Photo By AnnMarie Harvie | Gary Lacroix discusses the Corps of Engineers work on Alternate Care Facilities during...... read more read more
Gary Lacroix, Deputy Chief, Engineering Division, worked with Dimitrios Vazquez, Chief, Internal Review, to virtually reach out to 100 third-grade students at the South Row School in Chelmsford, Massachusetts. Their mission: to describe what it’s like to be an engineer during the school’s Engineering Day, June 9.
Vasquez had originally volunteered to help organize a traditional Engineering Day for the school earlier in the year. When the pandemic hit Massachusetts and closed the schools, teachers had to get creative with how they were going to continue to educate their students and still have an Engineering Day for them.
“Engineering Day is normally a full day of activities with engineering building skills and lectures by professional engineers from various companies,” said Vasquez. “However, due to COVID-19, they changed the requirements of the event to obtaining videos from professional engineers instead.”
Vasquez reached out to Lacroix while they collaborated on a work-related project. “I knew he would do a great video knowing how meticulous and detail-oriented he is in his day-to-day activities,” he said.
The Deputy Chief of Engineering has done outreach in the past, having visited a dozen schools over his more than 30-year career. Lacroix readily agreed to help Vazquez by recording a video. Lacroix's eldest son assisted him with the editing to make the video a more fine-tuned product.
“I came up with the script trying to put myself in the shoes of third-graders and what they would likely know about engineers,” he said. “I used pictures since I know that would be more engaging to a young audience than just looking at a talking head.”
Vasquez distributed the video to the school’s third-grade teachers who then shared it with their students through their Google classroom. The video was well received by both the teachers and the students.
“We were so grateful for the video that you put together and our teachers also gave out some of the Engineering Day problems to solve so that students could experience these from home,” said Dr. Molly McMahon, Ph.D., Principal of the South Row School.
In the seven-minute production, Lacroix explained what an engineer was. “Engineers are problem solvers,” he said to the students. “They use math and science and work in teams with other engineers and scientists to improve the world around us.”
Lacroix talked about the many different types of engineers there are and described each one. He explained that the Corps of Engineers is made up of many of the engineers he described. “The Corps of Engineers specializes in certain things,” said Lacroix. “We are a 37,000-person agency with multiple missions to support the people of the United States.”
The engineer told his audience about some of the District's’ high profile projects such as the Cape Cod Canal Bridge Replacement, Boston Harbor deepening and the recent facility assessments for conversion to alternate care facilities during the COVID-19 Pandemic. He also talked about all the partnerships the District has with local, state and federal agencies.
He concluded by touching on his own, personal connection to the Corps of Engineers and encouraging the students to consider a career with the agency when they are older.
“My favorite things about working for the Corps of Engineers are the work we do -- the different challenges we get to meet every single day,” said Lacroix. “And I get to work with a great group of engineers, architects, scientists and other professionals who are equally committed to execute projects that enrich the lives of people in our communities.”
Lacroix’s video resonated with students. Dr. McMahon was very appreciative of the efforts by Lacroix and Vasquez made to ensure video was a part of the school’s event. “Your video explaining the work of the Corps of Engineers was a perfect complement to show how applicable these problem solving skills are to real-life applications,” said Dr. McMahon. “Your involvement also reminded us of how supportive the larger community is to our students' educations.”
| Date Taken: | 06.08.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 11.06.2020 13:05 |
| Story ID: | 382528 |
| Location: | CONCORD, MA, US |
| Web Views: | 49 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Engineer uses technology to reach out to students during pandemic, by AnnMarie Harvie, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT