On a hot summer morning in downtown Washington, about 20 students from Browne Education Campus are wearing bright red t-shirts that say “DC Meets Washington”  while standing in a portable trailer building on the site of the future home of the National African-American History Museum looking at a miniature architectural model of the city. Out the window, you can see the emerging skeleton of the museum right next to the Washington Monument.

One of the engineer-architects at McKissack and McKissack explains the scope of the project and the distinctive features of the building—a contemplative space for visitors to think about the exhibits they visit, remnants of a slave ship that will be featured on-site, and a huge cutoff wall that prevents the 70-foot building footprint from flooding of earth and water.

The presentation is a part of the engineering component of DC Meets Washington, a new program that allows students to meet local leaders and companies and visit work sites in high-demand, high-growth, and high-paying fields in DC, such as engineering, information technology, government, and hospitality.  Students receive in-class instruction about each field while also visiting professionals on the job. The goal is to expose students to these industries while also nurturing a curiosity and interest about future careers.

At this particular site, students were reluctant to ask questions at first, but soon can’t stop:  Do you love your job? What kind of training do you need? How long do you work? How many women are in the firm?

Their curiosity is further satisfied when they go outside (yes, past the “No Trespassing” sign! That’s one of the privileges) and hear from the engineers themselves while looking at the cranes, structure, and literal nuts and bolts of the project. For example, students learn that because the site constantly requires concrete, concrete trucks come at night and early morning to avoid the busy traffic on Constitution Ave.

Finally, students wave goodbye, but the adventure will continue—they’ll get to visit colleges and hotels in weeks to come.