Valencia Park teams with EY, USD for a day of community service

Valencia Park STEAM Magnet’s Beautification Committee, made up of students, joined forces with business professionals from EY and university students from SDSU and USD to paint, clean, organize and landscape.

The third annual San Diego Community Service Day, held April 12, is an opportunity to welcome the community to help the Valencia Park neighborhood campus.

Principal Lori Moore thanked all the volunteers, her school community and students for their hard work on a Saturday.

"One of the biggest recipients of the effort was the school library," she said. "Books were organized, shelves and furniture were moved and walls received a fresh coat of paint. The goal was to create a space for students and teachers to meet, research and plan together as the school moves toward a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics) focused environment."

Ernst and Young, SDSU and USD are partners of particular interest because of the school’s new focus on STEAM education.

Valencia Park Elementary STEAM Magnet will be hosting tours for prospective parents from May 6 to July 8.

Find out more about Valencia Park Elementary School by visiting its website.

Kearny, SD High students honored for creating videos, apps

Three San Diego Unified students have been honored by Careers in Energy Week for developing videos and apps to show benefits of a career in the energy-utility industry.

Matt Ferriera, a freshman at Kearny Construction Tech Academy, and Ian Romanas, a sophomore at San Diego High School of Science and Technology, received the state and regional winning awards. Another student, David Noon, from San Diego High School of Science and Technology was the Regional runner up. The contest asked for individual high school students and teams of community college and university students to develop video and apps describing why a career in the energy/utility industry is exciting, innovative and engaging.

The contest was part of a nationwide initiative to promote science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education. Careers in Energy Week aimed to address the need for a qualified, diverse energy industry workforce. The Careers in Energy Week initiative has been proclaimed in 13 other states and was developed by the National Center for Energy Workforce Development. Supported by Gov. Jerry Brown, this was California’s second Careers in Energy Week designed to increase awareness about the role energy plays in our daily life at the student level.

San Diego Gas & Electric joined other California utilities in the annual event.

“At SDG&E, our goal is to support programs that provide tools and resources to students in hopes of engaging them in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math,” said Scott Drury, vice president of human resources, diversity and inclusion for SDG&E. “Careers in Energy Week is a great example of how we, as a community, are working together to develop our next generation of leaders in the region.”

For more information about Careers in Energy Week, please visit http://www.sdge.com/newsroom/2013-10-11/student-contests-careers-energy-week