MITAGS-CCMIT Hosts Baltimore Summer Youth Initiative

Linthicum Heights, Maryland, September 16, 2015: As part of its community outreach efforts, the Conference Center at the Maritime Institute of Technology (CCMIT) hosted 50 Baltimore City students in August as part of the week-long Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport Summer Youth Initiative. The BWI Youth Initiative was established to provide students with a unique opportunity to learn about career opportunities in aviation and transportation, including maritime transportation.

“A maritime career is not for everyone, but for young people with the right stuff it can be a tremendously challenging and rewarding one,” stated MITAGS-CCMIT Executive Director Glen Paine. “This was a great opportunity to introduce these enthusiastic young people to the potential of a career in the maritime industry and to the many job opportunities available to them.”  

Students from five Baltimore City youth recreation centers participated in the program. They learned about careers in the aviation industry and studied the day-to-day operations at BWI Marshall Airport. They also visited MITAGS-CCMIT to learn how cargo flows in and out of the Port of Baltimore and how ships are handled by marine pilots and cargo terminal operators in the loading and unloading of containers.

Staff at both MITAGS and CCMIT worked together to demonstrate the numerous opportunities available. “Exposure to new career paths is an important aspect of education,” stated Jill Porter, CCMIT Sales Manager, “which can sometimes spark the passion and ambitions of youth. The State of Maryland is the tenth largest employer in the state, and hospitality and tourism is a rapidly growing field, not to mention the opportunities in maritime.” 

MITAGS-CCMIT hosted the event in its meeting rooms and gave tours of its world-class training simulators. The students met with a number of professional volunteers who demonstrated careers in the maritime and related industries, including hospitality and police work (using a K9 defense team). The students also toured the simulation training facilities and the onsite maritime museum.  

“It was a privilege to show these young people our full-mission simulator,” said MITAGS training coordinator Victor Tufts. “The young boys and girls got to drive their own simulated ship under the Golden Gate Bridge, and you should have seen the expressions of wonder on their faces as they did!”

Other sponsors of the BWI Youth Initiative included the Maryland Department of Transportation, the Baltimore City Department of Recreation and Parks, Southwest Airlines, the Transportation Security Administration, the Maryland Transportation Authority Police, AIRMALL, First Transit, the BWI Business Partnership, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Federal Air Marshal Service.

To learn more about CCMIT’s facilities, visit its website at www.ccmit.org or contact Brian Senft, Director of Sales, at (443) 989-32033. To learn more about MITAGS, the leader in maritime training, visit www.mitags.org or contact Bob Becker, Business Development Manager, at (443) 989-3235.