In 1994, the Massachusetts Legislature responded to the serious environmental issues which threaten Cape Cod and southeastern Massachusetts when they funded an education and training program that would supply a workforce to deal with these issues. This fragile coastal area is threatened by intensive development which has resulted in groundwater, septic system and transportation problems, but the Cape is most seriously threatened by the extensive pollution at the Massachusetts Military Reservation Superfund site on Cape Cod. Since 1994, three higher education institutions, Cape Cod Community College (CCCC), Massachusetts Maritime Academy and University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, have collaborated to offer students an environmental technology career path that includes a four-year degree, a two-year degree, and three year-long certificate programs. Now Cape Cod Community College and Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical School propose an ATE project that will complete this Environmental Technology education career ladder with an articulated environmental curriculum at the secondary level. The high school students will acquire college credit through Tech Prep courses that will be co-developed by high school and college faculty. These students will have the opportunity to continue their education at CCCC within an AS Degree Program or a transfer concentration that will articulate to a four-year program at Mass. Maritime Academy or U. Mass. Dartmouth. The project will also develop a mentor/mentee program which pairs the college and high school students to receive the field experience recommended by all employers. This mentoring program will be built upon CCCC's well-established internship program, which emerged through the strong support and commitment of local private and public industry representatives. The final project component will be the Sumrner Institute and follow-up workshops, which will provide other secondary teachers in southeastern Massachusetts with the opportunity to receive the me ntor/mentee training and curricula for duplication at their high schools.
