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Montana high school students get a head start on career path

January 23, 2011 /

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The MDT Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Program encourages and supports the participation of companies owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals in transportation contracts.

C.M. Russell High School seniors James Bamfield, Austin Baune and Jordann Brown are thriving in vocationally based programs creating pathways to interesting, good-paying jobs.

Bamfield took applied physics in the school’s industrial arts department in which he has designed the best pitch and placement of small scale wind energy generators.

Teacher Mark Yeager secured a grant to erect a small wind generator, and the electricity made eventually will be used to power a greenhouse being built for the school’s new agriculture department.

"It’s fascinating that we can put blades on an axis and make energy from all the wind we’ve got around here," said Bamfield, who plans to study design and drafting at a Washington state college. He hopes to return to Montana in time to play a role in the emerging wind farm development in northcentral Montana.

By PETER JOHNSON • Tribune Staff Writer

Full Story: http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20110123/BUSINESS/101230307/High-school-students-get-a-head-start-on-career-path