THROOP, Pa. — Newswatch 16 has been at the construction site of the twin bridges in Dunmore countless times since the repair project was announced in 2017. But students at Mid Valley Elementary School are getting an even closer look, going underneath the bridges to see the scale of them and getting lectures on the theory and engineering behind the beams and overall design.
"To have that experience. You can talk engineering, but 9 times out of 10 kids are going to say what's engineering? And not realize how many branches of engineering there are. So diving into civil engineering and seeing that and sparking that interest," said 6th grade math and science teacher Sean Sholtes, Mid Valley Elementary School.
And what better way to spark that interest than at one of PennDOT's largest projects right now, the twin bridges project. For the past two school years, 5th and 6th graders interested in STEM were invited to the job site.
"As a kid, I always grew up playing with legos. I really like tinkering with things, trying new things, and building stuff," said 5th grader Victoria Mara, Mid Valley Elementary School.
Victoria knew that she liked taking things apart and putting them back together, and with this program, now she knows she can make a career out of it.
"It was honestly really incredible. I thought, that's something I can do when I'm older and that's something I definitely want to be. That just made me more sure of my career," she said.
The 5th graders who went to the job site last year were invited back again. Sophia Vitaletti could not believe the progress.
"So when I went there the first bridge was just getting done, and when I went back this year, the first bridge was done and the second bridge was halfway done," said 6th grader Sophia Vitaletti, Mid Valley Elementary School.
And what teachers at Mid Valley think is the coolest part of Sophia's story, her dad was on the job site too. Ryan Vitaletti has been a civil engineer for PennDOT for more than two decades.
"Every day I come home from work and they're curious, what do you do, what's going on? It's hard to explain without actually being there. For her to come out to the job site and actually see the projects we manage out there and see how bridges are being built, it's a great opportunity," he said.
The Mid Valley School District plans to continue partnering with PennDOT and sending students back to job sites like the one in Dunmore. Teachers say now that students have expressed interest in civil engineering, they can talk about the path to get there from middle school to college.