From High School Apprenticeship Program by Sally Sargent in the Brookhaven Bulletin, August 3, 1984
It may have been wet outside last Friday, but there was no rain on the students’ parade. “Sometimes things work out less than ideal, but then we’re not here for a vacation, we’re here to work,” declared program instructor Arthur Pitschi as his class settled down for last minute instructions. It was the final day of the four week Minority High School Apprenticeship Program at BNL, and in moments, Lab vans would arrive to transport the 15 students to Port Jefferson. There, the oceanography research vessel “Onrust” was waiting to take them young crew for a sample collecting excursion on Long Island Sound.
For the fourth summer, with U.S. Department of Energy funds, BNL is sponsoring this program for Suffolk County minority high school students who show potential in sciences, mathematics or engineering. Thirty students, who will be entering the tenth and eleventh grade in the fall, were recommended by their school faculty to participate in one of the two four week terms.
Each term is divided into four weekly segments taught by high school teachers: the first week is Physics, taught by William Lynch of East Islip H.S.; the second is Biology and Medicine, taught by Arthur Pitschi of Patchogue/Medford H.S.; the third is Chemistry, with Clayton Hudson of Central Islip H.S.; and the fourth is Energy and Engineering, again with Pitschi. Christine Moore is the teacher’s aide for the program, which is coordinated by BNL’s Renee Flack of the Director’s Office.
In addition to morning classroom instruction and organized afternoon exercise, the students also visit research laboratories and participate in experiments and field trips related to the weekly topic. As part of the engineering section, the “Onrust” outing was planned to give the students exposure to the work of a marine engineer.
The trip was underway at 9 a.m. with lunches opened and sampled by 9:05. Inside, amid the clamour of the van, Arthur Pitschi, who has been one of the instructors since the program began, said with a smile, “I enjoy the quick pace of the self-perpetuating atmosphere. When the instructors are enthusiastic, the youngsters will respond the same way. The main reason for the program is to introduce the kids to different kinds of jobs.” It helps in the regular classroom situation, continued Pitschi, by “keeping me up to date with the latest scientific research. As I relate this to the other science teachers, they can also keep current. I have also seen a real growth in people from the Lab, who help as lecturers and such, in their method of communication. I find that they relate very well to the kids now, so even the presenters have benefited from the program.”
It is the students themselves, though, who are the chief benefactors. Above the deck, they braved the elements to take water and bottom samples and operated a plankton tow. Below, they listened to a talk on Oceanography by George McMaus of the SUNY Marine Sciences Research Center at Stony Brook and later shared thoughts about the program. “I thought an engineer just wore a three-piece suit and sat behind a desk,” laughed Renee Smothers of Riverhead H.S., as heads bobbed around her to echo similar sentiments. For many of the students, the introduction to engineering added a new dimension in choosing both a college and a possible career. In addition to discovering an interest in engineering, Christophe Bell of Shoreham/Wading River H.S. also received new inspiration for further science projects. “I saw some things here that have given me ideas for projects to do,” said Bell.
The most popular segment was the week spent on chemistry, when, according to Richard DuBois of Mt. Sinai Jr. H.S., “We did a lot of things in a lab that we wouldn’t normally have gotten a chance to do, things like making soap and aspirin.” Timothy Brown of Longwood H.S. was equally pleased with the students in the program. “They’re not what I expected. I thought they would be bookworms who wouldn’t like to talk. These people are fun to be with,” said Brown.
Before the trip was over, the students heard about the basics of navigation from Captain Helmut Stuebe and took turns piloting the boat. When the “Onrust” pulled into port, the damp but forever energetic group scuttled to the dock and squished its way into the vans. From somewhere in the crowd there came a wistful remark to summarize the program… “Too bad today is the last day.”
