Contributed by Natalie Monacelli

Natalie Monacelli is a Senior Water Quality Analyst for the City and County of Broomfield’s Environmental Lab. She has a M.S in Environmental Biology and over ten years of experience working in water quality laboratories. Outside of the lab she enjoys spending time with her two huskies, reading, climbing and snowboarding. 

It’s becoming a bigger concern across the water industry, many of our experienced professionals are getting closer to retirement, and there just aren’t enough young people entering the field to fill those shoes. On top of that, most students don’t learn much, if anything, about water treatment and distribution in school, so they don’t even know these careers exist, let alone consider them. But there’s good news, the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE) recently launched a program that could really help utilities step up their outreach game in an effort to support the workforce.

The Teacher Externship Program, created through Colorado House Bill 23-1198, connects local teachers with STEM-based industries like ours. The idea is simple but powerful: give teachers real-world, hands-on experiences in technical careers, so they can bring that knowledge back to the classroom and inspire students to explore those same fields.

I recently proposed that the City and County of Broomfield’s (CCOB) Water Utility Department become a host business for this program. It seemed like a realistic and feasible project as well as a great opportunity for us to both support workforce development and build stronger collaboration across our departments.

So, what would that look like at CCOB (or your utility)? The first step is for our various departments, like water and wastewater treatment, distribution, instrumentation and controls, and others, to team up and design an externship program that gives local teachers a full picture of what we do and the career paths available in each area. While CDLE offers support and guidance, each host business gets to shape the experience in a way that makes the most sense for them. Our tentative plan? A 5 day externship that touches all aspects of water utility work here in Broomfield. Think:

• Guided tours of our treatment facilities
• Shadowing stormwater inspections
• Ride-alongs with distribution foremen
• Hands-on training with water quality monitoring tools 
• and so much more…

At the end of the week, we’ll sit down with the teachers to reflect on their experience, what they learned, what surprised them, and how they can weave these insights into their lesson plans.

The real goal is impact. We want these teachers to go back to their classrooms with stories of their hands-on experiences and examples that bring STEM lessons to life. And the most important piece? Following up! Staying in touch with the teachers to understand how their students respond and whether it’s sparking interest in water treatment related careers is perhaps one of the most important parts of the externship program.

If all goes well, we hope more students will start to see the water industry not just as essential infrastructure, but as an exciting and meaningful career path. With initiatives like CDLE’s Teacher Externship Program helping us reach students early in their school careers, we’re optimistic about the future of our workforce.

If you’re interested in learning more about CDLE’s Teacher Externship Program, visit their website here: https://cdle.colorado.gov/jobs-training/teacher-externship-program