ST. LOUIS – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ St. Louis District held a farewell ceremony Wednesday, wrapping up a successful semester of working with students from Clyde C. Miller Career Academy in St. Louis.
Five students worked in various departments ranging from Geotechnical Engineering to Internal Review in the District office since January, gaining real-world experiences and applying skills they have learned in the classroom. During their time with the St. Louis District, the interns learned how to communicate effectively in the workplace, pay attention to detail, prepare for briefings, and work as a team.
This is the fourth year that the Corps has participated in the program with Clyde C. Miller Career Academy, which has placed high school seniors as interns with businesses for nearly 20 years.
The St. Louis District became involved in the Academy’s placement program following a classroom presentation about careers in the Corps. While the internship program was already in place, it was the personal interaction that brought the proper pieces together, according to Tom Bast, Database Management instructor at the Academy. Bast was one of a half dozen Clyde C. Miller faculty members in attendance who were instrumental in supporting the students’ placement at the Corps.
“This class continues to display the outstanding qualities of those before them,” he said. “There is a great heart among these students, which will serve them well.”
In his remarks to the group, Col. Anthony Mitchell, commander of the St. Louis District, highlighted his own experiences with mentorship, and stressed that opportunity could counter a sense of hopelessness among young people.
“We are all charged to dream big,” Mitchell said. “My future is bright because someone built a bridge for me. Each of us should do the same for the future of these young people.
Graduating senior Donovan Forrest received a standing ovation from an audience that included his mother and grandmother when he explained how the opportunity to intern with the Corps kept him from less productive choices and allowed him to be judged on the merits of his character rather than his appearance.
“This internship played a big role in my life,” Forrest said, adding “it will stay with me for the rest of my life.”
Forrest, a student athlete who wants to study computer engineering in college, worked in the District’s library; Markeece Kemper applied his accounting interest in the Internal Review branch; Dashan Hayes, applied his business management skills in Logistics branch; Telisha Lambert, used her Civil Engineering awareness with the Geotechnical branch; and Terrell Carter, supported the Information Technology branch with his computer science training.
The St. Louis District’s participation in this program fulfills the Corps’ responsibility to foster passion in tomorrow’s engineers while providing experiences and perspectives to students that are different from what they already know. It is part of the overall support of studies in science, technology, engineering and math known as STEM.
The Corps’ STEM mission is to build relationships between local students, communities, higher education and the Corps of Engineers to increase interest in STEM curriculum and career fields in order to build a diverse and capable future STEM workforce.
Release no. 15-022