Livermore High Prepares Future Engineers

From GEA: The Green Engineering Academy (GEA) at Livermore High School (LHS) prepares students for careers in engineering by first inviting them to play within the subjects as they learn. In the Engineering Physics class – the GEA students’ first approach to physics – the room is joyfully cacophonous with the clank of metal, the cranking of gears, the expectant drop of a steel ball and its circuitous journey. Students are designing and testing their own Rube Goldberg devices – contraptions that employ simple machines like cranks or pulleys strung together in an elaborate, meandering fashion to produce some result; in this case, moving a ball from one end of the machine to the other. “It’s not supposed to look good,” said one student to his group. “It’s supposed to be fun.”

“And functional!” chimed in another student from a different table. The concept of fun and functional rings true for the entire approach to education taken by the GEA. Susan Johnston, LHS science and math teacher, and one of the founding teachers of the GEA notes that “green” is the underlying theme for the program, with most projects focused on green technology. “We make solar cars in our ‘Introduction to Engineering’ course, and recycling centers in our ‘Principles of Engineering’ course, and we learn about sewer science in our GEA Biology course, to name a few projects we do,” said Johnston.

The academy provides students with a curriculum developed by Project Lead the Way (PLTW), a nationally recognized STEM organization with a mission to increase the quality and quantity of engineers, technologists, and biomedical professionals graduating from the educational system. PLTW specializes in hands-on engineering classes designed to teach students how to apply science and math to real-life situations.
The learn-by-doing approach to lessons makes potentially abstract lessons in math and science more concrete by allowing students to put what they learn to the test, such as the Rube Goldberg experiments, or the CAD software, “Inventor.” The GEA program at LHS also extends learning by allowing students to see the real-life applications of their lessons, through field trips to Cisco, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), the Livermore Water Reclamation Plant, and even to Great America for Physics Day, where they can learn and experience the physics behind roller coasters.

These lessons translate to desirable, marketable skills for future employers. “The academy exposes students to engineering pathways. Classes combine academics with career development,” said Johnston. The program, funded by the California Partnership Academy (CPA) Grant, requires LHS to work closely with industry partners. “GEA graduates catch the eye of employers looking for a specific fit. Our partners, including Sandia National Labs, Schneider Electric, LLNL, Chevron, and Topcon, among others, know that students coming from the GEA have the skills and experience that will make them successful in internships and apprenticeships,” added Johnston. In fact, students coming from the GEA can sometimes move into apprenticeships as soon as one year after they graduate – considerably faster than the typical three or four year wait.

Students interested in joining the GEA apply from middle school to be accepted into the academy, and then join a cohort they stay with through all four years at LHS. “By the time they’re seniors,” said Johnston, “they talk about the GEA cohort like their family” – a sentiment echoed by each student who talks about the program. Matthew Cheng, Jacob Lester, and Alejandra Quezada all come from the same GEA cohort and are in their senior year at LHS. Asked what he gets out of the program, Lester spoke to “being able to work on projects together, developing team chemistry.” “We became one big family,” said Cheng. “It gets easier to collaborate on projects as we go through classes together, and we develop real friend groups outside of class.” Quezada loves the atmosphere of the group going through the entire program together and helping each other.

The GEA curriculum includes all diploma and college preparatory courses, allowing room for Honors, AP, and elective options. “English is just as important to engineering as anything else,” Johnston noted. “You have to know how to communicate.”

Engineering is a district-wide focus throughout LVJUSD schools. Elementary students begin PLTW courses with the “Launch” program, middle school students have the opportunity to pursue STEM courses, and both LHS and Granada High School offer a breadth of PLTW courses. Each year, Johnston sees a notable increase in student interest and comprehension in STEM subjects before they get to high school. The infusion of Science Technology Engineering Arts and Math (STEAM) programs – propelled by projects such as the new STEAM lab at Marylin Avenue Elementary, Girls Who Code clubs at all middle and high schools, and makerspaces at many sites around the District – provides students with early hands-on interaction with science and math. Encouraging all students to develop their math and science skills can help reduce the gender gap in STEM fields.

Students of the GEA approach the functional aspects of science and math by discovering first what makes it fun. They get the opportunity to see what is possible from their education in real time, forming a solid foundation and a practical knowledge of how to build on it. They are bonded together by their shared learning experience, playing off each other’s energy, lifting one another, and carving out a path by which they all will come out the other end fortified by knowledge prepared to engineer success.
For additional information about the program and a link to the GEA application, go to http://livermorehigh.com/gea

Image Courtesy of GEA