LYNN — Teachers, alumni, and, perhaps most of all, students from Lynn Vocational Technical Institute, have bettered the surrounding community over the last four years.
Since the 2016/2017 school year, Lynn Tech has bestowed its own students, and other Lynn adults and youth, with a variety of technical skills.
In 2017, U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) honored teacher Jason McCuish with the Peter J. Gomes Service Award, given to the individual in the sixth congressional district who best displays the qualities of integrity, compassion, and commitment to service espoused by the late Rev. Professor Peter J. Gomes.
The next year, alumna Kenell Broomstein became the first woman of color to take the leadership role at any Boston construction union when she was named business agent for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 103.
Carissa Karakaedos took over as principal at the school, following Robert Buontempo’s retirement after 31 years, and Lynn Tech was one of three locations selected to offer free machinist training from North Shore Community College for unemployed adults during the summer months.
Also in 2018, Lynn Tech and General Electric’s River Works forged a closer bond, creating a talent pipeline between the school and GE to address an industry-wide shortage of qualified machinists. Lynn Tech students toured the plant, taking part in a variety of science, technology, and engineering challenges, and juniors were offered co-op slots at the facility.
Lynn Tech’s SkillsUSA students thrived throughout 2018 and 2019, raising enough money to buy and distribute 15,000 new books to local children for free. The SkillUSA team brought home three gold medal awards from the National SkillsUSA Leadership and Skills Conference in Louisville, Ky., winning in the categories of community service, community action, and National Outstanding Model of Excellence. There were more than 20,000 participants in the competition, and SkillsUSA chapters from every state.
“It was a real Cinderella moment being able to bring home that gold,” said then-Tech Chapter President David Barrios at the time.
But in addition to seeing accomplishments from its own students, 2019 was a year in which the school bettered the surrounding community. In February, the school offered extra-curricular vocational courses to other Lynn high schoolers through the Technical Afterschool Program (T.A.P.). In March, the school continued to offer skills courses to adults through the Lynn Community Enrichment Program, with 70 adults — many non-native English speakers — learning welding, carpentry, cooking, and other trade skills. And, in April, the School Committee approved a new eighth grade vocational-skills-focused “Discovery Academy” at Lynn Tech, converting the school into a junior/high school, and offering 300 students a head start toward trade certification.
Just this past summer, Lynn Tech teacher Noube Rateau became an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker. Rateau, who has dedicated the last half decade to teaching radio and broadcasting, depicted the relationship between police and minorities in his documentary “Protect, Serve & Care,” and won the outstanding documentary award at the 42nd annual Emmy Awards by the Boston/New England Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
“It was like a monkey being taken off my back, just a huge relief,” Rateau said. “I was happy and sad at the same time, though. Even though we won, there were three women I interviewed for the documentary whose sons lost their lives as victims of policing. This Emmy won’t bring back their sons.”
Also last June, Lynn Tech graduates Olivia Whitcomb and Kathaleeya Ortega became the first female interns at GE’s River Works’ shop floor. The pair’s summer internship involved precision machine work vital to producing airplane and helicopter engines.
Harrington Elementary School is the target of a Lynn Tech SkillsUSA project to build an all-inclusive, $300,000 playground. Students have been raising money for the project, which intends to build a fully accessible playground at the elementary school this year.
And, although the 2019/2020 school year has been dramatically altered by the COVID-19 pandemic, the virus cannot take away $4.5 million that the state and GE chose to invest in the school in November. The investment aims to accelerate machinist training, strengthening the workforce bridge between Lynn Tech and GE by expanding the school’s machine shop and installing state-of-the-art machines.
“This is a tremendous opportunity not only for us but also for coming generations,” said LVTI senior and machinist student Luz Vasquez.
