What started out as a Cub Scout project in the early 1990s is now a highly anticipated event every November at Dura Supreme Cabinetry. For the past 33 years, every employee that has a 5th grader in their life, be it a parent or grandparent, is invited to bring them to our annual Kids Switch Day event.
It’s not every day your children get to see what you do at work first-hand. Our Kids Switch students typically step away from this event with a newfound sense of honor for what their parent or grandparent does for work, an understanding of what it means to work hard, take care in the quality of their work, and get a feel for the manufacturing and woodworking industry. It can also help them be inspired to start building good habits at school that will help them be successful in their future careers.
Check out our Instagram Reel to see more pictures from this event!
An Inspiring Morning & Lesson on Manufacturing
The morning is filled with fun and educational activities. I had the honor of presenting the traditional inspirational speech. This part of the class teaches how important it is to be a good student and how those same traits carry over to being a good employee one day. We also discuss topics like “what is manufacturing?” how important quality, safety, and innovation are to the industry as well as what we do here at Dura Supreme.
Throughout the class, students are encouraged to break into discussions with the group and share ideas on how their efforts at school or home can help build positive habits so they can work towards success in their future careers.
The Kids Switch Day Factory Tour
A Factory Tour is up next! Our volunteer tour guides take the children on a walk throughout our facility, teaching them how a cabinet is made from start to finish. They get to see first-hand what a work day looks like in manufacturing at Dura Supreme and how important each job is for helping ensure we make a quality product and service for our customers.
During the tour, every child gets to make a special stop to see their parent or grandparent and hear them explain and demonstrate what their role is at Dura Supreme to the tour group.
Dura Supreme’s Environmental Health and Safety Manager, Tom, gave a lecture to the Kids Switch Students about safety and demonstrated how to responsibly use the tools for the Build-a-Cabinet project. Tom has over 30 years of experience at Dura Supreme and has been one of our coaching our Kids Switch Students over the years.
The Build-A-Cabinet Project
After the tour, the class meets in the lunch room for our Build-A-Cabinet project! With assistance from the managers and our volunteer supervisors as they get geared up with the proper safety equipment, our Environmental Health and Safety Manager, Tom Christensen, gives a presentation on safety and demonstrate the how to properly and responsibly use the tools they will need to make their cabinet. Then everyone dives into this fun hands-on activity.
As the project ends, Liz Dennis, the Production Supervisor, gives a presentation on quality. The children learn about the importance of paying attention to details to make a high-quality product. After passing “inspection,” the cabinet is theirs to keep and take home as a memorable keepsake of their day at Dura Supreme!
Student Switch Class of 2025
Over the past 13+ years that I’ve been at Dura Supreme Cabinetry, Kids Switch Day is a truly inspiring event for everyone involved every year. I love seeing the faces of my co-workers throughout our facility, filled with smiles for the children. You can feel the strong presence of pride for what we do radiating through the building. You can see the children throughout the day understanding and gaining their own pride in what their parent/grandparent does for a living.
This was the 2nd year I had the honor of having one of my own children at the event, so it was especially inspiring. My daughter was very excited to share what she learned with her teacher and classmates the next day.
It is a blessing to work for a company that not only supports their employees in many ways but makes the investment to support our children/grandchildren and their future careers. We hope all the students this year walked away inspired! I can’t wait for next years class!
