Three seniors from Don Bosco Technical Institute (Bosco Tech) in Rosemead will be lending their knowledge to their younger schoolmates as mentors in the Boeing Summer High School Internship program this year.

Aaron De Castro, George Flores and Raphael Napiñas completed Boeing internships last summer, and now they will guide younger interns, including seven Bosco Tech students, in Boeing’s seven-week STEM-focused educational program. 

“Boeing is providing an amazing opportunity for everyone involved,” said Bosco Tech president Memo Gutierrez. “The mentor students benefited tremendously as interns last year, and now they will move into an advisory capacity to help younger students. Boeing’s program has provided a practical application of STEM coursework for the many Tech students who have been fortunate enough to have participated throughout the years.” 

Boeing interns are chosen based on their academic standing, strong communication skills, and excellent problem-solving abilities. Because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and social distancing guidelines, this year’s internships will be held virtually. Bosco Tech’s student mentors will provide additional support, sharing their experiences and helping introduce the interns to Boeing protocol and to the engineers and computer scientists who participate in the program. 

“I’m serving as a mentor because I want to give back as much as I can to a program that gave me such an amazing experience,” said Napiñas, who will begin his studies in Computer Science at Cal Poly, Pomona this fall. “This is a chance to pass on our knowledge of working at an actual engineering company to younger students, and also to reconnect with our former mentors, as well as make new connections with other employees.”