SUPERIOR — The state is investing $48,000 in Superior High School’s technical education program through a Wisconsin Fast Forward grant.
The funds will be used to purchase items including a powder-coating system, computer numerically controlled (CNC) lathe and 3D printers. The equipment will impact the education of roughly 150 students each year, according to technical education teacher Adam Kuhlman.
The new equipment will be used by students in several classes, from Spartan Manufacturing and metal fabrication to automotive and introduction to power mechanics.
Jed Carlson / Duluth Media Group
The new machines will boost capacity, keep projects in-house and give students a chance to work on state-of-the-art technology, according to senior Maxwell Carey, president of the school’s
program. The student-run business manufactures items for businesses and community members.
The lathe, for instance, will replace a 1985 model that sits mainly unused. Last year, Carey said, “We weren’t able to make anything on this.”
The vintage lathe could have been used for Spartan Manufacturing jobs, like crafting pieces for Duluth pump manufacturer GPM, Carey said, but its old interface was too complex.
The new lathe will be from the same company that supplied the school’s CNC milling machine, making the learning curve easier.
“It’s going to be the same format. We’re going to be able to use these features that we know from the Haas (mill), which is easier to learn,” Carey said.
While students entering the manufacturing field may encounter one of the 1985 machines on the job, technical education teacher Spike Gralewski said the new lathe will receive more use.
“For us, it’s the amount of legwork that needs to be done for a student to be able to use that,” Gralewski said. “It’s taking up a lot of space that could be served in a different way. I want kids using it, not one kid using it.”
Jed Carlson / Duluth Media Group
Updating to new 3D printers will also help modernize the program. The Bambu printers are replacing older models that are “more trouble than they’re worth” due to age and proprietary software, Gralewski said.
One piece purchased with the $48,000 grant is already in use. The fixture plate for the CNC mill is designed to make it easier to set up and switch jobs due to a grid of pinpoints to which projects can be locked down.
“Because we only have 45 minutes of class, it helps speed up the process and lets us do more,” Gralewski said.
The powder coating equipment will give Spartan Manufacturing students a new capability. In prior years, metal projects that needed to be coated were sent to
Northwestern High School’s Tiger Manufacturing program
or Superior-based Cutting Edge Metals, Kuhlman said.
The equipment is expected to arrive in about eight weeks and will be used for two large, public projects.
Jed Carlson / Duluth Media Group
Spartan Manufacturing students are working with the Superior Business Improvement District to craft 26 metal enclosures for trash and recycling containers that will line Tower Avenue. They are currently tweaking their prototype.
Superior Middle School Principal Aaron Lieberz recently tapped the Spartan Manufacturing class to make metal signs for the school’s main and community event entrances to help direct visitors.
On Wednesday, Sept. 10, he worked with junior Mikaila Berg to design metal lettering, about 2 feet tall, to place over each of the entrances. The student business will also make a metal sign for the corner of Hammond Avenue and North 37th Street to help direct visitors approaching the school grounds.
“Otherwise I’d have to go out and get a bid and it would be really expensive,” Lieberz said. “But I would much rather have our own kids making this for the school district. I mean, what an opportunity. And they get to learn something and we all get to benefit from it.”
The two projects could boost the visibility of the student business.
“I think it’s a very cool thing for us to be able to do, to be able to get our work out into the community,” said junior Mikaila Berg.
The state grants are aimed at preparing students for high-demand careers in manufacturing. Superior was one of 19 districts statewide to receive funding.
Jed Carlson / Duluth Media Group
Carey, in his second year of Spartan Manufacturing, said the program offers more than manufacturing skills.
“It’s the best class for networking anywhere,” he said. “It’s like every day is a job shadow. We’re coming out here and we’re working and we’re actually getting places to go, opportunities to go tour manufacturers, opportunities to build our own connections.
“Even if this wasn’t a manufacturing-related business, it’s still a business,” Carey said. “We’re still doing financial, we’re still doing customer service, and while we’re doing that, we’re heavily investing in our school.”
Jed Carlson / Duluth Media Group