This has been such an amazing experience!!! I am extremely excited about taking what I have been learning and experiencing during my summer externship and incorporating it into my classroom! My greatest challenge thus far has been deciding where I want to start, and narrowing my scope to focus on one particular aspect at a time. Wright Foods is such a unique manufacturing company not only because of its unique state-of-the-art technology and energy-efficient/green packaging, but also because products are made as a collaboration between customer and the Research and Design Team (consisting of cooks, food scientist, and Product Innovation Specialists).

It is my goal to take my authentic experiences at Wright Foods to create and “mimic” these authentic experiences within my classroom. I hope to develop a curriculum that follows the path of manufacturing at a food production plant like Wright Foods, while also focusing on as many of the logistical aspects of the company in terms of cost analysis, efficiency, safety trainings, and etc. I believe that in order for students to see manufacturing as a future career location/path, they need to be aware of all of the different careers available within the plant, the education backgrounds, and necessary skill sets required to be a valid and able candidate. Within Wright Foods, these are some of the majors amount the Management Team: Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Food Science, Computer Science, Finance, Biology, Professional Studies, Human Resources, Business, and Marketing. This is a vast scope of undergraduate, graduate, and doctorate degrees!!! Through my curriculum, I hope that students can become more aware of these degrees, and what career paths that could be available.

I also want to incorporate some standard discussions within my class that can be directly related back to my summer experience. For example, when students become less conscious during lab experiments with their safety and their documentation, I can provide specific examples where safety is applied and discussed constantly at Wright Foods and where proper documentation can affect hundreds of thousands in profits or losses. As expected, there is also a lot of simple science and math involved in the every-day production process: from determining what the rate of product flow will be based upon the proper sterilization temperatures and pressures within the pipes, to calculating density, properly using a scale, quickly calculated how much product should be produced in pounds, converting that weight to grams, determining how many cartons per case, and thus how many cartons are within a pallet of 150 cases. The list is practically endless and I plan to provide as much real-life application from the field into my classroom as I possibly can!

Finally, I am excited about the continued relationship with Wright Foods throughout the school year! We are currently discussing the possibility of setting up field trips for my students to come and tour the plant!! I am hoping to make this part of the Manufacturing Curriculum Finale so that students can take their “mini manufacturing” experiences from class and see them on a full scale!!