The STRIVE Teacher Experience

A 10th grade math teacher is placed at a manufacturing plant, working with the finance administrator. Their focus is to keep up with budgetary spending of the entire plant, including employee salaries, expenditures, maintenance budgets, etc. During the 4 week placement at the plant, the teacher learns about how problem solving skills taught in their class apply to jobs across the company by spending days with 1) a plumber, who uses fractions, proportions, geometry, measurement, and other hands-on math skills to complete their daily tasks, 2) a marketing and design lead, who uses graphical software to design marketing materials, 3) a worker on the assembly line that is responsible for packing quality control.

A high school biology teacher works with a biologist at Central Arkansas Water on a project that is trying to assess the impact of various land uses in the Lake Maumelle watershed. During the 4 week placement at CAW, the teacher learns about how problem solving skills taught in their class apply to jobs across the company by spending time with 1) a computer systems engineer to learn about processing information from the entire water grid, 2) a natural resource specialist, that samples water throughout the intake area and at various points within the distribution system, 3) a maintenance technician that is responsible for keeping the pumps running at maximum efficiency, minimizing energy waste through excess friction, and 4) an engineer that must consider how fluid dynamics influence the expansion of the water system when new developments are being built.

A 7th grade earth science teacher is placed with a food scientist at Post (cereal) Company to analyze viscosity and its role in wheat cooking. During the 4 week placement at Post, the teacher learns about how problem solving skills taught in their class apply to jobs across the company by spending time with 1) a quality specialist, who must ensure that all steps in the production of food are carefully monitored, documented, and analyzed to meet internal and external standards, 2) an engineer to study the electrical usage and increase the efficiency of air compressors and LED lighting, 3) an electrician that performs maintenance on electrical systems throughout the plant, following appropriate safety and electrical standards to maximize the operational efficiency of the plant, and 4) the logistics manager that ensures all processes on site have adequate supplies needed to maximize plant output.

A chemistry teacher is placed at an airplane production facility, charged with a “back burner” project that they haven’t had the manpower for yet. The company has heard of two new techniques used to soften and prepare leather for use in furniture, and they want to test in house if these techniques produce a higher quality, longer lasting product than the process they currently use. During the 4 week placement, the teacher learns about how problem solving skills operations taught in their class apply to jobs across the company by spending time with 1) a cabinet maker, who uses proportions and fractions in most of their calculations, and needs to understand the reactivity of various solvents and paints/lacquers, 2) a welder that fabricates custom parts for the company using basic principles of physics and chemistry, and 3) the chief salesperson who connects the company’s top level products to customers that drive the business.