The Mundelein High School/MacLean-Fogg Co-op program is a partnership between District 120 and the family-owned MacLean-Fogg manufacturing company, headquartered on Allanson Road in Mundelein. The program is limited to 10 new students each year, and requires a two-year commitment beginning in the student’s junior year.  Students are part-time, paid employees during the two class periods per school day that they attend manufacturing-related, dual-credit classes and on-the-job training.  The program is designed to give students a thorough understanding of the manufacturing environment, dual-credit college level courses specific to the industry, valuable hands-on experience and the possibility of post-graduation employment (including the opportunity to pursue higher education through the employee education program) with MacLean-Fogg.

In just its second year, the program is showing a positive return on the investment for both the students and for MacLean-Fogg.  Three 2020 MHS graduates, Michael Dodge, Cole Fritz and Michael Such all began their full-time careers with MacLean-Fogg this summer.  Fritz officially began his full-time position on July 21. Fritz had originally planned to attend college full-time and work part-time for the company. However, due to the college’s decision to move to remote learning, he found it financially advantageous to begin working full-time now as he continues to pursue his degree online. He said, “Being part of the program made the transition pretty easy.  I already knew how things worked, and I was already comfortable with the (MacLean-Fogg) culture and processes”.

Dodge began working on August 3 in the tooling area. Like Fritz, Dodge said, “I got a pretty good idea of what it (the tool room) was going to be like when I was in there during the program; so no big surprises. It’s what I expected, and I knew I would like it.” Dodge said he may take a few courses at CLC for additional certifications or training along the way, but right now his plan is to simply soak up the on-the-job training and knowledge, and look to grow through experience. He says he really likes the hands-on nature of the work.

Michael Such’s official start date was Monday, August 10.  He will begin working in the forming department, and plans also to take advantage of the employee education program immediately.  His long-term goal is to gain practical experience in manufacturing while earning his engineering degree, and to eventually move into an engineering position with MacLean-Fogg. In addition to the benefits of the MacLean-Fogg program, Such credits his experience in Mundelein High School’s Project Lead the Way (PLTW) classes with sparking his interest in Engineering and product design. He is confident that his time and experience working in forming and in the manufacturing environment will eventually make him a better engineer.

While these three young men are the first full-time employees to graduate from the program, they are not the first to make a commitment to MacLean-Fogg.  MHS 2019 Alum, Ben Denson, was in the program’s first graduating class.  He was the recipient of the MacLean-Fogg college scholarship and is a full-time student pursuing his engineering degree at the University of Iowa.  During the summer, Denson is working as an engineering intern with MacLean-Fogg, and was one of the instructors providing the new-student orientation and safety training for juniors entering the program this fall.