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Pasco County students learn hands on that careers in manufacturing aren't always what you expect

Posted at 12:05 PM, Oct 06, 2019
and last updated 2019-10-07 17:24:12-04

LUTZ, Fla. — For many high school students, when they think about manufacturing jobs they envision factories and assembly lines.

Pasco County Schools is trying to change that by offering more hands on field trips to a dozen area manufacturing businesses.

Sunlake High School Students stepped off the school bus and into the world of aviation as they received a tour of TRU-Simulation and Training in Lutz.

“I guessed a conveyor belt line type deal but that doesn’t seem to be what’s going on,” said student Lucas Wagstaff.

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The idea behind these field trips is to explain to students that a career in the technical manufacturing field can be entertaining and profitable.

“In high school there's not really a lot of tech things for us to experiment with, seeing this is actually really awesome to expand beyond the basic educational horizons just math, science, language arts,” said student Owen Johnson.

TRU specializes in flight simulators and these students got a chance to learn every aspect from how they're made, to how they're are used to train pilots.

The professionals say it’s important that students know all their options following graduation.

“There is a real high demand and great job opportunities for skilled technicians that can do things like fabricate parts,” said David Smith with TRU-Simulations and Training. “What we love about this business is you have some that are very affordable, accessible programs.”

Pasco County Schools hop these field trips could be the take off to some promising futures.

“It does definitely make me think about going into manufacturing after high school, it’s very hi-tech and its sort of my league,” said student Stephen Carrico.