Cape Cod Tech In The News 2010-2011
Cape Cod Regional Technical High School and its students are continuously recognized for their accomplishments by the media. Below is recent news coverage.
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Barnstable Patriot
24 June 2011
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The Register
23 June 2011
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Cape Cod Times
1 June 2011
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Cape Cod Times
26 May 2011
From rock bottom to top of her class
By
From rock bottom to top of her class
Mariah Lamb to the principal's office, please.
The 16-year-old sophomore at Cape Cod Regional Technical High School in Harwich leaves the marine services shop, walks to the other end of the school's expansive main hallway, and into Billy Terranova's office. Her disposition: as sunny as the weather outside.
The principal isn't there. And Mariah isn't in trouble — though she's the first to admit trouble is no stranger in her life.
She is in the principal's office so I can trouble her with my questions. Stuff like that happens sometimes when you're a star.
Honor roll? President of her freshman class? President of her sophomore class? Both the 2010 and 2011 gold medalist in SkillsUSA, a national nonprofit organization that supports and showcases outstanding tech-ed students? Mariah would never say it about herself, but I will: Been there, done that.
On June 1, she'll be in Boston to accept her most prized educational achievement to date: a Christian A. Herter Memorial Scholarship from the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education, good for up to $60,000 toward college ($15,000 a year to cover undergrad expenses at any school of her choice).
Only 25 students in the state are chosen to receive this scholarship each year, awarded to students who "have a cumulative grade point average of (at least) 2.5 ... ; exhibit difficult personal circumstances, high financial need, and strong academic promise to continue education beyond the secondary level; ... (and) provide evidence of documented need."
Did someone say "difficult personal circumstances?" How's this?
"I was born into a situation where my father was an alcoholic and very abusive to me and my mother," she told me, not a trace of bitterness in her voice.
Mariah's mother was able to get out of that relationship and into another, the father of Mariah's younger sister.
"Things were amazing until the last three years of their relationship. They argued and got into fights all the time. It got to where it was just me and my sister taking care of each other."
That was around the time her stepfather got hit by a drunk driver, leaving him unable to work.
"We went from a middle-class family to rock bottom," Mariah said.
One night, the beef between her mother and stepfather was so bad Mariah literally took her mother by the hand, led her through paths in the woods of Yarmouth she knew as an adventurous child, and took her to a friend's house.
Mariah went back to her stepfather, sister and two step-siblings. But with her adoptive father out of work, they soon lost their home. That's when family friend Biancha Fernald stepped in, inviting Mariah to come stay with her and have some semblance of stability for high school.
At first, Mariah wanted to attend Sturgis Charter School in Hyannis but her admission lottery number didn't come up. She thought about enrolling at Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School but really wanted to meet and make new friends.
"I ended up here at the tech and it was the best decision I've made so far in my life. This place is amazing because the teachers are so understanding. Growing up, I didn't think adults were trustworthy or even mature," she said.
"And my shop instructor, Kevin Rand? He's inspired me so much. He tells me everything is going to be OK and I'll get through it. He's a huge inspiration in my life," she said.
Mariah loves music and has been teaching herself how to play guitar. She sketches, writes poetry and loves photography.
Initially, she thought about enrolling in the school's graphic arts program but after taking a tour of the marine services shop, she was "incredibly interested" and dove into the nuts and bolts of boat diagnostics. Matter of fact, she's come to love boats enough to work 20 hours a week or more at West Marine in Hyannis.
She intends to apply to a number of colleges, including UMass-Dartmouth and MIT. "People are so wrong who think tech students don't go to college," she said.
Understandably, some young people crumble in the face of "difficult personal circumstances." Others take life's troubles and use i&
