Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce Foundation (WMC) created scholarships for high school students to attend its 2018 Wisconsin Business World camps. A diamond-level sponsor, Waupaca Foundry in turn extended 15 scholarships to children of employees interested in attending the camps.

"Things like this you can't put a price on as far as what the foundry does for us. My wife and I are very grateful," Mike Hass, father of attendee Jaden Hass, said.

Opportunities like this not only positively affect Waupaca Foundry employees and their families but the surrounding communities as well.

"Waupaca Foundry supports the WMC foundation because it allows young adults to understand the basics of capitalism. This was one of the founding principles of the United States, and we are glad to reinforce this in students' education to help better the economy, which in turn benefits us all," Mike Nikolai, President, COO and CEO, says.

Attendees included:

• Kyle Hotvedt, son of Mary Hotvedt, Waupaca Foundry credit manager. Kyle is a freshman at Waupaca High School and attended the UW-Stevens Point camp.
• Kaleb Bannach, son of mill room operator, Derek Bannach. Kaleb is a student at Waupaca High School and attended the UW-Stevens Point camp.
• Jaden Hass, son of Mike Hass, a casting layout technician. Jaden is a Menominee High School student and attended the St. Norbert camp.

Over the four-day camps, students were exposed to the world of business and participated in hands-on activities — learning the value of a free enterprise system, financial literacy and ethics of business.

"I really enjoyed learning how a business works. Most of all, I liked learning about stocks and the trade market," Kyle said.

The camp also allowed students to explore job opportunities available after high school or college, giving them the chance to start planning for their future.

"It's a great opportunity for young people to be exposed to the workings of a business. Who knows, someday they may be working for Waupaca Foundry or starting their own business that we may shop at," Kirk Kallio, director of human resources, says.

This year's camps will be held June 16-19 at St. Norbert College and June 23-26 at the University of Wisconsin- Madison.

Registration is due in June, depending on the date on the camp.

For more information on Business World and the summer camps, visit their website or watch the Business World summer 2018 video here.

Waupaca Foundry employees interested in sending their children on a sponsored scholarship, please reach out to Michelle Grajkowski directly at mgrajkowski@wmc.org.