AC Horn inaugural internship with Dallas schools is a resounding success

When representatives from AC Horn attended a virtual job fair for the Dallas Independent School District’s Career and Technical Education Program last spring, they were hoping to find one candidate for a summer internship. Instead, they were so impressed with the CTE students that two were hired — a big move for a company with only 70 full-time staff.

That level of talent set the tone for the entire internship, which ran from mid-June through August, says Michael Horn, president.

“Our team was so impressed with these two students, one of whom worked in an engineering support role, while another learned CNC, or computer numerical control,” Horn says. “Typically, a trainee would start on a manual lathe rather than CNC, but our intern was a natural and picked it up in a week. By the end of his internship, he was an equal member of the machine shop.”

The second intern had equally solid achievements, doing 3-D AutoCAD work by the end of his program, Horn adds, noting that the hands-on learning at AC Horn could be invaluable to the two students in their future studies and careers.

“The school system sent us the best of the best, and we were able to pick up where classroom teaching left off and allow them to learn on the job,” he says. “We didn’t know what to expect, and now can see the great things that the CTE program is accomplishing with their students. I hope we can get more of them next summer and eventually bring them back as new staff members. This program is really good news for us, as well as other manufacturers in the area, because it shows that our school system is working to create a pipeline of skilled workers that will help us attract and retain top talent and grow our local economy.”

The internship program participation is a part of AC Horn’s ongoing partnership with the Dallas ISD.