Updates
Seapearch: Alief ISD after school STEM program offers collaboration with HCC
Feb 23, 2016
Have you ever wondered how you can captivate the interest of students while infusing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, at the same time? Well, SeaPerch, an underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) robotics program for students, does just that.
The Office of Naval Research provides an avenue for students and school districts to experience building robots in formal and informal settings at an extremely low cost, yet with high technical skills. According to SeaPerch.org, “building a SeaPerch ROV teaches basic skills in ship and submarine design and encourages students to explore naval architecture and marine and ocean engineering principles.”
Moreover, students are exposed to careers in naval architecture and naval, ocean, and, marine engineering.
Houston Community College Minority Male Initiative program has provided robots, tool kits, and community receptions for the middle school and high school students of Alief ISD. This was done under the direct leadership of Rodney McLaurin, Program Director of Student Services Initiatives and Dr. Edna L. Kingsley in collaboration with Alief ISD (Dr. Karen Jacobs, Denia Puerto-Rivera, and Dr. Jean Menson) along with the many wonderful coaches, parents, and students.
HCC is also volunteering to assist with coordinating with Alief ISD in hosting the SeaPerch’s District and Regional Competition slated this spring in Alief ISD.
The students of Alief ISD, in collaboration with the Houston Community College, are seeing that college is a definite reality in their near future. The soft and hard skills obtained through this exciting after school program has truly strengthened students’ outlook about their future.
To quote a Alief-HCC STEM after school student, “SeaPerch is a good thing at school because it helps kids out in math, science, reading, and writing. In our groups, we have to present. We have to use reading because we have to read the SeaPerch book to figure out the directions. We have to use math because we have to measure and calculate the speed for the robot. We want to do our best in order to compete at Regionals and Nationals and do our best for Alief ISD and HCC. This would mean the world to us to be able to one day get a scholarship and attend college in STEM.”