News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
A virtual reality forklift at Upperman High School will give a new opportunity for students in the supply chain management pathway.
Putnam CTE Supervisor Leslie Eldridge said that the new program will help kids get a leg up when it comes to industry practices.
“The piece of equipment that we’ve purchased is a simulator,” Eldridge said. “And it’s going to do a lot of things that help kids understand the equipment that they’re going to be using in this pathway.”
Eldridge said that although it’s not structured like a real simulator, it will have all the aspects students will need to understand how it operates as it relates to safety and use.
Eldridge said that the machine is just one more step in enhancing the school system’s Marketing, Distribution, and Logistics pathway. She said that the goal is to expose students to these types of careers and help better prepare them to go into the workforce.
“Brittany Qualls is going to do a fabulous job with this group of kids,” Eldridge said. “She’s already doing so many wonderful things, field trips, partnering with business and industry individuals tog et the latest and greatest on what we need to be advising our students on. Not only that but she’s already got all of her students OSHA-10 certified which is an industry credential in our county and state-recognized as an early post-secondary opportunity. So we’re excited she’s already completed that with her students and that’s going to go into the equipment use when they begin using this forklift they’re already going to have that safety piece already completed with their industry credential of OSHA-10 and move right into the operation of this piece of equipment.”
Eldridge said that there are plans for all students in the district to be able to use the machine once it is operational.
