COLUMBIA, Tenn. (WTVF) — Kids in Columbia are getting a taste of life at General Motors.
Approximately 200 kids are benefiting from a grant given to the Boys and Girls Club of Maury County.
"These kids are from different socioeconomic backgrounds so if we can start them with different STEM activities early on in their young lives, I think there will be some major life-changing decisions [made] when they get older," said Walena Anderson, a GM employee and a board member at the Boys and Girls Club.
Michael Gruhn works at the GM plant in Spring Hill and is also passionate about making sure careers in science, technology, engineering and math are options for kids.
"Even if it's just building legos...and getting to know how stuff works," Gruhn said. "It's very important to introduce the mind to it."
The GM Foundation gives grants to community organizations once a year. The Boys and Girls Club of Maury County has received a $10,000 STEM grant annually since 2015.
"I like that they teach us a lot..." said student Nyana Jones about the after school programs. "Sometimes they teach us stuff [we] don't know."
Because the plant is a major employer in the area, kids get the added bonus of learning about what some of their older relatives do on the job.
"It's been great to kind of give them some exposure to what their family members are doing professionally," said Robyn Peery, the club's CEO. "Our kids' view of what they can be when they grow up is limited to what they are exposed to. So the more exposure we can give them to career ideas the more that future broadens for them."
In the summer, GM also hosts a manufacturing academy at it's facility. High-school students get to build wooden cars on the assembly line.
