In late January, Silverton Elementary was visited by an old friend with some cool, new technology.
VEGA Americas, a global manufacturer of measurement sensors and integrative software with a manufacturing site here in Cincinnati, has been connected to Silverton Elementary through Adopt A Class for about six years. Adopt A Class reaches out to corporate organizations and connects them with schools in the Cincinnati area, such as Silverton. Through this partnership with Adopt A Class, VEGA has built an ongoing relationship of support and experiential learning with a fourth grade class, and this year the entire school got to benefit from their support.
“We started our relationship with Adopt A Class at Silverton because we wanted to get involved in our community,” shared Allison Hornschemeier, a customer relationship management (CRM) training specialist at VEGA Americas who has been involved with the class personally for four years. “We’re an inclusive company and we do a lot ourselves. All of our volunteers represent different parts of our company, so the kids get exposure to careers in CRM, service teams, engineering, and technical support. They also got to see how companies like ours work with other companies, like MadTree Brewing, to make everyone’s work, work better.
This January, Silverton students got a special treat when VEGA Americas partnered with Adopt A Class, ABC, and Silverton Resource Coordinator, Cheri Jordan, to bring their brand new demo trailer onsite to the school and gave students a hands on tour of the many tools and products the company manufactures. “This was actually the debut event of the trailer,” Allison shared.
Modeled after their onsite learning lab (which is always available for educational events and bookings), VEGA Americas developed the trailer to bring an interactive lab space onsite to customers instead of singular pieces of equipment. “This was a really special treat for our employees too. Silverton Elementary helped us test all our demonstration materials and it went great!”
The trailer houses a variety of level measurement devices representing a range of VEGA Americas’ products. Students were shown and talked through measurement tools that use radar, radiometric, and ultrasonic tools specifically. “Truly, STEM at its best. It was a lot of fun.” VEGA Americas representatives also talked with students about technology, manufacturing, logic puzzles, charting measurements, and how to read measurements. The trailer was onsite for about four hours and about 100 students had the opportunity to experience the lab for themselves.
“You’re always nervous, when it’s the first time you do anything new,” Allison shared of her experience at the school, “but it was really exciting. The students asked such good questions, and the school was so excited for this STEM opportunity because it introduced a lot of cool STEM conversations. It got kids really excited about math and science in fun, hands-on ways.” Students also shared how cool it was to see their classroom lessons being directly applicable to real-world situations.
Allison shared that one of her favorite parts of the event was the exposure students had to different careers. “Students got to see a great diversity of employees: some of college degrees, some with masters and advanced degrees, some high school graduates, and all of them from very different cultural backgrounds. All of the employees they met were happy in their careers and were able to find a version of success that works for them, through very different paths. That’s so important to show students: that there’s no one road to success or happiness, but a variety of paths they can take to get where they want to go.”
Adopt A Class works with numerous schools throughout Cincinnati, including 4 CPS schools where ABC is the lead agency. Adopt A Class helps connect corporate organizations such as VEGA with schools like Silverton, enabling thousands of students to engage in opportunities such as this one.
VEGA Americas looks forward to events like these in the future, maybe even at different schools. “Though the trailer was built to increase sales and strengthen customer relationships, this event proved it holds tremendous community value as well,” Allison said. The company hopes to bring the trailer onsite to more schools, including high schools, in the future.
Thank you to Adopt A Class, VEGA Americas, and our Silverton staff for making this very special event come to pass! We look forward to future partnerships with Adopt A Class, VEGA Americas, and our partners throughout Cincinnati.
