Lane ESD African-American-Black Students to Learn About Transit History and Opportunities
In celebration of Black History Month, Lane Transit District (LTD) and Lane Educational Service District (LESD) have established a partnership to introduce students participating in the Lane African American-Black Student Success (Lane AABSS) Program to the rich local and national contributions made by African American and Black innovators to the transportation industry.
“The Lane African American Black Student Success program welcomes this collaboration with LTD in order to further our mission of helping students achieve success,” said Shanae’ Joyce-Stringer, Interim Program Coordinator, LESD-Lane AABSS. “Fostering opportunities for students to be exposed to careers and industries at a young age cultivates interests into viable career fields and prepares them for the workforce. It is also our mission to expose students to Black culture, history, and heritage. By highlighting the works of Garrett A. Morgan and other Black innovators in the transportation industry, we hope to spark students’ own interest and ingenuity to create tools, techniques, and devices that will impact our lives as they have done.”
Joyce-Stringer added, “Through our ‘Stop Slow Go’ initiative, LTD and Lane AABSS furthers our commitment to continue the dialogue on racial equity and social justice. Through our campaign, we encourage youth in Lane County to give voice to the type of community they want to live in. ‘Stop Slow Go’ shall echo the call for greater diversity, equity, and inclusion in all spaces of our society.”
Through a series of videos, students participating in the program will learn about Wiley Griffon (1867-1913), Eugene’s first Black streetcar operator, and inventors such as Garrett Morgan (1877-1963) who invented the three-position (red, yellow, green) traffic signal, Carmen E. Turner (1930-1992), the first Black woman to lead a major public transit agency (Washington, D.C. Metro Area Transit Authority), and many others who have contributed to how we all travel across town and across the nation by highway, air, and rail.
In addition to the educational video programs, students will tour LTD operations facilities to learn about the District’s many career opportunities and will meet with District employees working in accounting, technology, facilities, marketing, business services, bus operations, human resources, fleet maintenance, planning, and customer service. A job shadowing program pairing students in the Lane African-American- Black Student Success Program with LTD professionals is also being discussed. Tours, meetings between students and LTD professionals and the job shadowing program will be organized and occur observing pandemic protocols.
“LTD is pleased to partner with the Lane African American-Black Student Success Program on this important initiative,” said Mark Johnson, LTD’s Interim General Manager. “Through collaboration with Lane ESD, we are connecting our community with the contributions of African American and Black innovators, while informing local students participating in the success program to the many job opportunities for professionals across a variety of business and vocational disciplines.”
About Lane Education Service District
Oregon established education service districts (ESDs) to provide support to public school districts in their regions. There are 19 ESDs across the state. Lane ESD's services are developed in collaboration with Lane County's 16 school districts. They focus on four primary areas – services for students with special needs, school improvement, technology support, and administrative services. Lane ESD also oversees a number of federal and state grants.