(MissionNewswire) Working in more than 132 countries around the globe, Salesian missionaries have created a vast network of primary, secondary, vocational and technical schools serving poor youth. With a focus on education and workforce development, Salesians worldwide provide disadvantaged youth valuable resources to aid them in finding livable wage employment.

Here in the United States, Don Bosco Technical Institute (Bosco Tech) in Rosemead, California, combines a rigorous college preparatory program with technology focused education. The innovative science, engineering, technology and math curriculum allows students to exceed university admission requirements while completing extensive integrated coursework in one of several applied science and engineering fields.

According to the most recent 2012 U.S. census data, close to 18 percent of residents of Rosemead live in poverty, an increase from the overall 15.3 percent poverty rate for California. Youth living in poverty face lower rates of high school graduation and difficulty finding and maintaining employment. Bosco Tech’s focus on academics allows its students to excel while helping them remain in school and keep focused on continuing their education beyond high school into college.

High school seniors studying green technologies in Bosco Tech’s Architecture & Construction Engineering program are creating and testing viable alternative fuels from cooking oil with remarkable results. The green and energy efficient engineering course stresses the importance of reducing, reusing and recycling and teaches how these environmentally sound precepts apply to architecture and engineering.

While studying alternative fuels, students recently executed a successful burn-comparison test where they observed and documented the energy and pollutants generated by their biodiesel formulas and compared it to those of petroleum-based diesel fuel. They found the biodiesel had an equivalent energy density to petroleum-based diesel, making it a viable alternative, while also diverting waste that would previously have gone to a landfill. The biodiesel also produced less smoke, possibly making it cleaner burning and less harmful to the environment.

“The goal of the green technology course is to inspire students to seek alternative, environmentally sound solutions to everyday problems,” says Chris Barnett, the program’s chairman. “In architecture and engineering, that includes passive and active solar design, wind energy production, alternative eco-friendly building materials like bamboo flooring and the use of recycled finishing materials such as reclaimed wood and counter tops made from broken glass.”

The students also study Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) curriculum, a unique offering for high school students.

“Our students are not just learning how to design better buildings, they’re learning to build a better environment,” adds Barrett.

Bosco Tech, an all-boys Catholic school, brings together young men of all religious, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds with a mission of preparing them to be life-long learners committed to leading successful and productive lives. The school also offers programs in computer science, electrical engineering, media arts and materials science, among others.

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Sources

ANS – United States – Bosco Tech Students Engineer & Test Biodiesel Fuel in Green Energy Program

Don Bosco Technical Institute

United States Census Bureau – Rosemead, California