Schools
Engineering Academy Opens at Dublin High School
$80,000 in donations from local companies and foundations helps kickstart academy.
recently launched the first of several courses in a new Engineering Academy. Dublin Patch met with Dublin High Assistant Principal Bill Branca who has championed the program.
Patch: Where did the idea for a Dublin High Engineering Academy originate?
Branca: A few years ago, I attended the Closing the Achievement Gap summit in Sacramento with several colleagues from the district and while there met with representatives from Project Lead the Way. We'd been looking at adding a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) program at the high school and in the district for a while and Project Lead the Way fit nicely.
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Patch: What does Project Lead the Way bring to the table?
Branca: Project Lead the Way is a national, nonprofit organization that helps schools develop STEM programs by providing curriculum, resources and teacher training. The first course of several we'll be rolling out is the 'Principles of Engineering' course that launched this year at Dublin High.
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During the summer, we sent two teachers for an intensive two-week, 15 hours a day training course at Cal Poly Pomona where the teachers go through the whole curriculum that the students will be going through. The teachers get to build all of the projects, work with all of the computer programs and simulations the students will go through, so that when the teachers return they are ready to teach the course.
Our first Project Lead the Way teachers, Eugene Chou and Tom Calvert, were paired with mentor teachers that they can call and talk to if there are any problems. Both Eugene and Tom are also math teachers at Dublin High and both have engineering degrees. Our teachers also developed a network of other Project Lead the Way teachers — in the East Bay area alone there are multiple schools and districts that are launching or have launched Project Lead the Way programs.
Patch: How much money was required to launch the Engineering Academy, how was the money used and how has the district raised the necessary funds?
Branca: The startup costs are the most significant costs in the program, although the one-time costs can be used to build multiple courses in the program, not just the Principles of Engineering course. The initial cost of approximately $50,000 covered specialized materials for student projects and 24 new, networked computers plus training the first two teachers. We are hoping that this initial investment can also be used for the next Project Lead the Way course we plan to launch, 'Introduction to Engineering Design,' targeted for the 2011-12 school year.
When we went out to local companies and community members looking for grants and funding, there was a lot of interest. STEM programs are very popular right now. We've raised close to $80,000 to date, including donations from Chevron, Simpson Strong Tie, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, as well as several generous private donations. Parents of students in the program have also made donations to help get the program started.
Patch: How many students are in the first class?
Branca: Principles of Engineering is typically a sophomore/junior class in the Project Lead the Way sequence that provides a survey of different engineering specialties – from electrical to structural to mechanical engineering – providing students with an idea of what engineering is about. Many of the students who have thought about engineering have no idea what engineers do. This course gives students a starting point to understanding if engineering is right for them.
We have two classes of 24 students right now with room to grow to 30 students per class, and even adding a third class. This was a manageable size for our first year of the Engineering Academy.
Patch: What is the next step for Dublin High's Engineering Academy?
Branca: Next year, we are adding Project Lead the Way's 'Introduction to Engineering Design' course, which will introduce students to CAD (computer-aided design) and the design process. We plan to expand the program over time and are investigating partnerships with the Tri-Valley ROP (Regional Occupational Program) to share costs. For example, our environmental science class is offered by the Tri-Valley ROP. There are a diverse set of engineering courses that have been developed by Project Lead the Way we are considering adding in the future.
We are also going to start an Engineering Academy Advisory Committee comprised of teachers, administration, donor representatives and parent representatives with an engineering background that will meet three to four times per year to help guide the program forward.
With the program now underway, we'll be actively recruiting students for the 2011-12 school year and may add a third class of the Principles of Engineering course if there is sufficient interest.