Plant, office tours enlighten teachers

Michael Burgess, Rockwell collin plant manager, give Bellevue (Iowa) High School teachers a tour of the plant Monday.

Photo By: Dave Kettering

Erin Fischer drives past the Rockwell Collins facility on State Street almost every day.

Prior to Monday, the English teacher at Bellevue Middle/High School never knew much about what goes on inside it.

Fischer and 29 other faculty members from the Bellevue Community School District got an up-close look at three businesses Monday, thanks to a first-time effort coordinated by Jackson County Economic Alliance aimed at informing educators about local industries.

Teachers paid visits to Rockwell Collins and Sedgwick CMS in Bellevue, as well as Precision Metal Works in Maquoketa.

Fischer said she took away plenty of information from her visits -- especially when it came to the Rockwell Collins facility, located just a short distance from where she teaches.

The company designs and produces products for customers in aerospace and defense industries. The Bellevue operation builds items such as flight-control computers, controls for airplane cockpits and communication radios.

"To see what the building looks like on the inside and to learn what a large employer in the community is like, that really helps open some bridges between the school and the community," Fischer said.

She said the visit helped expand her perspective on the opportunities that await her students after graduation. (full article...)

BY JEFF MONTGOMERY, Dubuque Telegraph Herald, January 20, 2015. JEFF.MONTGOMERY@THMEDIA.COM