Burke High School’s Principle of Engineering (POE) students, led by, Mr. Shawn Torbett, are turning classroom learning into a real-world impact by serving their community.

Marvin Washington and Charles Heyward, of Burke High School, have been working hard to redesign a new sign for Saint Paul Missionary Baptist Church.  On Friday, December 12th, these two future engineers had the opportunity to engage in a unique community centered engineering project. This event started with a presentation of St. Paul’s rich history, delivered by Ms. Shandtel Heyward and Ms. Brandi Graham from the church.

Following the presentation, Charles and Marvin proudly presented their engineering design concepts for a new church sign. Their design will now move forward to the zoning, hearing approval meeting with the City of Charleston.

Mr. Torbett states, “This has been a great opportunity for our POE students at Burke to experience creating official engineering designs, as well as supporting such an incredible community institution that has served our community since 1888.”

This partnership has given these 2 students the opportunity to:

• Practice authentic engineering design work
• Collaborate with community leaders
• Apply their technical skills to real-world challenge
• Leave a lasting impact on a historical community landmark

Partnerships like this empower students with the skills, confidence and experiences that prepare them for future college, careers, and community leadership.

On behalf of CCSD, CTE, and Burke High School, THANK YOU Reverend Larry Whaley and your team for showing us what a strong partnership looks like and for investing in our future community leaders.

A big THANK YOU to Ms. Jette, Ms. Swinton, and Ms. Crawford for your incredible support- Mr. Torbett