success story - realityworks · success story craig cegielski technical education teacher “we try...

Success Story

Craig CegielskiTechnical Education Teacher

“We try and do it exactly like a business in every way. The kids go out and market the company themselves, just like a real business.”


Eleva-Strum High School

Program Highlights

Goal:• Run the high school’s

top-level welding and machining classes as a real, sustainable business operated en rely by students.

Benefi ts of using teachWELD:• Compact design saves on

space• Students get practice

time before using actual welders

• Cost-savings compared to actual welders

Building a Sustainable Student-Run Business: Cardinal Manufacturing, Eleva-Strum Central High School

By Emily Kuhn

When Craig Cegielski began teaching technical educa on at Eleva-Strum Central High School in 2005, he had big plans in mind. Having already created a successful, student-run machining business at An go High School (where he taught from 1998 to 2004), Cegielski was familiar with the process of star ng a business from scratch, and the challenges that go with it.

He approached the Eleva-Strum administra on with a clear business plan and stated his request: to provide technical educa on students with be er equipment and be er learning opportuni es by transforming the high school’s top-level welding and machining classes into a real, sustainable business operated en rely by students.

Seven years later, Cardinal Manufacturing is a self-suffi cient, student-run machine

shop that produces parts for local and regional customers. Profi ts are re-invested in the business with a percentage paid to student workers, who graduate with a unique set of knowledge, skills and experiences that they use to enroll in higher educa on and secure employment in the welding and machining industry.

“It’s a win for the school and a win for the students,” said Cegielski. “It’s also a win for the local tech colleges because they’re ge ng more trained students, and it’s a win for the local companies because they’re ge ng more skilled workers.”

It was the shortage of skilled workers in the welding and machining industry that mo vated Cegielski to start the business in the fi rst place.

www.realityworks.com • 800.262.3806 • [email protected]

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“There’s a huge shortage of manufacturing and welding workers, and if you don’t introduce them in high school, then students are less likely to go on to technical college and join the workforce – and the workforce needs people,” said Cegielski. “The best idea is to get them going in high school, and if they see it and like it, they’ll go on and join the workforce.”

Cegielski knew that to a ract high school students to the fi eld of machining and welding, they needed to experience technical educa on classes that were as realis c as possible. Like most high schools, however, Eleva-Strum’s collec on of machining and welding equipment was only average. Cegielski saw an opportunity to secure be er equipment – and in doing so, provide be er learning opportuni es for the students – by selling the very products that students were learning to create. But fi rst, the business needed to improve its base of opera on.

“When I got here, the shop was low on quality and low on equipment. You couldn’t make anything to sell because the equipment was in such poor shape,” he explained. “We spent the fi rst whole year just laying block walls, making racks and building the business, piece by piece.”

A er spending three years cleaning and organizing the school’s original machine shop, training students in the necessary standards of opera on and networking with local businesses to donate used machines and old equipment, Cegielski was able to begin producing products worth selling – and the more jobs they secured, the more opportuni es they had to grow.

“A er three years of prepping, we had just minimal equipment, but you start out with what you have,” said Cegielski. “We could only do limited work, but we stayed in contact with companies and networked.”

Networking was vital to the growth of the business during those fi rst few years, and according to Cegielski, they mimicked real businesses in this way as much as possible. To spread the word about their new endeavor, they went door to door with brochures, business cards, pens, hats and t-shirts. Although Cegielski made most of the ini al contacts with customers himself, students par cipated ac vely in this step of the process as well. In doing so, they began learning how to network and how to present themselves professionally.

“We try and do it exactly like a business in every way,” he said, explaining that students s ll do much of the follow-up with customers a er completed projects have been delivered. “The kids go out and market the company themselves, just like a real business.”

Also like a real business, Cegielski’s biggest challenge in the beginning was fi nances. A er all, the machines necessary to run a successful machine shop are expensive, and the district wasn’t able to simply give them the funds to purchase new equipment. In addi on to networking with local manufacturing businesses to secure dona ons, Cegielski and the administra on partnered with Western Dairyland, a community ac on agency that provides West Central Wisconsin communi es with workforce development programs. Through the agency, Cegielski and the administra on arranged to rent out the


“Once businesses found out what we were doing, they wanted to help us and we wanted to help them. You keep building relationships with companies and they eventually give you more work to do. Then eventually, you may get an old machine from companies you’ve developed relationships with.”




machine shop at night to teach adult welding classes. The profi ts that came from using the classroom when it wasn’t otherwise in service were reinvested right back into the business. Cegielski also applied for and received various grants, which were reinvested as well.

“Once businesses found out what we were doing, they wanted to help us and we wanted to help them,” said Cegielski. “You keep building rela onships with companies and they eventually give you more work to do. Then eventually, you may get an old machine from companies you’ve developed rela onships with.”

