Burlington, Wilmington 7th Graders Can 'Explore' Shawsheen Tech

BILLERICA, MA — Burlington and Wilmington seventh graders still have an opportunity to register for this winter's 7th Grade Project Explore at Shawsheen Valley Technical High School in Billerica.

The after-school program will give middle schoolers interested in attending a technical high school a feel for life at Shawsheen Tech, which serves Bedford, Billerica, Burlington, Tewksbury and Wilmington.

The three-week session for Burlington and Wilmington students is on Tuesdays and Thursdays beginning on Jan 31, and continuing on Feb. 2, 7, 9, 14, 16. The program lasts from 2:15 p.m. t 4:45 p.m. each of those days. Registration is available online.

For the program, students will be bused to Shawsheen Tech, where they will be assigned to one of the school's vocational-technical programs ("shops") each day.

The school features 20 shops, and students will have experienced six of them by the end of the program.

According to the school, the participating shops are: autobody, automotive, bakery, carpentry, cosmetology, culinary, dental, electrical, electronics, graphic arts, health assisting, metal fabrication, and plumbing.

Each shop will have activities planned for the students like: changing a tire in automotive, making a metal tray in metal fabrication, or making a pizza in culinary arts.

"It gives students a chance to be in the building, to see the building, walk the hallways and explore the shops," said John Morrison, coordinator of 7th Grade Project Explore and an automotive teacher.

Morrison said students don't get to choose which shop they will visit during Project Explore, but that is the point.

"My son thought he wanted culinary or bakery, but he fell in love with machine shop (during the program) and that was his shop when he came as a full-time student," Morrison said. "Students have a chance to explore different programs in the school."

Morrison said Project Explore is open to seventh graders because many students are still undecided about whether they will attend a technical high school at that age.

The school will host a Career Night Open House for eighth graders on Jan. 18. By that age, Morrison said, many students have made up their minds about their high school plans.

But attendance at 7th Grade Project Explore appears to be a factor in many students' decision to attend Shawsheen Tech.

Morrison said around 60 percent — or perhaps a little above that percentage — of Shawsheen Tech students were participants in 7th Grade Project Explore.

"It's a good feeder for the school and it really opens up the kids' eyes to the school," Morrison said. "They come in as seventh graders and are wowed by the building."

More information about 7th Grade Project Explore is available online.