Bilingual Hanford Engineer Connects with Spanish-speaking Students

RICHLAND, Wash. — The Hanford Site workforce has a positive effect on the local community through volunteerism. Omar De La Mora, pictured, an engineer with EM contractor Washington River Protection Solutions, recently discovered that volunteering was a way for him to give back to the community. De La Mora heard his company needed a volunteer to present to bilingual English- and Spanish-speaking fifth graders for Engineers Week, an annual outreach campaign in which Hanford professionals visit local schools and encourage students to consider science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) concepts and careers. Despite a lack of experience working with children, De La Mora offered to lead the presentation. He spent much of the weekend learning the fifth grade activity and translating each of the presentation slides into Spanish. When he arrived at Curie STEM Elementary School in Pasco, Washington, he learned there were two Spanish-speaking classes, and the students in one of them spoke little English. Nonetheless, he led both through the planned event. In doing so, he showed his dedication to helping foster a diverse and well-educated future engineering and technical workforce. De La Mora said his first classroom talk with local students about engineering and science made a profound impression on him.