Sixty-two Public School System students have completed the 2024 NMTech Summertech program.
Caiden Manglona speaks to his peers in the 2024 Summertech program
SIXTY-TWO Public School System students completed the 2024 Summertech program with the Northern Marianas Technical Institute.
The program allows students to explore the trades and their real-world applications, according to Ben Babauta, NMTech marketing and communications coordinator.
This is the fourth iteration of the program. This year, NMTech offered two tracks — one that featured the automotive trades and culinary arts, and another that featured electrician trades and culinary arts. Over the course of five weeks, students learned about the trades in a classroom setting and also gained some hands-on experience.
In the last week of the program, students were taken on field trips, Babauta said. Those in the automotive track visited AK Toyota and Triple J Motors. Electrician trade students visited the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation and Crowne Plaza. All participants toured Herman’s Modern Bakery.
Student participants came from Saipan Southern High School, Kagman High School, Marianas High School, Tinian High School, Dr. Rita Hocog Inos High School, Chacha Ocean View Middle School, and Hopwood Middle School.
Caiden Manglona, an incoming sophomore at Dr. Rita Hocog Inos High School on Rota, said he learned about the tools that electricians use, how to use a heat gun, and the “basics of electrical work and culinary arts.”
In his remarks during the awards ceremony at NMTech on Thursday, Manglona spoke highly of the program, and encouraged PSS to continue to offer Summertech in collaboration with NMTech. He wants others on Rota to take advantage of the program.
“I hope PSS continues to support this program as I want other people from my island to be able to have the opportunity that I had,” he said. “My experience here at NMTech has taught me valuable lessons through fun, passion, and 100% positive vibes.”
He said the most memorable part of the experience was “the friends I made along the way.”
Manglona said he now wants to learn about the automotive trades, because he does not believe he will pursue a career as an electrician or chef. He joked that his rice crispies “looked like a rock, felt like a rock, and tasted like an expired jawbreaker.”
But he “did indeed enjoy” the classes, he added, and came to Summertech with an open mind to his future.
“Right now I’m still kind of figuring out what I want from my future, what kind of career I want, so the opportunity to kind of explore my different options — it inspired me to think about it and move on,” he said.
