This month, CAST STEM hosted a panel of students who held summer internships at San Antonio’s Toyota Motor Manufacturing. As a parent of teens myself, my jaw hit the floor as students recounted weeks of getting up at the crack of dawn. Literally, Jason Eslora said: “I was not expecting to wake up at 4:15 a.m., but it was worth it.”
Eight CAST STEM completed a summer internship at the auto manufacturer. The panelists described a life-changing experience.
“Toyota is setting us up to get a career,” said Carlie Rodriguez. Others called the experience “phenomenal,” one where they acquired skills, knowledge and built their confidence.
Toyota’s Maurice Salazar described this group of interns as “best class I have seen in 12 years of running high school internships.”
“This internship helped me get a look at real-world experience, Eslora said. “I definitely want to go back to Toyota.”
Toyota isn’t the only employer building an intentional career ladder that begins at CAST STEM, but it’s a leading one, and this video shares a bit more about that partnership. Toyota believes in what we at CAST call the long interview, one that builds loyalty as well as skills in young talent. “This internship helped me get a look at real-world experience, Eslora said. “I definitely want to go back to Toyota.”
One of the global employer’s priorities is to educate young people on how manufacturing has evolved as a clean and high-tech industry, and to attract more young women. To close out manufacturing month, Toyota’s Carla Wright joined women from H-E-B and Helmy Plastics for a panel discussion at CAST STEM that was covered by News 4 here.
This October has been one of the newsiest manufacturing months I can remember, with headlines heralding a major Toyota expansion and the advent of global manufacturing giant JCB. According to Romanita Matta-Barrera of Greater: SATX, manufacturing is one of the top growing sectors in San Antonio, expected to grow 50 percent in the next 5 years from its current size of 60,000. The average salary for manufacturing jobs is $75,000 – and that growth is concentrated on San Antonio’s Southside, right down the street from CAST STEM High School!
Jeanne Russell
Executive Director
CAST Schools
