Physics In The Summer - High School Students Enrolled In College-Based Program
July 24, 2006
REGINE LABOSSIERE
There's a daily quiz, lecture and plenty of hands-on work. The class is five days a week for three weeks. And it's held the time of year when most students are at camp, working summer jobs or lazing away their days at the beach.
But more than a dozen high school students from across the state are at Manchester Community College spending a portion of their summer vacation studying the principles of engineering.
The college has opened up its classrooms and made teaching staff available for its first Project Lead the Way, an engineering academy for high school students to help guide them toward engineering fields in college and in the workforce.
There are 56 high schools in Connecticut that have Project Lead the Way engineering courses in their schools. During the school year, students earn high school and college credits for the math and science courses related to engineering.
The college has developed the first major Project Lead the Way program in the state in which students from various high schools can take three weeks of classes on campus during the summer. The schools involved in the Manchester program are Avon, Berlin, Howell Cheney Technical, Farmington, RHAM and Simsbury high schools.
There are 15 students participating in the Manchester program that started July 10 and ends July 28. It is funded by the College of Technology Next Generation Regional Manufacturing Center, and its teacher is Manchester Community College Assistant Professor Odell Glenn, who recruited the students.
"It's a unique class," Glenn said. "There's a major shortage of United States engineers. ... We need to get them in the early years."
Glenn is teaching the courses Principles of Engineering and Digital Electronics during the summer program. He hired two former Project Lead the Way students to help the newer students.
Jordan Taylor, 16, who will be a senior at Berlin High School in the fall, is one of the student teachers. She began taking engineering courses in high school because she loves science and math.
"I'm definitely going to be some kind of scientist," Jordan said. "I understand it. It's fun and interesting."
After years of studying science and math, words like "trajectory" easily roll off her tongue and she quickly explains programming projects and how she has the ability to analyze what she learns in engineering and apply it to other aspects in her life.
"If I can get that to work," Jordan said, using a hypothetical problem, "I can use that to figure out math problems and how other things work."
Ashley Pospisil, a 16-year-old soon-to-be junior at Farmington High School, dreams of going to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Ashley, who wants to be an engineer, likes the program because: "It gets the high school students who wouldn't be able to, it gets them to take these classes. You have to be committed to learning."
Karen Wosczyna-Birch, executive director of the College of Technology Next Generation Regional Manufacturing Center, said Manchester will continue this program next year and hopefully will expand its course load. Considering that 15 students signed up and none have dropped out, Birch said, the program is a success.
"They're giving up three weeks of their summer to take hard classes and it's five days a week and there's a lot of work they do at home," Wosczyna-Birch said. "It's amazing."
Sources: http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-manmcc0724.artjul24,0,2541030.story?coll=hc-headlines-local
District to offer engineering courses
Jason Brubaker
The Kenton County School District is getting a new pipeline this school year, but it won't be hidden underground.
The school district announced that they have been awarded a $50,000 Pipeline Grant to help with the implementation of an engineering program at the schools. As part of the grant, Simon Kenton High School will offer pre-engineering courses next year, while a few of the younger schools will begin their own program designed to steer students with an interest in math and science towards the upper-level classes.
"In order to get students in the right frame of mind for math and science at the high school level, we have to prepare them early on," said Bill Schneider, a math and physics teacher at Simon Kenton. "In today's world, you simply can't do without math and science. By starting them early, they will become more interested, and they will know by the time they get here if they may want to pursue it any further."
Schneider, who will teach a pre-engineering course this fall, said the grant will enable students to better prepared for college.
"I taught an intro class last year, but this grant will enable the class to be much more structured," said Schneider. "We want to give kids opportunities they won't have elsewhere. I just try to make the learning as hands-on as possible, because you can see them getting more engaged as they get to apply their learning more. This is going to be really valuable for our school."
Tim Hanner, who will officially step into the role of Superintendent on August 1, said the grant is consistent with the district's mission of finding a student's strengths early.
"In our opinion, this is what school should be about," said Hanner. "Kids should have a chance to explore and discover their talents and interests at a young age, and then be able to pursue them as they get older. We're just very fortunate to have people like Mr. Schneider and [Director of Emerging Programs] Teri Brown, who have worked hard to get this for us. Their hard work will help our student flourish."
According to Schneider, the grant will be spread over two years, as the schools slowly begin implementing the ideas. The pipeline schools are Kenton Elementary, Piner Elementary, River Ridge Elementary, White's Tower Elementary, Summit View Middle, Twenhofel Middle and Simon Kenton. Students may also extend the pipeline after high school, if they choose to attend Gateway Community and Technology College, Northern Kentucky University or the University of Kentucky. The engineering pipeline will focus on math and science fundamentals, as well as critical thinking and technical reading and writing. Throughout the pipeline, students will be exposed to various events and workshops involving aspects of mechanical, electrical and civil engineering. Students must also maintain good attendance and academic standing in order to stay on the pipeline.
"This is just a fantastic program," said Hanner. "We've been looking at different ways to engage students earlier, and this will do just that, We're very excited to be starting this, and I think the students will really get a tremendous benefit from it."
Sources: http://news.communitypress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060706/NEWS01/607060530/1079/Local
|