Work funded through a grant from the Jimmie Johnson Foundation that remodeled the Green Technology and Engineering program classroom at San Diego High's SciTech school is now complete. The 2012 grant funding was for additional tools and equipment including electrical trainer boards, a 3-D printer, computer tables, flooring, whiteboards and an assortment of tools for students to complete various hands-on projects.
Recently, students and Lowe’s representatives, a partner in the grant, gathered on campus to install the final elements to transform their old classroom which was originally used as an auto shop class to an engineering classroom that focuses on green technologies.
The new equipment and facility upgrades have allowed students to participate in extra-curricular programs as well as daily in class. Students are constructing the solar boat that will race in the Solar Cup event in May, 2013, and have been able to participate in ACE mentoring and FIRST robotics competitions. The ergonomics, safety and comfort for every student in the classroom have improved and the 3-D printer that provides students with the opportunity to engineer and design three dimensional objects has taken the program possibilities higher than ever imagined.
The Introduction to Green Technologies and Energy course is currently only offered at SciTech. The course is a foundation class which meets the University of California UC a-g requirement for physics lab credit. Before the grant funding, the instructor had to improvise ways to teach electronics, alternative fuels, and other components of engineering.
The engineering curriculum follows the Project Lead the Way model which is the leading provider of rigorous and innovative STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education curricular programs used in schools.
For more information about SciTech’s Green Technology and Engineering program, please contact Katie Carl, CCTE Teacher, at kcarl@sandi.net. For more information on the Jimmie Johnson Foundation, please contact www.jimmiejohnsonfoundation.org.
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