Volume 1, Issue 3 November 3, 1998

Editor:
Duncan Kunz
(602) 891-2525
duncan.z.kunz@boeing.com

Editorial

If you’re reading this the day it came out, it’s Tuesday morning.

You may be at Boeing attending a meeting or back at your office, catching up on the phone calls or letters.

Maybe you’re in the classroom, getting ready to go home.

Wherever you are, here’s a suggestion:

Remember that we’re all involved in the education of our city’s kids, and we

want to provide them with the best we can.

We offer them help, and we offer them choices.

Now let’s offer them an example about bettering their lives and their communities.

Vote.

Mesa CofC Brings Big Plans, Big Successes to Shadowing Program

That may well have been the philosophy behind MPS Assistant Superintendent Fred Skoglund’s wish to obtain shadowing "sponsors" for all MPS secondary schools.

In any event, he knew the people who could help him with that vision: the Mesa Chamber of Commerce (CofC).

The shadowing program at Boeing had started out as a partnership between Boeing and three local schools, and the results surpassed almost everyone’s expectations.

But Boeing is only one company, and major benefits to the schools were limited to those actually "sponsored" by the company.

Boeing volunteers had set out to recruit additional businesses in order to expand the scope of the program. Although there were successes, more companies needed to be brought on board.

And that’s where Fred Skoglund comes in.

The Mesa CofC had an in-place executive shadowing program which had successfully matched business executives with public school counterparts. Equally importantly, the CofC had a cadre of dedicated businesses who had already seen first hand the successes of a program to bring schools and businesses together.

Fred contacted Chris Rhodes and Nancy Meyers, co-chairs of the CofC Executive Shadowing Program (ESP).

"You have the names and the contacts among local businesses," Fred told them, "and the people at Boeing have the infrastructure and experience in place".

"Go forth and do synergy."

The result? Seventeen industries/businesses – ten new – are participating. This is a key step in meeting the Shadowing Program goal for a shadowing package for every school in the Mesa district.

Hal Wochholz, one of the founders of the shadowing program at Boeing, is ecstatic.

"In one pass, Fred’s call to Nancy and Chris has set the stage for a significant expansion of our effort."

"This new synergy among Boeing, the Mesa Chamber of Commerce, and the Mesa Public Schools goes a

long way to make our dream of a shadowing program for every school in the district a reality."

Business/Industry Participants

BPLW Architects and Engineers, Inc.
City of Mesa
Marsh Aviation
Brown Evans Distributing
Cox Communications
Mesa General Hospital
Norwest Bank
GM Desert Proving Grounds
Northern Trust Bank of Arizona
Prehab Governing Board, MPS
Boeing
Valley Lutheran Hospital
Arizona Rotorcraft
TRW Vehicle Safety Systems
Mesa General Hospital
Tribune Newspapers
East Valley Bar Association

Mary Ann Modzelewski
Mike Hutchinson
Ed Allen
Kathye Brown
Steve Wright
J.O. Lewis
Kathy Jean, Jeff Ferraris
Gary Schkade
Wayne Strong
Mike Hughes
Andy Logan
Mykl Garrett
Linda Lang
Dave Lomasney
Keitha Reed
Jim Ripley
Dorothy Smith

The "Tom Reilley Show" Goes from One Teacher to Thirty-five Students

It’s not like he was a rookie at this shadowing business – not by any means. Tom’s been involved in the shadowing business four times, including twice with teachers from Red Mountain High School. If anyone knew how the shadowing program could grow, it would be Tom.

Like most business shadowers, Tom was invited to talk to the students of Jayne Radu, a teacher who’d shadowed him last year. One of the people ‘sitting in’ on Tom’s talk was Debbie Webster, Chair of Red Mountain’s Math Department.

This year, it was Debbie’s turn to shadow an engineer, and she got

Tom for the day. As a result of this, it was Tom who was on the other end of the line when Debbie called about hosting thirty-five of the accelerated math students for a visit this coming Wednesday.

Emphasizing engineering design, the students will begin their tour by meeting with Evan Sampaticos , Director of Aircraft Design. From there, it’s a visit to the DVISE Demonstration, a virtual reality Electronic Development Model.

A visit with several design groups, including the Fairing Redesign Team, will give the visiting students important important insights into concepts of cost improvement and technology demonstration, as well as a view

of the Next Generation Transmission and Rotor work.

After that, students will walk through the manufacturing processes, viewing composite and sheet metal fabrication, machining, and subassembly efforts.

Final assembly, including the Wire Harness Fabrication, will be followed by a trip to the Flight Line.

I asked Tom what he thought of his upcoming tour.

"It’s important for all of us," he says. "The kids hear and see first-hand what their teachers have been talking about, and I have the opportunity to do a little multi-generational conversation."