AGM Gives High School Students an Employment Edge |
AGM Container Controls, Inc.
3526 East For Lowell Road
Tucson, AZ, 85716
USA
Press release date: August 22, 2011
Tucson, AZ (08/22/11) - AGM Container Controls, an award-winning Tucson manufacturer, is partnering with a local high school to help students achieve education and workforce success. AGM has added four San Miguel Cristo Rey High School students to their workforce, including 14-year-old high school freshman Aurora Cupis, as part of a Corporate Internship Program. Aurora and the three other students will rotate working one day per week at AGM for the whole school year. In return, AGM pays a fee to the school that supports 60% of each student's tuition at the private, college preparatory high school.
"My mom told me she sees family members who have no college degree who are fearful of getting laid off," said Aurora. "She told me I have to I graduate high school and go on to college to make my future better. To live my dream."
Aurora, who attended Chaparral Middle School and is one of 11 children, heard about San Miguel Cristo Rey High School from her cousin. The high school, which has a 100% graduation and college acceptance rate, offers its students college preparatory classes and corporate internships that provide real-world work experience, local business connections and college tuition assistance. San Miguel currently works with more than 90 local businesses, ranging in size from 3 to 300 employees, to provide entry-level professional work one day per week for its students. San Miguel's in-house employment agency manages the partnerships, handling training, transportation and troubleshooting as needed.
Aurora's first day of school at San Miguel and her first day of work at AGM were the same day, Monday, August 8. While Aurora is not sure what she wants to do as a career, she is excited about starting the work-study program with her three classmates, all three of which hope to further their interest in engineering by working at AGM this year.
"We want to make this work-study opportunity a positive experience for the kids," said Howard N. Stewart, AGM's President and CEO. "I'm a teacher at heart, so I want to make these internships to be a positive learning experience for each one of these students. Accordingly, we're putting together a checklist for the students to ensure that they get exposed to all possible facets of the company."
In business for more than 40 years, AGM manufactures environmental control hardware for containers that hold missiles and other sensitive equipment, as well as a line of wheelchair lifts that enable those with disabilities access to stages and platforms in public venues. In 2009, AGM was honored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce with the "America's Best Small Business" award. In July 2011, AGM made the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. for the third consecutive year.
In addition to the Corporate Internship Program with San Miguel, AGM further supports an educated workforce through its employee education program. The program, which was developed nearly 40 years ago and continues to this day, enables current AGM employees to work part-time or full-time while they attend college. In addition, they are reimbursed for the cost of their education up to $5,200 per year depending on their grades.
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