Mississippi Students Visit DeSoto Plant
Over the years, our sister company Memphis Stone & Gravel Co. has enjoyed hosting hundreds of students, teachers and others interested in learning about the industry. Recently, the DeSoto plant welcomed young learners from Mississippi Homeschool Life and North Panola High School Career and Technical Center to tour the facility and learn about the mining process.Both visits were led by Alan Parks, along with Dave Leverett, Corbin Moore, Nick Jackson and Stan Wright.
Students had the opportunity to experience the key parts of the company’s mining operations, including how asphalt and concrete is made and how we meet specifications.
“This is something we look forward to each year,” said Alan Parks. “Seeing students engaged and asking questions about the mining cycle is extremely rewarding. “Overall, the students gained a better understanding of the service Memphis Stone & Gravel provides for our community and were able to better understand how we responsibly manage Earth’s resources.”
Our companies have been learning more about the work STREETS Ministries does as we complete service projects for them on MLK Day. The tables were turned when a group of students from STREETS came to learn about our operations.
He introduced the students to the paving industry, talking about the uses for asphalt, how it is made and the materials used. Richard was joined by Melanie Stinson, Diane Dobbs and Michael Frizzell as members of the human resources, quality control and project management departments.
To give the students an understanding of the types of positions we offer, each person shared a little about their respective role and their day-to-day responsibilities.
Several of the students live in close proximity to our offices, but had no idea what went on inside our fence. One of the young ladies asked if women could operate equipment and said, “I like that women can work here. I already know how to weld and I think I could operate equipment, too.”
The students will be back in the spring for another trip to see an asphalt plant and paving crews in action.
