Linking to the “Outside World”

Over the summer, along with several administrative staff, I had the opportunity to tour a local fuel cell business called Adaptive Materials.  Co-founder Michelle Crumm was gracious enough to provide us with a tour of their facility located off of State Street.  We were impressed – not only by the innovative technology they were developing, but also by the systems they have created to make the manufacturing process as efficient as possible.

As educators, it is necessary for us to look at the existing businesses and emerging fields to gather information about the skills our students will need for the job that will be available to them after they graduate.  Adaptive Materials is a great example for us to investigate as they are one of the local business that has actually been hiring and continuing to grow in the current economy.  The next step is for us to systematically development community-based opportunities for our students to explore fields they are interested in as careers.

I saw this week that Michelle Crumm is up for Entrepreneur Magazine’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award!  It would be wonderful to see a local business and Saline parent win this award.   Click here to vote.