Anyone with the notion that our area public schools may not be preparing our young for the working world has no idea all of the amazing programs that are currently being offered!
This week, Morgan and I had the opportunity to visit Tyler Consolidated High School (TCHS). Our trip was to take a look at the heavy equipment operators’ simulator. The simulator gives students a real-world and hands-on opportunity to safely operate those big pieces of equipment without risk. In the simulation, they are able to navigate terrain and varying weather conditions that might be encountered in the real world. It is simply next level! We can easily see with the use of this technology, that students can gain meaningful experience that primes them for moving on to a well-paying career that is much needed in our communities.
The following is the technology package purchased, and the providing vendor:
Vortex Advantage Full - Immersion Simulator from CM Labs
The school purchased the Crane Package, Earth Moving Package, Dozer, and Boom Truck. Each of these packages have more specific pieces of heavy equipment such as dump truck, excavator, dozer, boom truck, mobile crate, etc. Each piece of equipment then has several lessons that start out very basic in nature such as the student learning how to operate the controls and progressively gets harder in task such as moving objects or digging trenches.
We visited TCHS at the invitation of Amanda Kimble, Director of Child Nutrition and Support Services. Amanda is just a powerhouse when it comes to promoting all of the exciting innovations that are available to students. In addition to the heavy equipment simulator, Amanda was very proud to share with us other high-tech and support areas of the school that are genuinely addressing the needs of students in preparing them for our ever-evolving world!
