Nine high-school and college students representing the next generation of the country’s best and brightest got the chance to see firsthand what a science career is all about during a May 4 visit to the Old Hickory Lock and Dam in Hendersonville, Tennessee.
The trip came courtesy of an agreement between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Tennessee State University to help prepare students for STEM careers in science, technology, engineering and math.
During the tour of the Old Hickory Lock and Dam, adjacent to a power plant on the Cumberland River, the students learned about hydroelectric power, managing natural resources and the roles of military and civilian personnel, an Army Corps of Engineers release said.
Since the recession, STEM careers have captured attention of both the academic and business worlds as a way to combat a lack of jobs for millennials and to address a shortage of workers in science-related occupations.
Tennessee State University senior Darrell Butler Jr. said the visit opened his eyes to a career in energy.
“Most people don’t get this opportunity to see how the corps operates and have the opportunity to ask questions,” Butler said in the release. “I'm so impressed, that I want to work for the Corps of Engineers.”
The Nashville District’s Small Business chief,
Roy Rossignol, chief of the Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District Small Business Office, said in the release that STEM education is “a path for career advancement.”
“STEM is great way we can expose our youth to different career fields in high school and college,” Rossignol said in the release. “Our goal is to take this opportunity to open the teachers and students eyes through STEM and hopefully they will want to come back and work for the Corps someday.”
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