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Jeremiah Reed, an industrial technology teacher at Fort Dodge Senior High School, joined 95 teachers for the 2026 Iowa STEM Teacher Externships Program, which places educators inside Iowa businesses to bring real-world experience back to their classrooms.
Reed will complete a six-week externship with Mechanico this summer where he will perform industrial maintenance during shutdown days at plants in Wyoming and Iowa. The work involves tasks like measuring and changing bearings and housings, sprockets, hold downs, adjusting chains to proper length, setting proper belt tension, and other tasks that help these plants run reliably until the next scheduled shutdown occurs. This position required precision measurement, strong understanding of proper personal protective equipment and safety in an industrial setting, and knowledge or the ability to quickly learn how to use a multitude of tools.
Since its launch in 2009, the Iowa Governor's STEM Advisory Council at the Iowa Department of Education has facilitated more than 1,000 teacher externships in a variety of industries throughout the state.
The Iowa STEM Teacher Externships Program creates partnerships between educators and local workplaces. These collaborations create long-term school-business relationships that strengthen the local talent pipeline and help students understand the opportunities available in their own communities.
This year, the program is supported through state-appropriated funds and investments by Iowa business, industry and community partners. This year's contributions from workplace hosts total $150,680 in addition to the STEM Council's investment.