Seven students from East Hartford High School’s Academy of Engineering pathway have been accepted into the Future Ready Lab paid summer internship program at Pratt & Whitney – RTX.
The engineering pathway at EHHS continues to grow and this year the program earned its certification from the National Academy Foundation. Through this certification, East Hartford’s students were eligible to apply for the Pratt & Whitney internship for the first time.
Engineering students worked closely with ReadyCT staff to prepare their applications and prep for in-person interviews at Pratt & Whitney’s facility. Seven students interviewed and all all seven were selected for the program.
The seven students are Angel Macias-Trejo (Grade 11), Aryanna Balancier (Grade 11), Erwin "Danny" Hurst (Grade 10), Jay Baysignavong (Grade 11), Malik Matthews (Grade 11), Preston Diaz (Grade 10), and Kevin Le (Grade 11).
"It will definitely open doors," said Junior Jay Baysignavong, one of the accepted interns. "I wanted to see what this could lead me to and the opportunities I could get thereafter."
They will work alongside Pratt & Whitney engineers this summer to gain hands-on experience while exploring future careers.
Junior Aryanna Balancier said, “I’m most excited to do a lot of hands-on projects and actually do what I could be doing in the future. Because there’s no better learning than hands-on learning.”
In addition to the in-person internships, EHHS students were also eligible to apply for virtual paid internships with RTX. This program is nationwide with more than 600 applicants for 200 positions.
Five EHHS students were selected from this national pool. Two of those students had also been accepted to the in-person program. The three students who plan to do the virtual internship are Carlens Bazelais (Grade 10), Joseph Rodriguez (Grade 10) and Carlos DeJesus Ochoa (Grade 10).
“It’s very gratifying,” said Sophomore Joseph Rodriguez, who earned the virtual internship. “My parents always pushed me to do my best and pushed me to work harder and harder, and it’s allowed me to get all these opportunities.”