they would like to, so they are looking for employment to start that process. The whole idea is to bring the teachers in to help them emphasize the basics of how math and science can be applied to future job opportunities. We really want to get with the kids as future employees and show them that there are opportunities out there, and teachers can bring that into the classroom and can help them with life.”

Deere will host the teachers for eight days, the longest stop on the schedule. Ferree said during their visit, the teachers will spend the majority of their time working on a Kaizen event, or a weeklong in-depth improvement check of every operation. The teachers will work with Deere employees in specific work cells to look for ways in which that cell can improve its current and continuous processes.

“The main bulk of our improvement is around continuous improvement; you go into an area and you look at everything and how to improve it,” Ferree said. Hopefully this develops into “seeing how you can look for improvements in everything you do, and we feel this skill set and knowledge can transcend into life and into the classroom.”

The teachers will spend only three days at Snyder & Associates, and administrative coordinator Gary Lago said the company plans to take the teachers around Central Iowa to look at and analyze projects in various stages.

“One of the things we are going to try to accomplish is to explain to the teachers what is involved in all types of projects,” Lago said. “Through the course of this exercise, they will get to go out firsthand and see some projects in various stages of completion, so they can see the life cycle of the project and the nature of our work.”

Additionally, teachers will spend time learning the industry requirements for different levels of work at Snyder & Associates, such as minimum education requirements for engineering, landscape architecture, land survey, community and regional planning, licensing in accordance with the Iowa Code and training requirements for licensure and by clients.

“I think that when you just look at the surface of an engineering firm, a lot of people just expect the predominance of scientific application and a lot of problem solving, but it’s probably not as apparent to the students that we have individuals here with two-year degrees, four-year degrees and advanced degrees up to the Ph.D. level,” said Warren Coffman, director of human resources at Snyder & Associates. “So for that student, who is not necessarily certain that they are going to go to a four-year school, they can explore venues on a two-year track. If they want to enter the work force more quickly, those options are available to them.”

Coffman said students who earn a two-year degree or complete a certification program can take a job at Snyder, and then if the employee wants to continue his or her education and climb the career ladder within the company, Snyder will pay for tuition.

“I think what we want to do is get more people interested in the civil engineering profession, and if we can get the teachers excited about what we are doing, that would get the students excited,” Lago said.

Darcy Otis, general manager of Siemens Building Technologies’ Iowa and Nebraska offices, said that like Snyder & Associates, Siemens is trying to convey to high school students that not all engineering or technology jobs require four-year degrees.

“Everyone knows the lawyer and the doctor, we play Life so we get those things, but then when people say engineer, they think ‘no, not an engineer,'” Otis said. “There are misconceptions in the high school setting, but it’s not so much a gap (in knowledge) where they don’t know or don’t have the skills. It’s more that we just don’t see young folks having the understanding of what might be out there for them and what opportunities there are, especially in technology and engineering careers.”

Otise said during the teachers’ two-days visit at Siemens, they will experience a day in the life of an engineer, a sales representative and a field technician, doing everything those employees would do on a daily basis. Otis hopes this hands-on approach will give the teachers a real sense for what people’s jobs are at Siemens, and then the teachers can relay the practical experience back into the classroom and into the core curriculum.

“Teachers are in a wonderful position to guide and support young folks, and so what we want to do is give them exposure to employees who have taken a different path in life, who went to high school and ended up as a successful operations manager.”