Parks Reserve Forces Training Area Host STEM students
By Jim O’Donnell, Parks Reserve Forces Training Area Public Affairs
DUBLIN, Calif. – More than 50 local high school Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) program students visited Parks Reserve Forces Training Area (PRFTA), January 31, 2024. The students, a mixture of 11th and 12th graders, learned about the mission of the garrison and met various servicemembers and civilians that work and support the installation.
“We understand that a lot of our local community doesn’t realize what we do here at PRFTA,” said PRFTA’s Garrison Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Marisol A. Chalas. “However, we are very fortunate to have a very good community relations (COMREL) program to build relationships with our surrounding Tri-Valley communities of Dublin, Pleasanton, Livermore and San Ramon (Calif.),” added Chalas. “Today’s STEM Tour was one of the pathways we are using to a interact with this community, support one of our local high schools and support our recruiting efforts in the Bay Area.”
The University of California, Berkley Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC), Army and Army Reserve recruiters, Coast Guardsmen, PRFTA firefighters, the 191st Army Band, PRFTA’s Public Works Environmental Department and instructors and employees from Regional Training Site – Medical (RTS-Med) set up informational displays at the installation headquarters with a focus on STEM and STEM-related areas of study that were well-received by the students said the school’s STEM Biomedical Academy Coordinator, Dr. Julianne Sundstrom.
“More than half of the visiting students are on the biomedical pathway of the STEM Program,” said Sundstrom, who is also a Biomedical Science teacher at DHS. Sundstrom said she was very appreciative of the PRFTA staff and presenters who supported the event.
“I’m really impressed with all of the staff that came together to create the booths and talk about their experiences,” said Sundstrom. “Everyone was so welcoming, clearly a lot of work and thought was put in to the event.”
“It was a lot of work but worth it,” said Annette Suga, PRFTA Executive Assistant to the Garrison Commander and coordinator for PRFTA’s first ever STEM Student event. “When (Lieutenant) Colonel Chalas told me about this idea I was so excited to make it happen. I knew when I was a high school student, I had no idea of the number of different jobs and careers that the military offered, especially STEM pathway types of jobs.”
The day-long event was very informative, according to the students.
“It was definitely a good learning experience for me,” said Gerald Canotao, a DHS junior, who said he is still undecided on what path he is going to take after high school. “It was a good experience to see all the options you could do in the Army as well as outside of the Army as a government civilian employee.”
For another DHS Junior, the RTS-Med display drew her attention. “A lot of the information that we learned was eye-opening,” said Dana Molnar, who is on the STEM Biomedical Pathway at the high school.
“A lot of things that I learned about, I didn't know existed before, especially how the military is intertwined with medical research.
“It was a lot of fun,” said DHS Junior Grace Jung. “I learned a lot and I didn't realize how many outside-like jobs were inside of the base and that you don't necessarily have to be part of the Army, you can even be a civilian, which I found really interesting.”
The students ate lunch at PRFTA’s Dining Facility and visited the installation’s historical museum which sits just outside of the garrison front gate where Dublin and Camp Parks Historian, Steven Minnear provided a brief history of the base.
“We really are very lucky to have such a wonderful and supportive community here in the Tri-Valley,” said Chalas, referring to name of the area that surrounds PRFTA. “Today’s event was our chance to give back and support these wonderful students. However, it was just a beneficial to me and the PRFTA community and we got just as much out of it as I think the students did.
“It really made me PRFTA Proud!”
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