Antioch High School juniors Kevin Roldan, Darian Quinn and Robert Gochenouer chat with Amanda Hauf, a chemical engineer at Dow Chemical in Pittsburgh, while junior Hudson Preece works on the EDGE screen laptop Academy.
By Allen Payton
Thursday’s Pathway to Pipeline event allowed high school students from the nine Antioch-linked learning academies to share what they are learning with local employers. This, in turn, allowed these employers to talk to the students and offer them potential internships in their company.
Juniors of the Dozier-Libbey Medical High School
Joshua McEvoy and Adriana Uritia share their SportsMed course with Karen and Bob Martin.
Sponsored by the Antioch Unified School District, the Antioch Chamber of Commerce, the City of Antioch and the East County Business-Education Alliance, the event, held at the Antioch Community Center in Prewett Park, was organized with the goal of building the region’s future workforce. Launchpath, an effort of the Foundation for California Community Colleges and the Linked Learning Alliance, was instrumental in supporting the day.
During the morning, students from the nine academies shared what they are doing and learning at school. These academies include the Dozier-Libbey Medical High School, with stands on the school in general and their SportsMed class. Business-Tech Marketing, Law and Justice, ACE Bio-Tech, Performing Arts Academies of Deer Valley High School were represented, as were Environmental Studies, Media, Leadership and Public Service (LAPS) and Engineering & Design Green Environment (EDGE) Antioch High School Academies.
ACE is an umbrella for other pathways and stands for Academic Challenge and Enrichment. It offers students the opportunity to become an expert in a STEAM field of their choice. STEAM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics.
Deer Valley High students Jafar Khalfani-Bey junior, Rahmat Omari center and senior speak with Antioch business owner Ken Turnage at the Law & Justice Academy exhibit.
Featured Academies
EDGE Academy students had a 3D printer on display, creating a plastic toy from a design file found on a website, which they downloaded to a connected laptop.
It took about 30 minutes to create the one inch tall toy.
According to junior Hudson Preece, the students are trying to resurrect an old server to help build the 3D printer, which they can use to sell the products they make, on a website they plan to set up, and to update software for making metal objects. , as well.
An old robotic arm from the early 1990s, from one of two idle assembly lines, was also on display.
“We’re looking to update it and integrate it into newer computers and software so it’s usable by first-year students to incorporate into their curriculum,” Hudson added. “We want all EDGE Academy members to use these tools to further their education.”
“These are small layers of plastic, ”explains junior Robert Gochenouer. “It’s 0.5 millimeters per layer.
“The plastic is heated like in a glue gun,” said junior Kevin Roldan.
Students use drawings they find online and sell their creations.
Antioch High EDGE Academy juniors Hudson Preece, Kevin Roldan and Robert Gochenouer explain how the 3D printer works during their exhibit.
“Or you can create your own design,” Robert added.
New to the school in the fall of 2014, the printer they had on display costs around $1,000 to $2,000.
“The teachers gave it to us and told us to figure it out,” Hudson said.
“They have a larger printer that can print larger items and more accurately,” Darian said.
“That one cost around $17,000,” Hudson added.
Business-Tech Academy students start a new virtual business that will be international, buying and selling products, in a simulated online economy.
“We were doing college textbooks,” explained Miraya Finau, Vice President of Virtual Enterprise. “But, we just decided this morning to switch to noble teenage fashion.”
“The classes there, right now, are researching marketing and pricing to charge,” she added.
Marketing Academy students run their own store on campus. They featured some of the school-related merchandise and other items, such as sports-themed lanyards, that they sell.
Achievements
The half-day also allowed those present during lunch to hear from the Superintendent of Antioch, Dr. Don Gill, and the students who participated in an internship last summer.
“Linked learning works,” Gill said. “When freshmen first arrived at EDGE Academy, many students were underachieving.”
As a result (of their experience at the academy), these kids skyrocketed and these students reached the level of proficiency and advancement,” he said. “Now about 80% of students in high schools in Antioch are aligned to a bonded learning program.”
He thanked the James Irvine Foundation for providing $3.5 million to the Antioch Linked Learning Program.
Gennie Barr, supervisor at Verizon, praised the work of the three interns over the summer.
“In 10 years, I expect them to be my boss,” she said. “I told them to give them work. Not just busy work. After six weeks everyone asked me ‘can we keep them?’
Antioch High senior Matthew Hilton talks about his summer internship at Verizon over lunch.
One of his interns was Matthew Hilton, an EDGE Academy senior.
“I had to do a CV. It was like a real job interview,” he said of the internship acceptance process. “I got to see what it was like to be with these companies. I was looking at different models of cell towers. I also took the place of a project manager before she left on vacation. It was a lot of work, basically.
“Most of the time I worked there. I was pushing a 9-5 in a 9-3,” Matthew continued. “I was able to see and prove that I could succeed in the business world. There was never a dull moment.
Matthew’s father, Rick Hilton, has praised EDGE Academy.
“I have never seen a group of teachers more dedicated to their students than at EDGE Academy,” he shared. “It’s not just the engineering professors, but also the others associated with the academy like the English and math professors. They definitely believe in the team teaching approach.
Dr. Sean Wright, CEO of the Antioch Chamber, concluded the lunchtime presentations with his thoughts.
“This is not the future of the education renaissance. This is the renaissance of education,” he said. “We need the business community to continue to support this.”
Local employers participated in the Antioch Careers Expo offering internships to students who attended.
Wright mentioned some aspects of linked learning academies.
“It has to be rigorous…raise the standard of education,” he said. “It has to be relevant. It has to count. It has to be a learning-by-doing to engage with us as business owners. »
After lunch, that’s exactly what the students had the opportunity to do, as local employers participated in the Antioch Careers Expo, hosting tables where they shared information and offered internships. Participating employers included those in real estate, healthcare, law enforcement, government, technology and media.
For more information about LaunchPath, visit www.launchpath.com.
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Antioch Trade Fair
Matthew Hilton speaks over lunch
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