Schools
Back to School: Program Expands Engineering Opportunities
By Nick DeRatto
Aug 13, 2008 - 4:18:50 PM

Since the inception of the specialty centers in Chesterfield County’s high schools, students fairly certain of their college and career paths have the opportunity to take those first steps along that path from the moment they first step foot into high school.

But what about those students who realize during their freshman year that they want to be part of a specialty center? After all, the specialty centers are four-year programs that must be applied to before a student starts high school. Once that deadline passes, students are locked out forever.

Starting this year, however, students at L.C. Bird will have a second chance as school officials have started the Engineering Technology Studies program, a program that students will start during their sophomore year and is similar to the school’s existing Pre-Engineering specialty center.

“We want to move away from the elitist attitude that people may perceive from the specialty centers,” says Beth Teigen, principal at Bird. “It’s not just for the gifted.”

Looking to start this fall with a small pilot cohort of 20 to 25 students, the Engineering Technology program will be a three-year program to help expose students to engineering fields and prepare them to be as close as possible to entering the field or obtaining a degree.

“I hate to think that there are kids who want to do the Pre-Engineering program but can’t, either because the program was full or they moved here after the deadline. This is a nice extension of what we already do and a way to expand the opportunities for students,” says Nancy Hoover, coordinator of the Pre-Engineering and Engineering Technology programs. “It will be a different program than the Pre-Engineering program, but will have the same rigor. It is just a parallel program.”

In their sophomore year, students will stay together for five of their seven classes: math, science, social studies, English, and Engineering Design: How Things Work. With the Engineering Design class, students will complete an anchor project each nine weeks. Teachers will then meet at least weekly to coordinate their lesson plans to weave this project throughout their other four classes.

“They may do something like build a catapult in their Engineering Design class. Then, in physics they will learn the physics behind a catapult, plot data from it in math class, write a technical manual for it in English class and learn about the history of it in social studies class,” says Hoover. “Kids will be able to see an authentic and relevant connection between engineering and their classes. We hope that discussing it in all classes helps them to make that connection.”

During their junior year, students will begin looking into dual-enrollment classes and will be required to choose an engineering class from four electives. Once seniors, students must pick their engineering concentration and will attend an engineering technology seminar where they will be exposed to college content and engineering fields of study.

“By the time that they are seniors, we want them in as many AP or dual-enrollment classes as they are comfortable with and are applicable to what they want to do,” says Hoover. “John Tyler Community College is helping us develop and evaluate our curriculum so that these students can later earn college credit or work towards certification. I’m so excited for what this program means to higher education.”

Students enrolled will also work on so-called soft skills. These skills will include learning how to write a resume, interview for a job, and work together.

“We want these kids to be college and career ready when they finish this program,” says Hoover.

Students have already been selected for participation in this year’s program. Rising freshmen interested in participating next year must be students at Bird, have an interest in engineering, good grades, and a teacher recommendation.

nderatto@villagepublishing.com | 751-0421
 



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