Students Learn about Cooper Tires for National Manufacturing Day

It was a sneak peek into the world of tire production for 8th grade students visiting Cooper Tire Manufacturing Tuesday. 

"You find out that it actually is a craft there's a building process to this," said Ken Joy, a second stage tire builder for Cooper Tire. 

Through the National Manufacturing's Dream It, Do It program -- students had the chance to learn about everything from 3D modeling to tire assembly. 

"We learn the processes of each tire and what's put into them and what jobs they do here," 8th grade student Ivy Young, said.

"How the tires are heated and then manufactured and taken in through the processes" 8th grade student Zach Beier, said.

Cooper Tire has put together a company wide Dream Team - a group of workers that help to improve the image of jobs in manufacturing.

"This is modern manufacturing and it's broader than anyone usually realizes until they get actually in a manufacturing setting like Cooper Tire," said Luke Schroeder, the Dream Team Captain.

They say the key is to get students exposed early on.

"A lot times if they don't know anything about manufacturing, they don't think of that as a viable career, and there's so many opportunities here," Community Relations Manager for Cooper Tire, Kathy Huffman, said.

They expect nearly a thousand students to visit the Findlay location and learn about those opportunities over the next few days.