Describe your internship experience thus far.

• What was the most interesting moment? There have been several interesting moments but the one that sticks out the most is how big the company is on recycling and reusing.  One of the things that I was shown was some blue yarn.  I was like oh this is pretty. The Whiteville plant dyed the yarn this pretty light blue.  Well come to find out it was actually made from the blue plastic Pepsi bottles.  There is a company that shreds the blue plastic bottles for National Spinning and sends the cotton like material back to National Spinning to make into yarn.
• What was the biggest challenge? The biggest challenge was trying to narrow down and focus on one product.  During my internship, I have had the privilege of working seeing every aspect of the plant including the lab, the office staff, and the workers on the floor.  It took me a while to narrow my product idea down because there was so many directions I could have chosen.
• Describe what you saw and did: Did you see one aspect of a company or lab or did you visit different departments or sites? Did you work with a single mentor or multiple professionals? During my internship, I have had the pleasure of working with the new hires.  I talk with them on a daily basis to see how they are adjusting to the company.  I also ask them if they have any problems so I can report back to my mentor or the lead trainer so we could get their problem solved.  I have been exposed to the lab and quality control.  I have been able to sit in on morning meetings where the supervisors and the office staff is able to discuss production and the products being ran on the lines. I have been able to see some of the workers from their starting point of filling out an application to the HRD course certification that is required, to them actually working at National Spinning.  I have been working with Mega Force and James Sprunt Community College to answer any questions potential workers may have about National Spinning.
• What was it like working with your mentor(s)? How did they open your eyes to a new industry or research?  My main Mentor was Chris Jarman.  He allowed me to have a free range of the plant to explore it at my own pace.  He showed me around the plant, but I was able to visit all of the departments at my leisure.  I was oblivious of what this plant actually did and the impact is has on the area.  National Spinning decided to extend the operating hours for the company and with that expansion, new jobs became available.  This company is open to hiring new employees who have a desire to work and even some who don’t.  They have been willing to take a few losses here and there to ensure everyone is given a fair chance at a stable job.
• What is your biggest take away? My biggest take away is how beneficial it is to know why you are doing something.  Many times when I asked the workers why or who the yarn is for, they did not know.  They just knew they had to do a job.  I think it is important for them to know the outcome of what they are doing.  I tell my students the projected outcome and they seem to value their work better and take pride when they are complete.  I think the workers would take pride in what they create because without them, we would not have quality made clothing.

When I first learned that I was going to be working at National Spinning, I thought about what I was going to be doing, how I was going to bring what I learn back to the classroom and how I can make a difference for them.  It wasn’t until my first few days that I realized what my purpose was for them. My mentor expressed to me that they were about to switch from 3 eight hour shifts to 2 twelve hour shifts and will be hiring additional workers.  I figured this would be a fairly challenging task because they needed to hire 40-50 people to fill the positions available.  What I did not know was that they would hire 75-100 people to find the number that they needed.  I found this rather disturbing because that meant half of the hire’s would quit within the first month.  My task became prevalent.  I would become the eyes and ears of the trainer as well as the voice for the new hires.

As the only trainer, Mrs. Ruthie had the job of training all of the new hires or assign a veteran employee to assist in the training.  This is by far a daunting task, so my job is to visit the new hires, ask questions to find out if they are having any problems and report back to Mrs. Ruthie. If additional training is needed then she would adjust her schedule and train if necessary.

Another thing that I am doing is trying to find potential employees who are willing to work and ways to keep them satisfied on the job. I go to Mega Force at least once a week to help screen employees, sit in on interviews, and help choose employees suitable for NSC.  When they get to NSC and begin their training I check on their progress and try to handle concerns and to keep them positive if they are not meeting production.  Production is hard for new hires and they get discouraged but they like to know someone is their to hear them out and to offer assistance.  Every day will not be a perfect day at work, but it is extremely important to make sure you have employees who value their jobs and who will produce quality work.  I visit the new hires and make sure they know what they are doing, they are happy,and they feel as if they have a voice.

Hopefully I will be able to offer NSC some strategies in retaining employees and ways to make sure they are getting what they need to be successful in the workforce.

My number one goal of my internship is to bring something back to my students.  At first I just thought I would go and intern at the sight, attend some workshops and then develop something to teach in my classroom. It has turned out to be so much more.  One of the biggest areas of concern that I have observed has been the lack of soft skills.  This includes communicating with one another, asking questions, the do’s and don’t’s of applying for a job, being punctual, following directions, etc. in the real world. By observing the lack of these soft skills, this will definitely be something that I teach my students.

Another goal that I have established for myself is to bring more real world examples into my classroom.  Many time our students don’t know whats going on in the real world because they believe it does not pertain to them.  I find this to be completely untrue.  I think it is extremely important to show the students how things that are in the news does affect them in some way.  While showing them how important it is to be “in the know”, I have planned to develop activities geared around media and allow them to develop ways to solve some of the issues.

Another important goal that I would like to focus on is developing activities to incorporate in my classroom as well as my colleagues classroom. The location where I am interning deals with a lot of math, reading, critical thinking/problem solving, mechanics/robotics, etc. National Spinning is textile plant in which they produce a specific product for a specific company that will be used in local stores as well as stores worldwide. I plan to dive into the math curriculum more as I plan curriculum for Language Arts.  I hope to be able to plan an activity for each disciplinary here at my school.