Transportation Breakouts with Cardozo High School
By Kyla D’Sa, WTS-DC
To round out a year full of twists and turns (a windy road, I might say), the Transportation YOU program partnered with the staff at Cardozo High School to plan and provide students with a unique mentoring event in May. The Transportation YOU program aims to provide young students with resources and tools to use as they move through college and beyond. In addition, Transportation YOU continues to pivot through the COVID pandemic and find unique ways to engage with students who may be experiencing Zoom fatigue.
On May 19, the Transportation YOU and Cardozo staff team virtually hosted approximately 20 engineering students. The event started with a brief introduction to the transportation field and careers lead by Transportation YOU committee member Kyla D’Sa. The next phase of the event included students rotating between three breakout rooms each of transportation professionals— David Samba, Brandon Buckner, and Sharada Strasmore. In each virtual space, the speakers presented a brief elevator pitch about their role in the industry. They then opened up the conversation to answer questions from students and have an open dialogue. By making the virtual rooms smaller, students could have personalized conversations with each of the speakers. Samba, a transportation engineer and planner at Kimley Horn, illustrated his path into the industry and showed some examples of transportation simulations that he uses in his role. Strasmore, a micromobility planner at DDOT, spoke with students about micomobility, including planning for and implementing the scooters students see and use in DC. Finally, Buckner, alumni of Cardozo High School and Deputy Division Administrator at the FHWA DC Division Office, related to students and shared how he developed his career after graduating from Cardozo High School. In addition, three Cardozo teachers, Terence Richards, Aris Pangilinan, and Christopher Frazier, also attended the event and asked questions, and helped facilitate discussion (though our speakers were quite engaging and the students had plenty of questions). Also, a special thank you to Cheryl Rodgers and the IT team at Cardozo High School, who helped organize and coordinate the breakout rooms.
After the breakout rooms, the students, teachers, and speakers all rejoined the main room in which the Transportation YOU team shared a list of contact and resource information. Lastly, students responded to some poll questions, and many students were interested in learning more about the transportation engineering field.
The Transportation YOU team is planning our events for the next academic year. If you are interested in being a speaker or getting involved, please reach out to Barbara Moreno.