Md. high school students tackle homeland security issues

The signature program, the first in the county and one of a few related to homeland security in the country, is designed as a first step to a career in myriad jobs devoted to protecting the country.

By JOSHUA STEWART
The Maryland Gazette
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FT. MEADE, Md. — It's a little after 7 a.m. and 14-year-old Matthew Thomas is sitting at a beige desk, trying to "climb inside" the mind of a female suicide bomber.

"I can't believe it, that people would do such a thing. I, I, I just ... "

"People do strange things," his classmate Mike Vietor said.

"I wonder if people ever thought about that, if God created them just to do that," Matthew responded.

It was first period on a Friday at Meade High School and Mike, Matt and 14 classmates were in Tina Edler's Homeland Security Explorations class, a part of the Homeland Security Signature Program that is new to the school this year.

For 86 minutes every other day they learn about numerous homeland security topics, including Kalashnikov assault rifles, as well as Delaware Sen. Joe Biden's reference to Hezbollah and Hamas in the vice presidential debate the day before.

They discuss rocket-propelled grenades, the Aryan Nation and al-Qaida in Iraq in lessons pulled more from national newspapers than textbooks, among other issues.

"It's kind of like another history class, but with different subjects, like terrorists," said student Justen Hobdy.

While the homeland security industry is nothing new to the area - Fort George G. Meade is the state's largest employer, and a litany of defense agencies and contractors speckle the region - this class has witnessed the significance of the field; they were about 7-years-old during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"These are things that are happening now, in their lifetime," Ms. Edler said.

Students in the program are freshmen, and they're guinea pigs of sorts. They're the first class to experience the program.

Matthew said that, in comparison to other classes, his homeland security class is more in-depth. It has a narrower focus than others, giving the chance to take a more thorough look at the subject.

In a school of 2,250 students, about 80 students have enrolled in a homeland security course. Eight of the roughly 100 members of the faculty and staff are involved and the interest of those who work at the school seems to be growing.

This year there are only courses for freshmen, but as those students become sophomores, new courses will be added.

Any students can choose to enroll or leave the program - both classes and homeland security clubs. So any students in the school can be a part of the program if they want, said William Sheppard, the administrator who runs it.

The signature program, the first in the county and one of a few related to homeland security in the country, is designed as a first step to a career in myriad jobs devoted to protecting the country - jobs that some of the state's largest employers struggle to fill with qualified workers.

For example, such an education could lead to a position writing computer programs for the National Security Agency, located just a few miles from the school, or a job as an engineer with Northrop Grumman.

"The whole intent of the overall program is to build a work force pipeline. (Job openings) are so numerous on the domestic front that we can't fill them now, let alone in 10 years with baby boomers retiring," said Maureen McMahon, coordinator for the county school system's Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Office.

And as the country devotes more of its defense strategy to asymmetrical warfare - fighting a smaller, less-equipped, poorly-funded but particularly creative and resourceful enemy - the need for a work force with a homeland security background increases, education and defense contractor officials said.

The need for employees who have backgrounds in homeland security is apparent as Fort Meade prepares for an influx of 22,000 new jobs on the post, many requiring advanced science degrees and analytical skills to fight terrorism.

"We talked about terrorists and them not being dumb people. They're very well-educated," Ms. Edler said.

Students at Meade High aren't learning how to find carefully concealed knives by waving hand-held metal detectors over airline passengers, or how to fill sandbags to brace for hurricanes like employees in agencies under the Department of Homeland Security.

Rather, they are learning advanced physics, law and engineering, skills that are the fundamentals for college and post-graduate programs.

"When they get to 12th grade, they will be able to decide if they go to a two-year or a four-year institution," Mr. Sheppard said.

Real world practice

The teachers and administrators running the homeland security program are career-educators.

Ms. Edler doesn't come from a defense background - she's a teacher through and through. But she is in the middle of a homeland security certificate program at the University of Maryland University College and is a self-proclaimed news junkie. Mr. Sheppard is in a similar situation - he's a teacher by trade and has experience starting programs.

Simply put, a few years ago they knew nothing about homeland security.

So they brought in government agencies and defense contractors to help design the program.

"If an educator does it, you may get one product that may be adequate, but it might not reflect the true needs of the community," said retired Col. Kenneth O. McCreedy, the former installation commander of Fort Meade who helped bring the program to the school.

"What also attracted me was this notion of community involvement in the creation of the curriculum and the community being invested and having a stake in the output," he said.

When the program was first announced, about 200 organizations swarmed to the school to become involved. But that number has dwindled to about 20.

Northrop Grumman is one of the companies involved. And like many other defense contractors, it is struggling to fill job openings with qualified candidates, said Ted Imes, who worked for 29 years as an electrical engineer and is now director of community and education outreach.

"It's a national problem that there aren't a lot of kids going into the engineering field. This is a long pipeline problem," he said.

Copyright 2008 Capital Gazette Communications, Inc.