Danbury aims to create watershed career pipeline for students
DANBURY — When Tim Nolan used to talk to his daughters about the career opportunities in the watershed industry, they tuned him out.
“Their eyes would glass over,” said Nolan, the superintendent of public service for Danbury. “It doesn’t appeal to the younger
generation, but they’re good-paying jobs.”
A proposed initiative aims to show Danbury High School students how water affects them and their community, while getting them interested in this career field.
“The real crux of what makes this promising is it will be focused in solving real-life problems,” said Melissa Nadeau, curriculum administrator for Danbury Public schools.
Various groups are partnering to develop a unit on watershed management in the high school chemistry classes and create internships for students in places like Danbury’s Public Works Department.
Western Connecticut State University has applied for a grant through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, known as NOAA, to create the program.
The partners are excited enough about the initiative to make it happen without the grant, but the internships could become paid with the money, said Theodora Pinou, a biology professor at Western Connecticut State University.
This would make the internships more enticing and doable to the “at-risk” students who the group wants to attract, she said.
“You have a whole group of kids who maybe aren’t sure why they are in school and what it’s all about,” said Pinou, adding this program would “elevate” them.
Hands-on experiences in field with jobs
Pinou and Nadeau have already worked together to retool an existing aquatic science class, an initiative that was also done through a NOAA grant. Spurred by remote instruction during COVID-19, they realized they could do better in other classes to make real-world issues and experience part of the students’ learning, Pinou said.
This ties into the work the high school is doing as part of the career academy project to make learning more hands-on and interactive, as well as give students career experience.
The educators have talked to many professionals in this field, who reported the workforce is waning. Nolan said most of the employees he saw at re-certification classes were in their 50s or older.
“There is a need to focus on these areas because a lot of people are retiring out of positions and it’s very difficult to find people to fill those positions,” Nadeau said.
WestConn faculty, Danbury public works employees and other partners will train the teachers, who will work with the students.
The unit will be taught at as part of the high school’s core chemistry class for sophomores.
“Potentially 900 students would go through this unit in chemistry and then be exposed to what certifications are available to them,” Nadeau said. “The content of the chemistry course will be connected to some of the emerging technologies that exist within public utilities.”
The school district is still working out how students would be selected for the internships, she said.
Nolan expects about five students in summer 2022 and around 15 interns the following two summers. These internships could lead students to pursue careers in this field, he said.
“We’re hoping to see in the future, kids from Danbury, students from Danbury, that work in Danbury and who own homes in Danbury and bring up their family in Danbury and work in this industry,” he said.
Addressing ‘real-life’ problems
Students would learn what happens to water when it goes through purification systems and storm drains, as well as larger effects on the environment.
“What we’re trying to do is provide students with the opportunity to study the real-life challenges that face our city and, inevitably, they’ll face as well, whether they know it or not,” Nadeau said.
Water is a perfect field for students to study because it connects to issues such as development, conservation and equity, Pinou said.
“It’s just so personal,” Pinou said. “Who doesn’t need water?”
Fields and jobs like fisheries, plumbing and infrastructure are tied to water, she said. Water is likely to become a scarce resource worldwide, too, she said.
“The question is not are there jobs?” Pinou said. “The real question is: Are there problems that need solutions? And I think, yeah, we need some solutions for modern day problems.”
These students could be part of addressing these challenges, she said.
“It may not be that they stay (in this field) long term,” Pinou said. “But they’ll remember it. They’re never going to look at a stormwater drain the same way.”