Monday, August 30, 2010
This year marked the 10th year that the Atlanta Regional Commission has partnered with Clark Atlanta University’s Summer Transportation Institute in a program to educate high school students on the issues of transportation and community development. 2010 was a banner year for ARC’s collaborative effort, with agency personnel involved in areas that included student selection, program development and providing a day-long onsite session on local and regional issues and community development. In keeping with the sustainability theme that is guiding ARC’s long-range regional plan development, the experiential learning experience for the students focused on issues of sustainability with respect to regional development, transportation and environmental planning. Planning staff provided a series of presentations to introduce concepts that were followed by hands on exercises where the students applied the concepts and created elements of a community. Experts from ICLEI: Local Governments for Sustainability and Southface provided valuable feedback to the students from the perspective of sustainability. ARC’s professional staff in transportation, GIS, environmental and land use planning worked closely with the students throughout the day, including helping them understand the connection between local and regional planning and reinforcing the career options involved in this work.
Clark Atlanta University hosts the federally-funded Summer Transportation Institute which is one of over 40 universities around the country that offer the federally funded Summer Transportation Institute (STI). In addition to ARC, other partners include the Metropolitan Atlanta Regional Transit Authority, Georgia Regional Transportation Authority, the Federal Railroad Administration, the Georgia Department of Transportation, the Federal Aviation Administration, US Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration.
Program Description: In an effort to address the need for a diverse workforce in the 21st Century and to create an awareness of the career choices and opportunities that exist in the transportation industry, the United State Department of Transportation (USDOT) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) established the National Summer Transportation Institute Program. In this program, middle and high school students participate in a series of academic and practical experiences designed to motivate them toward professions in the transportation industry. The program shows the students what the transportation Industry employs: administrators, political scientists, social scientists, computer scientists, as well as engineers (mechanical, electrical, civil, etc.)
Clark Atlanta University is one of over 40 universities around the country that offer a Summer Transportation Institute (STI). Participants at CAU will also be provided with mathematics, science, and technological enrichment to enable them to pursue a career in transportation. At CAU, the program is designed for upcoming 9th through 12th grade students with a minimum grade point average of 3.00. Students must express a sincere interest in science, engineering, or mathematics, or any related field pertinent to transportation in their application.
While it would be impossible to show the programs, presentations, or describe all the trips taken by the students away from the CAU campus, the following might provide an example of what was covered this year.
There were about eighty (80) students that applied to the Summer Transportation Institute program at Clark Atlanta University this year. Of these, twenty-five students were selected to attend. The program began with a full day Orientation Session on Friday, June 4, 2010.
During the week of June 7 – 12, 2010, the students visited the Georgia Department of Transportation’s Traffic Management Center, the MARTA Headquarters and the Control Facility and then travelled to Savannah to visit with the Georgia Ports Authority. They also went to the Air Force’s Mighty 88th Museum to learn about the role that the Tuskegee Airmen had during World War II.
On the second week of the program (June 14 – 18, 2010), CAU STI’s counterpart, the Albany State University came to Atlanta to participate in the FHWA’s bridge-building exercise. During their visit, both schools visited Southern Polytechnical University and the Fernbank Science Museum. During the last part of the week, the CAU STI students traveled to Albany State University and participated in interactive activities involving transportation of goods and new technology enhancing the movement and tracking of such goods. They also visited the Marine Logistics Branch that is responsible for refurbishing and returning military vehicles to locations around the world.
During the third week, the students had structured classroom assignments that ranged from English, Math, and Web Design sessions to Robotics Vehicle assembly and programming.
On the fourth and last week, the Atlanta Regional Commission provided to ½ day sessions on careers and work etiquette and also hosted the STI students to a day-long session on community development.
For additional information about the program, contact Carlos Garza, Program Director, cgarza@cau.edu