Cape Tech Hosts State Education Commissioner: Martinez Inspired By Hands-on Experiences

PLEASANT LAKE – The commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education donned a blue jumpsuit Friday as he held a blowtorch to a metal pipe partially fashioned into the letters “CCT.”

Pedro Martinez, the commissioner, was in the process of experiencing a crash course in vocational programs during a visit to Cape Cod Regional Technical High School. First, he went to the HVAC shop, where staff and students showed him how to braze pipe. Then he went to marine services technology, where he shrinkwrapped a boat and revved an engine.

At engineering technology, Martinez controlled a robot that had been created by students. And in the culinary arts kitchen, students helped Martinez cook a burger for his lunch. Upon the completion of the day’s work, Martinez removed the blue jumpsuit to talk with administration, staff and students. They discussed some of Cape Cod Tech’s achievements — but also its concerns as a vocational school.

Martinez, who became the state’s education commissioner in July, called the student-led experience "inspiring."

“It's powerful what they do here, the fact that they felt confident working with the commissioner on different skill sets, very patient, and then to see their labs in action, the state-of-the-art equipment, to know that they go out in the field and they're actually able to practice that in the field,” he said.

Guiding Martinez through the tour and joining the sit-down discussion were student ambassadors as well as officers for SkillsUSA (a student organization for workforce development) and Future Farmers of America.

“You also have a strong emphasis on student achievement,” Martinez said. “This is a school where whether a student decides to go in that field or not, they're going to be prepared for after high school — if they want to go to college, if they want to further their certifications. That's what's really impressive, because sometimes I do see a little bit of a variance. I'm not seeing that here at all.”

Toward the end of the visit, students also told Martinez what they enjoyed and valued about Cape Tech. Afterward, Martinez said he was proud the state had “doubled down on investments in our career-tech schools,” which was evident by the equipment and the teachers.

“For me though, what I also see here, which is special, is I also see the leadership of the students and the fact that you can tell on the confidence level of the students they have,” Martinez said. “I can only imagine when they go out in the field and they're actually interacting with the community, that confidence shows up as well.”

Superintendent Robert Sanborn had invited Martinez to the school, he said, at a conference last August. At the post-tour discussion, Sanborn brought up concerns with maintaining the “gold standard” of Chapter 74 (the state law on vocational education) and the lack of mention of careers in a report by a state council tasked with making recommendations for graduation requirements.

“​​Don't forget about us,” Sanborn told Martinez regarding the graduation requirements.

Martinez, during the discussion, said he wanted to find a way to attract more career-tech teachers and to work with higher education to collaborate and partner such that students could get both industry credentials and college credits.

“I would help you with that because we would make this a statewide initiative,” Martinez said.

Another hot-button issue for vocational schools in recent times was last year’s decision by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to implement a lottery for career and technical education programs. That vote was made a little over a month before Martinez became commissioner of the education department. Proponents of the move argued that the prior use of selective criteria like grades, interviews, attendance and disciplinary history created bias against low-income applicants, students of color and other groups.

After the tour and discussion, Martinez said he felt that the new lottery system was “less of an issue” at Cape Tech and that the challenge at the state level was in meeting demand.

“What I heard very clearly, and I heard it from [Principal William Terranova], they really doubled down on being inclusive here, and so I can't help but feel that the lottery has never really been an issue here,” Martinez said. “It's really more about making sure that as students come at all different levels, they're being met where they're at. And actually, I heard that very loud and clear from the teachers. I heard that from some of the administrators.”

Sanborn said the school would be going through the lottery in about a month and would see what effect it has.

“There's some other concerns that we were kind of under attack last year and that there's some things that are being done that hamper what we're trying to do here, I think before he was in the position, so I like what he said today,” Sanborn said. “I've heard him speak at other venues where I've liked what he says. He's a nice man just in general, so I look forward to good things.”