Federal partners take STEM opportunities to inner-city students, students to Carlyle Lake



Members of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary discuss boating
 safety with students before taking them for a ride around
Carlyle Lake.



Thirty-four students from Madison Accelerated High School in Madison, Ill., traveled to Carlyle Lake May 8 to try their hand at fishing, canoeing, boating, and geocaching as a culmination to this year’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Outreach Program hosted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Louis District and U.S. Coast Guard Sector Upper Mississippi River.

The 11th- and 12th-grade students also learned critical survival skills and the do’s and don’ts of exercise and fitness. For many of the students, the day marked their first time experiencing several of the events.

“The excitement the students brought to our STEM events this year has been amazing,” Brandon Hansen, USCG, said. “It was a great way to end the year with new and exciting activities for them.”



Students from Madison Accelerated High School canoe
at Carlyle Lake at the culmination of the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers and U.S. Coast Guard joint STEM outreach
program.



The students have participated in the joint outreach program for the last eight months, welcoming members from the Corps and Coast Guard into the classroom to lead hands-on activities that enhanced the science, engineering and math concepts specific to school’s geographic location.

Located in the Metro East, the school’s close proximity to the Mississippi River, the third largest watershed in the world, made the federal partnership’s mission dual-fold.

Partners on the river, the two organizations also worked to educate the students on the importance of sustaining the watershed and the navigation channel, which brings more than 58 million tons of cargo between Minneapolis-St. Paul and St. Louis every year.

Through the outreach program, the students had the opportunity to build and better understand structures such as levees, river training structures, watercraft and building designs, and understand the concepts of buoyancy, environmental stewardship, naval architecture and mechanical engineering. The students also toured the Coast Guard Aids to Navigation facility, response boats house, and the Corps’ Applied River Engineering Center and Melvin Price Lock and Dam.

Educating students in STEM-related concepts and career fields is a passion held by both the Corps and Coast Guard commanders.

 “As an engineer, I know how important science, technology, engineering and math are to the development of our country,” Col. Chris Hall, St. Louis District commander, said. “They are critical to our future.”

For more information or high resolution photos, contact Colin Fogarty with the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Upper Mississippi River or Mike Petersen of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Students gain career insights from Corps, USCG during Shadow Day

Students listen to Jacob Prebianca, St. Louis District co-op
student as he describes what the Water Control office does.
(Photo by Lafayette HS Student Shadow Brendan Donahue)

By  Mary Tomlinson,
Eureka High School Student Shadow

As Students from the Rockwood School District Career Shadowing Program waited anxiously in the lobby of the Robert A. Young Federal Building in St. Louis, Mo., the morning of Nov. 4, 2011, similar thoughts ran rapidly through their heads: What should they expect? Who would their shadow be? Would they gain anything from this full day of shadowing? Seven hours and one informative experience later, those questions no longer lingered and even more had been answered.

More than 30 students from four Rockwood School District high schools took time out of their busy schedules to shadow professionals from a variety of careers within the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Coast Guard. The careers ranged from civil engineers and architects to attorneys and graphic designers.

Col. Chris Hall, the Corps’ St. Louis District commander and one of the civil engineering career experts, said the experience was “a great opportunity for a glimpse of a career.” “Your involvement as citizens will help shape the Corps' priorities. The things you learn about today, the projects and plans we’re working on, are all rooted in the voice of your parents and any voting Americans.

Mary interviews Commander of the St. Louis
District Col. Chris Hall as part of her shadow day experience.
(Photo by Lafayette HS Student Shadow Brendan Donahue)

The colonel’s shadow, Meghan Pregler, a junior at Lafayette High School, shared the colonel’s opinion on the productiveness of the program. She said it expanded her knowledge of her desired career and that she learned about “the different pieces that make up civil engineering.”

“I especially enjoyed getting a glimpse into the world of civil engineering and seeing how it affects the community,” Pregler said.

Just as civil engineering has a direct impact on the community, Shadow Day had a direct impact on the students’ lives. Chief Warrant Officer Brandon Hansen of the Coast Guard, though he wasn’t directly involved in the shadowing, still realized the importance of the day. Hansen helped to arrange for nine students to work with members of the Coast Guard.

“The great thing about Shadow Day,” Hansen expressed, “is its ability to identify the right career path or to point out the wrong career path.”

At the end of the day, students walked away embodying Hansen’s belief. Shadow Day gave students a first-hand look at potential career fields and answered questions that couldn’t have been answered any other way. It helped prepare them for the real world and has the potential to be a valuable experience to look back upon.

 

Students from the Rockwood School District talk about their career
aspirations during shadow day with the St. Louis District and
the U.S. Coast Guard.
(Video by Public Affairs Specialist Romanda Walker and Lafayette HS
Student Shadow Brian McKanna)

Editor’s Note: This article and its associated content were created by students in the Rockwood School District during their Shadow Day experience with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers St. Louis District’s Public Affairs Office November 4, 2011.  (Author: Mary Tomlinson, Photographer: Brendan Donahue and Videographer: Brian McKanna)