Monfredo: Senator Warren Impressed by Worcester Technical High School Students

Well it wasn’t the President of the United States visiting Worcester Technical High School this time but on the heels of President Obama ‘s graduation speech last June Massachusetts U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren on a visit to Worcester stopped by Worcester Technical High School.

Accompanied by Worcester Public School Superintendent Boone, Mayor Joseph Petty, City Manager Ed Augustus and me, the senator was greeted at the door by Principal Kyle Brenner and a host of students. After a brief 60 minute interaction with the students in their field of study the senator stated that she was “blown” away by what she had seen and heard from the students. She then went on to say what a success story Worcester Technical High is and praised the school and the city for making this kind of investment in education. She was absolutely correct for it was an outstanding presentation by each and every student.

The Senator started her tour by talking to seniors Tim Plant and Peter Thach from the Machine Tool Technology. At their display table were two manufactured ornaments which were given to the Senator by the shop as a token of her visit to the school. The students showed the Senator the Key to the City of Worcester which was designed and produced by the Machine Tool Technology Program.

The Senator engaged in conversation with the students and asked them about their knowledge of manufacturing. The students were not shy about responding for Peter stated, “Manufacturing is not what it was years ago, for now we need more education to succeed… it is not the dirty, labor inducing work of the past. Manufacturing has been taken over by robots making the human element no longer needing to be just hard work.” The students spoke about finding new ways to improve our technological advantages. Turning to Tim, Senator Warren asked about the project on the table that dealt with the Solar Decathlon in Datong China that both students were part of two years ago when they were in the 10th grade. The students shared their experience about the trip including their partnership with students and staff from WPI and their interactions with the Chinese culture.

Next, the Senator moved on to talk to the student representatives from DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America) … an organization devoted to preparing emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing, finance, hospitality and management in high schools and colleges around the globe. Senior Finance, Marketing and Business Management students, Abdallah Issa and Sophomore Lindsay Allen discussed DECA’s mission statement and the types of national and international competitions opportunities students have through Worcester Technical High School. The Senator asked the students what they have gained from DECA and Lindsey quickly responded and stated that the real world experiences gained from the competition are what employers and business leaders look for in their employees today. Then Abdallah added that experience has given him the opportunity to take his interests and passions in marketing and incorporate them into a competitive setting that is fun as well as preparing him for college. The Senator then asked Abdallah about his plans for college and he stated, “I have been accepted into five colleges and I am waiting on seven more applications. I have been accepted to Franklin Pierce, Johnson and Wales, Nichols College, Western New England and Suffolk University.”

After that impressive presentation the Senator then moved on to the Carpentry display. There, Seniors Zachary Doucismo and Bryan McCarthy presented a scale model of the Elm Park footbridge. Senator Warren asked the students about the time frame for completion of this city-wide project. Zachary replied that, “the carpentry shop is ready, the jigs and patterns are all set, and now we are waiting on the materials.” Asked how long it would take to complete the bridge, Zack confidently replied, All of the steel plates and concrete footings are done, so once we receive the material it should take us 12 weeks to complete the bridge.” The Senator followed up with a question about handicap accessibility of the bridge and Bryan echoed, “The walkway is fully accessible for the handicap as is the entire bridge.” It was pointed out that once the Elm Park Footbridge is complete, there will be a ceremony dedicating the bridge to Mrs. Myra Hiatt Kraft. I’m sure that the Senator will be invited to that dedication as well.

The last stop on her schedule was a visit to the Biotechnology department. As the Senator entered the lab five groups of students all in while lab coats were occupied in a variety of activities… Tyler DaSilva, Tatianna Beckford, Andrew Tully and Chloe DiMarzio were centrifuging down bacteria cells for the next day’s experiment. On the next table Helen Le, Erica John, Melany Acosta, Julia Nzuki, Brianna Lavin and Machenzi Leonard were preparing chromatography columns for isolating a specific protein from the cells which group one were preparing. I had to ask myself…” Is this a college lab or a high school lab?”

In another area of the lab Arianna Young and Celina Noberto were preparing glassware in the prep room. In the tissue culture room Adja Sackor and Ryan Asanti were working on the tissue and were using sterile techniques to propagate carrot stem cells for plant cloning. Finally, on the last table Jai Chavis, Venus Nuahn, Jahlyn Hampton, Julien Rodriquez and Rabindra Neupane were using dissecting microscopes to measure and document growth of their plant stem cell cultures.

Obviously the visiting group couldn’t believe the level of work taking place in this lab. Student Tyler started the discussion by explaining to the Senator that in an earlier lab they had transformed bacteria with a gene from jellyfish which encodes a protein, called GFP (green fluorescent protein). This protein allows a certain species of jellyfish to glow in the dark. The gene in the bacteria has an on/off switch and when a sugar called arabinose is added to the bacterial culture, the gene expresses the protein and the cells will glow in the dark under a black light.

Questions about the all the scientific processes and the curriculum evolved. It was explained by the students that the curriculum is based on the state frameworks and these included competency tests for different lab skills. A student must achieve mastery in all the competency tests to receive a certificate in Biotechnology. The Senator asked for the students’ future plans, Tyler indicated that he would like to get a PhD but not sure in what field yet. Machenzie said that her plans included being a marine biologist and Julia wants to be a CSI expert.

Instructor Dr. VanderSpek then had the students pose for pictures with the Senator. All the students were most excited to see the Senator and explain their course projects to her.

Needless to say, Principal Brenner was very proud of the staff and the students and welcomed the opportunity for the students to explain their area of concentration to the Senator. Principal Brenner acknowledged, “Senator Warren’s visit was a fitting tribute to the progress that has and continues to be made by the staff and students at Worcester Technical High School… the Senator was able to witness firsthand the efforts that have garnered our school the U.S. Blue Ribbon School distinction.”

Well done Worcester Technical High School! The accolades and national recognition for Worcester Technical High School continue!

E-mail me at [email protected]

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