Greenville County Schools to Receive $60,000 Bosch Grant for Mobile Manufacturing Lab
Greenville County Schools is one of four Upstate educational entities to receive a grant from The Bosch Community Fund. The grants, totaling $147,200, will provide resources for various science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs and activities.
Greenville County Schools will receive a $60,000 grant for the purchase of a mobile manufacturing lab. The lab will rotate among the district’s 20 middle schools. With this lab, more than 16,000 students will have the opportunity to experience advanced manufacturing equipment in a hands-on environment.
“As a manufacturing facility, we care about the development of tomorrow’s workforce,” said Mike McCormick, vice president and technical plant manager of Bosch’s Fountain Inn facility. “We are a proud member of this community and happy that the Bosch Community Fund provides support in preparing students for careers in STEM-related fields.”
All Greenville County eighth graders are required to select a career cluster. Among the 16 cluster options manufacturing has historically been at the bottom or near the bottom. One of the goals of the mobile lab is to use simulation kits and tabletop robotics to show students that manufacturing is not a dirty job. It is clean, skilled work with high income potential.
“We are extremely appreciative of the very generous grant from the Bosch Community Fund,” said Superintendent Dr. Burke Royster. “Each year the mobile manufacturing lab provided by this grant will afford over 16,000 middle school students a real-world view of today’s manufacturing. As our schools work to educate the workforce of the future, enhancing awareness of the quality and quantity of high-paying manufacturing jobs found right here in the Upstate is of critical importance. This lab will provide opportunities to expose students to manufacturing environments, without the time and logistical concerns that come with transporting them to a separate location.”
Since 2013, the Bosch Community Fund has awarded more than $350,000 in grants to organizations in and around Fountain Inn.