It has been said that hobos would hop the rails to search for the meaning of life. For Tech Valley High School junior John Hendricks II – who could hardly be characterized as a hobo – the railroad might not provide a meaning to life, but it could provide answers about a future career.
Hendricks, from Berlin, will be riding the rails this weekend as part of his J-Term project, a research project unique to Tech Valley High School that challenges students to conduct in-depth research
into a topic of interest.
For Hendricks, the topic is the life of a train conductor. Hendricks will spend Thursday to Monday “job shadowing” Amtrak conductor Frank Pless.
“I’ve been interested in train’s for a while now,” said Hendricks. “Especially, the real world side of working on the train.”
Hendricks’ travels will take him to Boston twice and New York City and will include over-night trips.
Like other TVHS students, Hendricks will research the topic and then report to his fellow students, and adult visitors to the school, what he learned while job-shadowing.