The Thomas Edison High School of Technology, established in 1981, is located in Wheaton, Maryland. Unlike a typical high school, the student body of Thomas Edison is composed of under 600 students and consists only of juniors and seniors. The school offers 18 highly reputable programs focusing on a variety of trades, from plumbing and construction to technology and medicine.

Juniors Dayanara Berrios, Dorothy Dang, Devin Cammack and Frances Vallejos are four RM students who take part in the programs at Thomas Edison. A bus arrives at RM early in the morning to take them to Edison for their first three class periods, and brings them back to RM for lunch.

During their time at Edison, the four RM students participate in unique classes and schedules.

Barrios is a part of the architecture program. 

“We’re doing models right now, like building a house and the windows,” she said. 

Additionally, Cammack is in the graphic design program. 

“We do a little spreadsheet in our notebooks on the elements of design,” Cammack said.

Classes at Edison are a bit different than those at RM. 

Vallejos participates in the Academy of Health Professions at Edison and is exposed to a lot of hands-on work that includes using stethoscopes, examining animal organs and putting splints on her peers. 

“For our second year in the Academy of Health Professions,  we go out on clinicals during the second semester and actually perform medical assistant jobs under supervision of teachers and nurses,” she said.

The programs provided at Edison are also a great way for students to gain skills in their future pathway. 

“Going to Edison is better than going to college and committing to four years or doing something that you don’t want to do, so this way you can test out the waters in high school,” Dang said. 

At the end of senior year, each program has its own certification exam. If the student passes, they will gain a license in the trade that can be used to obtain official jobs. It may also be used as college credit. 

“Edison has this big thing about wanting you to get A’s because the whole program is to prepare you for work and real life. They want us to succeed,” Cammack said. 

In addition to academic success, students partake in several fun activities and events at Edison. Every year, the construction clusters come together to build a house from scratch. The house’s design is chosen from a lottery. 

SkillsUSA may be the biggest event that occurs at Edison each year. 

“SkillsUSA is a competition where you mostly compete with all the other service clusters to do the best plumbing, design the best house,” Dang said. Students climb their way up to the top, and may eventually compete in nationals. 

Edison students are kept busy, but greatly enjoy their programs.

“It’s a great environment at Edison. There are a lot of things to do in one whole day,” Berrios said. 

Edison’s programs are incredibly valuable to students, as Edison graduates are often able to enter the workforce in a skilled position right out of high school. 

“The programs at Edison are a good way to get experience and prepare you for real life,” Cammack said.