Built By Compton: Emily Orozco Helps Compton HS Construction
Media Release
Meet Emily Orozco, the Compton High School 2021 Valedictorian. She now attends UCLA and is majoring in mechanical engineering. To help gain valuable experience in the engineering field, Emily worked as an intern for construction company Swinerton, helping to build the new Compton High School.
As part of the job, she was tasked with helping project engineers with submittals and requests for information. She would review documents that the contractors would send in to ensure they were in accordance with the plans.
Emily grew up in Compton and still lives in the city today. She’s excited to see the new Compton High School being built, because she has family members who will be attending it when it opens in 2025.
Emily talked more about growing up in Compton, being one of the last classes graduating from the old Compton High School, and what the new school means to her.
What were some of the activities you participated in while at Compton High School?
“During my time at Compton High School, I was involved in a variety of different activities. I was a student board member and it was a really interesting leadership opportunity.”
“Additionally, some of the other activities were part of the Compton community. I did a lot of volunteering throughout my time in high school. My mom works at Mayo Elementary School, so sometimes I'd go with her after school and tutor some of the kids.”
“I was part of an internship opportunity called Color Compton. I got to learn a lot about different art mediums and art skills.”
What was your internship regarding the construction of the new Compton High School and what did you do?
“It was really impactful for me during my time at Swinerton, working with the general contractor. I was a Project Engineering Intern and I was involved in the construction in the sense that I helped some of the other project engineers with submittals and requests for information.”
“I would look over some of the documents that the contractors would send in to ensure that they were in accordance with the plans that the architects sent in.”
“The internship was related to what I'm studying now in college and what I want to do in the future, because it taught me a lot about reading technical drawings. As a mechanical engineering major, a lot of what I'll be doing is looking at designs, creating drawings, and eventually sending this for manufacturing.”
What do you think of the current state of the construction of the new Compton High School?
“It's very exciting to see the progress actually come to life. When I was working here, there was a lot of excavation and digging. It was hard for me to envision what was going to happen next.”
“Now it’s interesting to see just how the H building, as we called it on the drawings, is actually a physical building that you can look at.”
“It's very exciting to see just how fast all this progress is occurring. It’s interesting to see just how many additions are being built and just how much it's changing.”
As a graduate of the old school, what do you think about the new building?
“As the last graduating class to see the old building, it's really exciting to know what it used to be, but also to know the opportunities that will be there now. As someone who has a lot of cousins who are much younger than me, I'm very excited to let them know that Compton High School will be up and new again very soon and that they should attend here because it's a really good school.”
“I think it's also important to remember that even though a school’s architecture might change, the soul is never going to leave. It’s always going to remain here and I'll always feel like I'm a part of it, even if I didn't get to go to this specific campus.”
The New Compton High School represents the first new high school facility to be built in almost a decade in the greater Los Angeles area. The soon-to-be built facility will replace the old Compton High School, which was more than 100 years old.
The construction project, supported by construction partners Design Firm DLR Group, building project management consulting firm Cumming, construction firm Swinerton, and a host of others, including building trades and small businesses. The district’s “Built by Compton” Initiative has been working to open doors to opportunity on the project and in the trades for local workers and small businesses. Measure S, which is funding the construction, was passed by Compton voters in 2015.
The new Compton High School, set to welcome its first cohort of students in 2025, will feature:
• A 31-Acre Replacement High School
• 1,800 Students
• A 140,639 Square Feet Academic Building
• A 40,868 Square Feet Performing Arts Center
• A 36,534 Square Feet Gymnasium
• California Native and Adaptive Landscaping
• Covered Areas such as Lunch shelters