News

High School Students and Recent Graduates Honored at MBTA’s Summer Intern Graduation

Posted August 2016

On Wednesday, August 24, dignitaries from the Massachusetts ‘ Departments of Transportation and Labor and Workforce Development and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), along with local educators, gathered to honor thirty students as they graduated from the MassDOT Summer Intern Transportation Institute.  During the seven-week summer program, students—from rising juniors to recent graduates, almost all from Madison Park Technical Vocational High School (MPTVHS)—worked in a range of positions in MBTA and MassDOT offices and shops and participated in weekly professional development training and transportation-related field trips. 

At the graduation ceremony, Secretary of Transportation Stephanie Pollack, Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development Ron Walker, Massachusetts Highway Administrator Tom Tinlin, MPTVHS Executive Director Kevin McCaskill and MBTA Chief Operations Officer Jeff Gonneville praised the program and the young men and women who had participated in it.  The students, grouped according to the locations they had worked in, made presentations that covered what they had learned, who they had worked with and how they intended to take their experience and knowledge into the future. 

Students spent their summer in placements based on their vocational areas of study; summer interns worked in IT computer tech, Green Line administration, sheetmetal, carpentry, auto tech, electrical, real estate, safety, security or telecommunications.  In order to obtain the two years of experience necessary to apply for MBTA mechanic positions, all summer interns who have graduated have either been admitted into further education at technical schools or community colleges—several of which they visited during the summer program—or have the opportunity to be employed by program business partner, Expressway Toyota.  Penny Nickle, Project Lead for the Summer Institute, emphasized that many of these students are from immigrant families, often the first generation in their family to graduate from high school and go on to college and technical school.  “It’s a real thrill,” she said, “to see these wonderful young people be interested and prepare them for a career in the transportation industry.”

The Transportation Learning Center’s contribution to the program was noted at the ceremony; the Summer Institute was one of the pilot locations for two modules—an industry overview and maintenance overview—of the Center’s in-development Transportation Core Competencies Curriculum (TC3).  Frank Burnett and Lynelle Butterfield, IBEW Local 103’s trainers, MBTA electricians and long-time Center Subject Matter Experts represented the Center at the graduation, having worked with the students when they delivered the TC3 maintenance module in July.  “It’s nice to be part of these workforce and training initiatives,” said Frank, “as we all start to prepare the next generation for the many opportunities in the transportation industry.”