Stuff-New Hampshire

8 S T U F F • N e w H a m p s h i r e , 2 0 1 8 Schools and manufacturers are developing programs for high schoolers to learn by doing Starting young "We're going to be exploring a lot of different parts of the companies, and I like that idea that I get to see production and engineering as well as like HR and marketing and stuff, it's kind of like a variety." - Teresa Dubuque, 17 P H O T O / J E S S I C A A R N O L D L ebanon High School senior Teresa Dubuque is still not quite sure what she wants to do when she graduates in 2019. Luckily for her, she says, a new internship program launch- ing this fall, will allow her to do some exploring before she takes that long walk across the gradua- tion stage. "Part of the point of doing the internship is to help guide you into wherever you want to go," she says of the internship program where two school districts and two manufacturing firms – Fujifilm Dimatix in Lebanon and Hypertherm Inc, in Hanover – have partnered to give students a chance to work in various areas of each business during the school day in exchange for high school credit. "We're going to be exploring a lot of different parts of the companies, and I like that idea that I get to see production and engineering as well as like HR and marketing and stuff," Dubuque says, "It's kind of like a variety." Hands-on learning This program is indicative of a trend in New Hampshire of manufacturing firms and educators teaming up to offer students not just the book learning they need for their future, but hands on experience of working in a professional manufacturing setting. This trend is more than a decade in the making, says Fred Bramante, former chairman of the New Hampshire Board of Education and president of the National Center for Competency Based Learning. B Y M E L A N I E P L E N DA

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