Restore Baltimore Program Trains Students on the Job

By CCBC Stories

January 25^th, 2023

Restore Baltimore Program Trains Students on the Job

The B&O Railroad has a long history of creating jobs in Baltimore, and CCBC has an established reputation for providing people with quality technical skills training. Now, the two are crossing tracks to put students at the intersection of learning on-the- job and pointed toward future careers in the railroad, construction and facilities maintenance industries.

The B&O Railroad Museum and CCBC have partnered to create a unique workforce training program called Restore Baltimore. Participants enroll as Continuing Education students at CCBC, and work and learn full-time for about six months at the B&O Railroad Museum while earning an hourly wage. They clock in and out at the museum’s 40-acre campus in West Baltimore, gaining hands-on experience in tool and equipment usage, construction skills, building maintenance and preservation. Participants learn about rail safety, inspection and operation on working rail lines.

A full-time CCBC work project mentor/instructor works side-by-side with Restore Baltimore participants, transferring skills on the job, while CCBC staff ensure students overcome any obstacles to completing the program and are connected to potential permanent employment opportunities.

"The B&O is really committed to the program,” said David Frey, coordinator of Technical Training at CCBC. “They have given us access to the restoration shop here, they have a woodshop and they’ve provided a lot of materials and consumable items to help keep projects and the class moving forward.”

Restore Baltimore’s first participants completed the program in September 2022, earning credentials in: Occupational Safety and Health Administration 10-hour safety training, First Aid/CPR/AED training, Lead Paint Renovation, Repair and Painting, and National Occupational Competency Testing Institute Core Building Trades Maintenance.

“They are getting a bunch of different certifications that will help them move forward and progress in careers,” Frey said. “All of these credentials are portable and very desirable by employers.”

Restore Baltimore was the ticket Tyrone Peterkin needed to get back on track. After being incarcerated for 39 years, he entered freedom and the world at age 56 with no work skills but a desire to get going.

“The program propelled me tremendously,” said Peterkin. “The program placed me in the position to learn different skills, such as carpentry, masonry and life skills. It would have taken me years to learn this.”

The day after Peterkin completed the Restore Baltimore program, he was hired full-time as a Trackman with Canton Railroad, a rail logistics provider founded in 1906 that offers freight services to industrial, manufacturing and port related shippers.

Kris Hoellen, executive director of the B&O Railroad Museum, said Restore Baltimore is a partnership that blends CCBC’s expert instruction with the B&O’s campus and real-life projects. During the summer of 2022 at the B&O, the Restore Baltimore participants built a train ramp, did track inspections, learned how to lay ballasts and how to remove train track ties and put down new ties and performed facilities maintenance.

“They are very prepared,” Hoellen said. “They are probably more prepared than an entry- level worker for the rail industry. They all did a wonderful job.”

Learn more at: borail.org/restore-baltimore.

Information Sessions

The next six-month Restore Baltimore cohort is scheduled to begin on April 24, 2023. Attend an upcoming information sessions at the B&O Railroad Museum to learn more: