Ceres teaches manufacturing skills

Folks from Bronco Wine Co. traveled 3 miles north to Ceres High School to see what one of its programs was turning out.

About 250 students take part in the Manufacturing Production and Green Technology Academy, which teaches electrical wiring, robotics, 3-D printing and other skills to students who might not be headed for college.

“Bronco is interested in getting skilled people working for us from this area,” said Carol Franzia, head winemaker for the company. It employs about 350 people at its winery off Keyes Road and about 420 elsewhere.

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The program requires applications from interested students, and it works math, English, history and science into the lessons. The students also take part in internships, industry tours, service projects and other activities.

The academy is part of the career and technical education portion of Ceres High, along with agriculture, computer graphics, criminal justice and independent living/home economics.

The Bronco visitors watched as senior Anna Mejia and junior Isai Anguiano used a 3-D printer to make a model of a turbocharger. The machine lays down successive layers of material over many hours, following a design entered by computer.

“This is very helpful if you are designing a building or a car,” Anguiano said.

“Other people take years to get a class like this, and we get it here for free,” Mejia noted.

Nearby, junior Dre Wallace inserted electrical wires into various outlets and measured the current in milliamps. “It’s really just basic electricity,” he said.

The academy shows students how to generate power from the sun. They have installed solar panels on several homes of low-income residents in the San Joaquin Valley through a group called Grid Alternatives.

The robotics training prepares students for work at canneries and other plants that use the technology. They learn how to solder electronic components.

Franzia said Bronco, one of the largest wine producers in the nation, seeks employees who know about grape growing, refrigeration, distribution and other aspects of the business.

“We need more people who can come in and say, ‘Yeah, I can figure this out,’ ” she said.

This story was originally published November 27, 2015 at 4:22 PM with the headline "Ceres teaches manufacturing skills."