Valerie Freeman, a manufacturing and robotics pathway teacher at Park High School, was featured in a Journal Times article about her joining the SME Education Foundation Board of Directors in 2021. Park High School in Racine Unified School District joined the SME PRIME school network in 2017. Freeman was instrumental in utilizing SME PRIME to install new curriculum, training to teach students important skills like how to program a robotic arm and remodeling the classroom for a more effective learning environment.
The article noted that over the past three years, SME PRIME donors Andis and Emerson/InSinkErator contributed a total of $150,000 to bolster Park High School’s manufacturing pathway. In addition to the robotic arm, SME PRIME added a tabletop mechatronics system to the school, which students can use to program components to work together, similar to what would take place in an automated assembly line. Students also gained access to e-learning through Tooling U-SME curriculum that allow manufacturing students to experiment with all of the equipment virtually while school buildings are closed due to the pandemic.
“Now we have pretty much everything we need, thanks to our local sponsors,” Freeman said. “I’m grateful and appreciative. Without them being able to fund our program, I don’t know where we would be.”
The SME Education Foundation is excited for Valerie Freeman to join the Board of Directors starting in January 2021. She brings a wealth of experience that will provide a critical voice on the board.
