GRAFTON, Ohio — It’s not your typical classroom.
Midview High School is the very first in Ohio to have its own cleanroom, a place where students learn about the microelectronics related to those chips and sensors found in a cell phones, cars, and other smart products. The official term is "micro-electromechanical system," or MEMS.
No matter what you call it, this is a career track in great demand.
"Everything you see in here is used in the industry by most companies," teacher Kevin Gardella explains. "So students will be able to have experience with those toolings and then they go run industry, and it'll be seamless."
Midview's MEMS pathway is a partnership with both Intel and Lorain County Community College. It took three years of hard work to get here.
First, the school's former woodshop was transformed into the cleanroom we see today. Gardella also needed proper accreditation, while MEMS course work was developed.
"Our students here that are sophomores, juniors, and seniors are working with the same exact curriculum that a college student is," Assistant Superintendent of Midview Schools Frank Major said.
A decade ago, LCCC began their MEMS program after seeing the investments industries made into the field of microelectronics, investments growing locally since construction began on Intel's $20 billion plants in Licking County.
"There is an entire supply chain that comes to Ohio with Intel, and it means there's going to be even greater demand for graduates of this program," Kelly Zelenik, the dean of engineering at Lorain County Community College, told 3News.
Seven students are in the program now, and Gardella is glad they are starting small as they get off the ground. Forty-five students have expressed interest going forward.
"I always thought I wanted to go into some kind of electrical engineering field," junior Nolan Norman said, "and I found this class and I really, really enjoy it."
"Just being able to get hands on with this and just do it now made me feel a lot more comfortable really getting into this field," Gabe Borror, a senior, added.
While students get experience, there's more work ahead, including to make this an officially certified cleanroom.
"We're gowning up and doing the same procedures as if it was a cleanroom,” Gardella said. "And then next year, we're going to come in and incase it and get the proper ducting and airflow and all that stuff."
"This became just a natural outgrowth to be able to extend our MEMS program into high schools," Zelenik explained. "Hopefully, we'll be able to do it even more."
It's a unique idea that prepares students for today's jobs, right out of high school.
"They can walk into Intel or Lorain County Community College and earn six figures easily in the field of MEMS," Major said.
Since last year, Intel has grown its Ohio supply chain footprint to 300 companies in more than 38 counties, including those that make up Northeast Ohio.