CHAMPION Now!, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to change how American manufacturing is perceived in our nation, held its latest Camp CHAMP! event on Nov. 30, 2023, at the College of Lake County Advanced Technology Center in Gurnee, Illinois. CHAMPION NOW! has brought its efforts to the local level by holding training camps for middle school students at various venues in the Chicago area.

The camp was the first exposure to manufacturing for about 50 middle school students from the Neal Math & Science Academy in North Chicago, Illinois. What's more, the event also provide six students from North Chicago High School to serve as mentors to the middle school students at each of the six Camp CHAMP! stations.

From what I observed, the camp succeeded in generating genuine interest among many of the students who had front-row seats to view tabletop milling and lathe machines in action. As a bonus, the Camp CHAMP! volunteers on hand that day were treated to a tour of the CLC Advanced Technology Center by Dr. Richard Ammon, the center's interim executive director of workforce initiatives. "

The CLC Advanced Technology Center, by design, is part of the "Lake County Workforce Ecosystem" that connects industry with the education system in strategic ways to give students in-demand skills. The goal is to ensure that skills training offered through the center meets the needs of local industry. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the center, however, is that the Gurnee campus took just three years to go from an idea on paper to enrolling its first students in the fall of 2022.

View this video for an overview of the latest Camp CHAMP! event and a tour of the CLC Advanced Technology Center.