Using the school’s machine shop also saves the business money, since overhead costs like electricity, hea ng and basic maintenance are already paid for. Labor is free as well, since students – who are already there for class – do the work. Cardinal Manufacturing does pay for all of its own material and tools, with nearly all of the profi ts reinvested for more materials and improved tools. In the four years since Cardinal Manufacturing began opera ng, Cegielski es mates that they’ve received around $300,000 worth of equipment through dona ons, with about $75,000 donated in the past year alone.

“It’s one dona on a er another,” said Cegielski, who also drums up business through his membership on various industry boards, and by a ending

conferences. He says about 35 percent of their business is within a few miles of the school district. “Local businesses are trying to promote manufacturing, because they know it’s in their best interest to see these students learn.”

Learning remains the number-one goal for Cardinal Manufacturing students, and the skills they graduate with are impressive. Besides learning how to machine and weld, students are responsible for quo ng jobs, ordering materials and tools, manufacturing parts, ensuring quality control, handling accoun ng, invoicing and providing customer service. Specifi c prerequisites must be met before juniors and seniors can join the Cardinal Manufacturing team, and a resume and cover le er are required as part of the applica on process.

To accomplish all of this, Cegielski’s class is specially blocked into two back-to-back, 45-minute periods, and par cularly dedicated students also work during study hall and other free periods. In addi on, the machine shop remains open on Wednesday evenings and a few days each week during the summer months. Balancing the needs of the students with the commitments of the business can be a challenge, but one Cegielski an cipated from the beginning.

“We struggle, because we always get more work than we can get done,” he said. “But

“If you’re a high school teacher and only have 3 welders but 10 kids in front of you, you can use this machine to help another kid prac ce.It’s nice for people who don’t have the actual welders or the space or all of the investment.”



“I was able to start early, and get a good idea of what machining was all about. It prepared me for college. The fi rst semester was all manual machines, and that’s all we had in high school, so I was able to really excel. You’re way ahead of everyone else because you have that experience already.”

Brady SchuchVincent Tool employee;

CVTC and Eleva Strum graduate; former Cardinal

Manufacturing student employee


we tell our customers and they understand – they know we’re not going to have 1-day turnaround mes… it’s just a ma er of working with the customer and le ng them know up front how long the project will take.”

Realityworks’ teachWELD simulator is one tool that Cegielski an cipates using as they maintain the balance between learning and doing. This hands-on welding simulator allows students to enhance their welding skills on a video game-like machine that provides real me feedback without using costly

materials or equipment. Although Cardinal Manufacturing currently has enough real welding machines for each student – a unique situa on, he admits – Cegielski knows how useful teachWELD will be when they need another machine but aren’t able to purchase one immediately.

“If you’re a high school teacher and only have 3 welders but 10 kids in front of you, you can use this machine to help another kid prac ce,” said Cegielski. “It’s nice for people who don’t have the actual welders or the space or all of the investment.”

Learning remains a top priority for Cegielski, who relishes watching his students graduate and go on to further their careers in machining and welding. This past year saw almost all of the par cipa ng seniors join industry-related fi elds, with four students entering Chippewa Valley Technical College’s machining program, two entering the college’s welding program, and one entering the fi eld of heavy equipment opera on. The remaining students will join the business again as seniors.

“These students are not only learning how to weld or machine, but they’re learning real-life business skills: How to prepare a resume, how to dress, how to act,” he said. “When they leave here, kids have thick por olios – 3-ring binders – full of at least a cover le er, references, a resume and pictures of their work.”

Eleva-Strum Central High School graduate Brady Schuch can a est to that. Schuch graduated from Chippewa Valley Technical College with a degree in Machine Tool in

2011, and now works at Vincent Tool in Chippewa Falls. He credits his experience with Cardinal Manufacturing in giving him an extra edge over his fellow college students while in school, and accelera ng his learning experience.

“I was able to start early, and get a good idea of what machining was all about,” said Schuch. “It prepared me for college. The fi rst semester was all manual machines, and that’s all we had in high school, so I was able to really excel. You’re way ahead of everyone else because you have that experience already.”

The success of Cardinal Manufacturing, and An go High School’s Red Robin Machining, has shown Cegielski how benefi cial projects like these are to an en re community – to the students, to the school and to the en re industry. In the next year, Cardinal Manufacturing plans to hire a full- me offi ce manager and begin shipping products across state lines. These steps will allow the business to grow even more – and show Cegielski the possibili es of similar business in other loca ons, whether or not those loca ons are manufacturing hubs. His advice to other communi es that are considering similar projects: Be pa ent and work hard.

“This is not a unique situa on here. We’re a very small school and a very small town, and if it can work here, it can work anywhere,” said Cegielski. “It’s like star ng a real business – if you want to keep your customers happy, you have to be willing to go the extra mile. But it’s worth it.”

success story - realityworks · success story craig cegielski technical education teacher “we try...

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