Isaiah Smith wasn’t sure what he wanted to do after graduating from Fitchburg High School. His teachers, including John Caouette and Principal Jeremy Roche, said he was a smart student. He just wasn’t interested in school.

“For me, I didn’t really have big goals set for myself out of high school,” Smith said. “I kind of just made my way through things, but I didn’t know which way to go.”

Smith didn’t seem to find his niche until he took a class with Caouette in manufacturing, as part of the school’s Innovation Career Pathway. For him, the course was more practical and was able to lead to a real experience beyond the classroom setting.

“It helped me get my foot in the door,” Smith said. “The main problem I think a lot of kids have is just getting that first job, or even just sending out that application…Being able to have a class that helps you get in the field…helps people a lot.”

Smith, who now has a job in manufacturing, was one of the inaugural students to Fitchburg High School’s Innovation Career Pathway for advanced manufacturing.

Fitchburg High School hosted an Advanced Manufacturing Symposium October 25 to present the opportunities the Innovation Career Pathway provides for currently about 130 students at the high school, as well as how the implementation of the program can present positively within the community as well.

Innovation Pathways were created to expose students to career options while also developing their skills and knowledge within the designated field. Schools provide coursework and experience in specifically high-demand industries.

Fitchburg High School received a $250,000 grant to build its Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Career Pathways program in March, 2020 through part of the Baker-Polito administration $14.6 million in Skills Capital Grants to educational institutions. 

The grant allowed the high school to initiate the program last school year to prepare students with high-level skills and experiences. 

In September of this year, the Baker-Polito administration announced nearly $452,000 in grants to 20 school districts to launch new Innovation Pathway programs. The grants are designed to support the schools to develop early career programs and provide high school students with a coherent course of study within one particular field. 

Many of the early career programs are STEM-related fields, such as information technology, environmental and life sciences, health care, business, and Fitchburg’s advanced manufacturing.

Fitchburg High School was awarded $17,300 in partnership with MassHire North Central. The grants helped to create the innovation lab, which is full of equipment that students can use throughout three classrooms, such as a lathe, water jet, molding machine, and a 3D printer. 

Students showed the symposium attendees how they were able to work a do-bot, which is a machine that was ordered through the grants. The bots are able to not only capture things with magnets, but the “arm” can be switched out to hold a pen, be a laser etcher or a 3D printer, or even grab items with a claw.

Other students created hooks and wheels with the 3D printer. One senior created a Pringles container cap, which he drafted and developed himself. The printer was making tiktak caps at the time.

The teachers said that the classes teach the students critical thinking, patience, and active listening as well. 

“We’re giving a lot of young people skills that will allow them to join and stay in the middle class for a long time. That’s really what it’s all about,” Senator John Cronin said. “I promise that I will go to work on the budget process next year to make sure we are building out these programs and we are giving them the resources they need to the people on the ground.”

Cronin has been a big proponent of creating additional pathways for advanced manufacturing careers. He helped to secure critical funding in the FY22 Massachusetts budget for advanced manufacturing.

Manufacturer partners for the program are Boutwell Owens, Greif Inc., Micron Solutions, New England Wire Company, and Rocheleau Tool and Die. Mount Wachusett Community College, North Central Massachusetts Workforce Investment Board, and MACWIC support with high ed and workforce. Additional interest and support comes from AET Labs, Highline Aftermarket, MilliporeSigma, and Vulcan Forums.

“There is not a single meeting or a single day that we are not talking about workforce development,” Representative Michael Kushmerek said. “There’s critical shortages in every sector of our Commonwealth right now. I have a hard time finding an employer who isn’t struggling to find an employee with the skill sets needed to succeed. This is such a critical program.” 

The goal of the program is to provide workforce development skills that will allow students, like Smith, to be prepared for the labor market upon graduation. 

“That’s probably one of the things that motivated me, hearing teachers say ‘This student took my class and now they’re working here,’” Smith said. “I wouldn’t think I would be where I am now without taking this class.”

Roche said that four students have already been hired from Fitchburg High School’s program.

Fitchburg High School’s Innovation Career Pathway also recognizes a gap in the workforce for more workers within the industry. Roche said manufacturing is the third-highest employer in North Massachusetts. 

“We want to have students who are prepared for workforce opportunities,” Roche said. “We have a huge labor market for manufacturing in Central Mass…We want to make sure that we’re a big part of that.”

The school’s data shows that almost 16 percent of the high school graduates from 2019-2020 were planning to go directly into the workforce. Roche called this a cyclical feedback that Fitchburg High School can contribute to: educating students, sending them into the workforce in Central Massachusetts, having them set up houses and families in the area, and then educating their future children as well.

“It’s a beneficial program for the demographics in this area,” Caouette said. “We can help those students who are not going to go onto college. It’s that simple, and we have a lot of them in the area.”

Looking forward, the school hopes to add an “after dark” program to allow parents and other community members to also take advantage of the Innovation Career Pathway program and learn skills themselves. Roche also wants to host job fairs as well as create more internship or field trip opportunities to have students see the manufacturing industry firsthand.