Students from Madison Academic High School and Jackson Central-Merry Early College, toured Toyota Bodine Aluminum, 301 James Lawrence Road, in the fifth annual ‘Manufacturing Day,’ Friday.

Jason Bates, the administration manager at Toyota Bodine, said the visit benefits the student and the manufacturer.

“It’s important we have young people get exposure to manufacturing,” Bates said. “We have 24 students from Madison and Jackson Central-Merry Early College who may be looking at manufacturing as a career.”

Students from 23 area high schools in the 14 county Jackson State Community College service area participated in the event coordinated by JSCC, the Jackson Chamber and manufacturers from Henry County to McNairy County.

Friday’s event attracted more than 250 total students to area facilites, and October 6, 100 plus students participated in the event.

Toyota Bodine Aluminum in Jackson manufactures 4-cylinder engine blocks for Camry, Corolla, RAV4 and V6 engine blocks for, Camry, Highlander, Sienna, the Tacoma pickup and the Lexus ES and Lexus RX, and the V8 engine block for Sequoia SUV and Tundra truck.

Toyota Bodine also manufactures automatic transmission cases and housings for Avalon, Camry, Lexus RX 350 and Sienna.

About 2.2 million engine blocks and transmission cases are manufactured each year at the Jackson facility.

Chad Guthrie, principal at Madison Academic School, said visiting Toyota Bodine was valuable for his students for various reasons.

“Not every kid in our school is interested in attending a four-year school, and having no student debt makes a lot of sense to our students,” Guthrie said. “We can’t reproduce anything (Toyota Bodine) has at school, and this gives them a chance to see things we can’t duplicate.”

(PHOTO: Students from Madison Academic High School and Jackson Central-Merry Early College participate in Manufacturing Day at Toyota Bodine Aluminum)
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