By Jen Cole
As part of the Road to Greenbuild, the USGBC MA has begun a legacy project at Madison Park High School called the Green Building Tech Club. The after school program starting in September will run 3-5pm once a week and introduce and prepare the underrepresented community at the vocational high school to “green economy” careers in facilities management. Students involved will be engaged with presentations from various local professionals, a trip to the Expo Hall at Greenbuild 2017, tours of high-performance green buildings in our area, as well as mentorship from Wentworth Institute of Technology Environmental Collaborative.
Over 30 students came out to the informational session last week and 15 signed up to be apart of the club when they return to school in the Fall. Almost 50% of the interested students were female and 90% of all students at the high school are people of color. All of the students were interested in the jobs and internships that will come from the participation in this program. It is our hope that the legacy of this club at Madison Park will be a catalyst for developing green building programs in curriculums of vocational schools throughout the Commonwealth.
