Category Archives: STEM

Cardboard Boat Regatta keeping girls’ STEM career dreams afloat

Photo courtesy Jeff Fitlow/Rice University

Photo courtesy Jeff Fitlow/Rice University

Chávez HS students build, test their skills through unique partnership with Rice University

Thinking up a concept, executing its design, and thrilling in its success—or learning from its failure—that’s what the Cardboard Boat Regatta at Chávez High School is all about.

Eleven teams comprised of sophomore, junior and senior girls, with mentoring assistance from Rice University graduate students, GE Oil & Gas volunteers, and Chávez HS faculty, raced cardboard boats of their own design on June 25 in the new signature event of the three-year-old Rice University Institute of Biosciences and Bioengineering (IBB) Girls STEM Initiative.

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Incoming freshmen dive into the world of STEM

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While some students are vacationing, incoming freshman at South Early College High School (SECHS) are preparing for long careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) through a Summer Bridge Program with Houston Community College.

SECHS is HISD’s only STEM magnet early college, aimed at increasing student awareness of and preparation for careers in fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, all while earning an associate’s degree tuition-free from Houston Community College.

The Summer Bridge Program allows freshman to get a head start on building relationships, developing study habits, and improving critical reading, writing, and math skills. The students also had a chance to tour the Houston Community College campus and see where STEM studies might lead them. Back in the classroom, students have been exploring the range of the STEM world by completing virus and yeast labs and learning computer programming to operate robots.

“We are excited about STEM at South Early,” said Summer School Coordinator Cedric Starks. “I wanted the students to experience working in the science lab, conducting tests and experiments, and using codes to program the robots.”

Garden Oaks, Washington students team up to launch rocket

GOES_BTW_Rocket_400Students from Garden Oaks Montessori collaborated with students from Washington High School’s engineering magnet program over the past school year to design and fabricate a payload for the One Mile-One Pound Rocket Challenge.

After their teachers were connected through a mutual colleague, students from both schools began researching, designing, building, and testing a stable rocket capable of attaining a height of one mile with a one pound payload that could be recovered safely.

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Twain ES named national winner of DreamBox Math Challenge

TwainES_DreamBoxAttending a dual-language school has really paid off for one group of third-graders at Twain Elementary School.

Francisco Martinez’s Spanish immersion class at Twain has been named a national winner in the DreamBox Learning Math Challenge, a competition that requires students in grades K–8 to solve various math problems in Spanish. Continue reading →

Carnegie Vanguard chemistry teacher wins prestigious award

Rajadurai_Christy_150Christy Rajadurai, a chemistry teacher at Carnegie Vanguard High School, has won the 2015 Thomas Aczel Award for Excellence in High School Teaching from the American Chemical Society – Greater Houston Section (ACS-GHS).

Rajadurai will be presented with a $500 check and a plaque at the ACS-GHS Spring Awards Banquet on June 3. As the winner for the Greater Houston Section, Rajadurai is now a candidate for the ACS Southwest Regional Award.

Rajadurai has taught Advanced Placement and pre-Advanced Placement chemistry for five years at Carnegie.

East Early College HS places second in national SECME competition

East Early College HS Falcon 1 team, Pablo Flores, Miguel Lara, and Alejandro Meza

East Early College HS Falcon 1 team, Pablo Flores, Miguel Lara, and Alejandro Meza

The East Early College High School’s (EECHS) Falcon 1 team, whose members are Pablo Flores, Miguel Lara, and Alejandro Meza, won second place in the High School Water Rocketry category at the 2015 National SECME (Southeastern Consortium for Minorities in Engineering) Competition.

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Hamilton MS ‘Scratch Off’ contest gives students a taste of coding careers

The team from McGowen ES, who won first place in the beginner division

The team from McGowen ES, who won first place in the beginner division

About 50 teams of students from various HISD elementary and middle schools came together on the campus of Hamilton Middle School May 2, and all were eager to test their mettle as coders in the school’s inaugural “Scratch Off” contest.

Named in honor of the free programming language developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the competition challenged students to complete 20 tasks using Scratch, such as making an animated character called a “sprite” change color or move in particular ways on the screen.

By the time the competition was over, Pin Oak Middle School had nailed down the victory in the advanced division, while a team of students from McGowen Elementary School took home the laurels in the beginner division. Continue reading →

East Early College HS educator named National SECME Teacher of the Year

Samuel Saenz was a KBR Science TOTY in 2013 and a finalist for HISD’s secondary TOTY in 2014

SECME_Saenz_250The third time has proven to be the charm for HISD’s Samuel Saenz.

The East Early College High School (EECHS) physics teacher, who placed second for KBR’s Science Teacher of the Year in 2013 and was a finalist for HISD’s Secondary Teacher of the Year in 2014, has been named the National Southeastern Consortium of Minorities in Engineering (SECME) Teacher of the Year for 2015.

“Each year, SECME accepts nominations for extraordinary educators to be recognized for their dedication, creativity, and professionalism in inspiring students’ interest and achievement in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM),” said SECME, Inc. Interim Executive Director Michele Williams. “Mr. Saenz clearly demonstrates all of the qualities that SECME encourages in educators to accomplish our mission to engage and prepare a diverse pool of students for college and careers in STEM.”

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Washington HS students building prosthetic hand for use in real life

Kindergarten student in Waller ISD to benefit from E-Nable project

Engineering students at HISD’s Booker T. Washington High School are connecting their learning to the real world in a very tangible way, by using a 3D printer to create a prosthetic hand and part of an arm for a kindergarten student in Waller ISD.

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The students got involved with the project through E-Nable, a global network of volunteers who build free prosthetic hands for people who were either born without them or lost them due to injury or illness. They stumbled upon the organization last fall while researching solutions for another 3D project.

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