Labor Day has come and gone -- can you believe summer is almost over? It's been a busy time for WTS. The summer social in early August was a great success. Attendees got a chance to get to know one another better and enjoyed some friendly competition as they careened around Minnehaha Park on surrey bikes!

In May, WTS International and USDOT joined forces to launch Transportation YOU, an initiative to expose girls aged 13-18 to transportation careers. WTS Minnesota launched our local Transportation YOU efforts in July, when we sponsored two lunchtime career panels the U of M's Exploring Careers in Engineering and Physical Science day camps. Read more about these fun outreach events below. Does reaching out to high-school aged girls interest you? WTS Minnesota is considering pursuing a Transportation YOU mentorship program. Look for a short survey in the coming weeks to help us get a sense of member interest.

The board has been working on a stellar lineup of fall programs: Our September luncheon will feature Metropolitan Council Chair Susan Haigh, who will speak on the Corridors of Opportunity initiative. At our annual student program in late October, Phillip Schaffner of MnDOT will join us to present about MinnesotaGO, the visioning process underway for the state's transportation system. I hope you will be able to join us for one or both of these events.

In an effort to reach out to public sector and aviation industry employees, this fall, WTS International is offering two fantastic membership initiatives. Read on for more information, and encourage your friends and colleagues to take advantage of the bargain!

At this year's Annual Conference in San Francisco, WTS International and the US Department of Transportation kicked off a national initiative for girls and young women in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).  This initiative, called Transportation YOU, will introduce younger girls ages 13-18 to the broad array of transportation careers through hands-on interactive activities, mentoring programs, field experiences and a national "virtual" community.

To kick-off the Transportation YOU initiative in 2011, WTS Minnesota partnered with the University of Minnesota's Center for Transportation Studies (CTS) and Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Institute to participate in the U of M's Exploring Careers in Engineering & Physical Science workshops. WTS Minnesota hosted two career panels and assisted with several activities. The career panels provided the 11th and 12th grade campers a glimpse into careers related to aviation, engineering, and planning. Panel moderator Jill Hentges, Metro Transit, kept the discussion lively and encouraged campers to text message questions to the panel. The students also got a preview of a new video developed by the ITS Institute, designed to attract potential students to a future in transportation technology. 

Additionally, campers tested their transportation engineering skills while playing the Gridlock Buster traffic control game. The game seeks to teach high-school students what is involved in traffic grid management and make transportation interesting and relevant. Campers also had the opportunity to pilot the ITS Institute's new Distraction Dodger game in which they were tasked with delivering pizzas while encountering distractions from a cell phone, GPS, food, friends, and customers. The game reinforces that to be safe, one must pay attention to driving and not to surrounding items.

A special thanks to Shawn Haag, CTS, for inviting WTS Minnesota to participate in the workshops, and to those members who volunteered: Beth Bartz, Jamie Buss, Xuan Di, Nikki Farrington, Jill Hentges, Christina Miller, Lisa Rasmussen, and Kristin Thompson.

[The video produced by the ITS Institute is now available on their website: http://www.its.umn.edu/Education/careers/video/ ]  

Jill Hentges moderated the lunchtime panel discussions introducing 11th and 12th graders to careers in transportation.