Overview2007 Above and Beyond Award Recipients
TEAM RECIPIENTS
Boston University Academy Gary Garber & Nick Dent Thirty students at Boston University Academy are members of the Academy’s Robotics Team. The team is mentored by teachers Gary Garber and Nick Dent. Gary and Nick teach students physics, technology, electrical and mechanical engineering, programming, CAD, drafting and modeling – all through the medium of building robots.
In addition to the technology skills and hands-on experience the robotics program provides students, Gary and Nick have incorporated a meaningful community service component - mentoring. With the knowledge and skills learned through their robotics program students produce podcasts, video tutorials, and professional development workshops that reach other students and teachers from more than 20 schools in the Boston area.
The Academy’s students, along with 15 of the Boston teams they have mentored, build robots and compete against one another in contests like the First Robotics competition, the MIT Bot Bowl and the Machine Science Sumo Bowl. The students derive tremendous satisfaction from working with and mentoring their peers in Boston, even when they lose to a team they taught! This is what makes this program Above & Beyond.
With the grant, Gary & Nick will purchase equipment enabling them to create materials for robots directly from a CAD system.
Braintree High School Joe Bengiovanni, John Mauch, Alan Tibbetts & Bob White
Can you see the chemistry in VanGogh’s Starry night, the trinkets from King Tut’s tomb in neon lights or solar prints? The kids at Braintree High can thanks to this exciting team of teachers who have created a dynamic partnership between their science and art departments.
Collectively, the team created a unique curriculum that empowers all students – including those who typically don’t study chemistry – to not only tackle, but master the complexities of this important discipline through the use of technology in their research, development and documentation of projects.
The key is enabling students to access the abstract concepts of chemistry through familiar experiences in the real world. Projects include:
This year, in honor of the school’s 150th anniversary, the team created a project where students will recreate photographic processes available in 1860 (including developing pinhole cameras with the help of autocad) to build a photo journal of the school today. The project will incorporate art, chemistry, ceramics and photography and culminate with an unveiling to parents and the community at the end of the school year.
This partnership across departments truly brings the state’s chemistry frameworks to life, enabling the students to see the real-world applications of chemistry as it applies to art. The effectiveness of the program is reflected in the number of “Level 3” students studying chemistry at Braintree High School. Before this curriculum was implemented, there were 15 Level 3 students enrolled. Now, five years later, 90 students are enrolled in the program. This is what makes Braintree High School’s program Above & Beyond.
Framingham High School Heather Pacheco & Cynthia Villanueva
Cynthia and Heather designed a hands-on interactive program that helps over 200 students a year explore the interconnectedness of earth processes and human interactions with the use of state of the art technology.
Students use ArcView, a Geographic Information System, to explore Earth Science. The technology, which explores the Earth’s layers using information from all around the globe, helps students understand our world and find solutions to potential geographical problems. As an example, students are able to track connections between earthquakes, volcanoes and plate boundaries.
Through videos, student led debate, webquests and structural design exploration, students are predicting the probability of threats, and designing emergency escape plans. The activities integrate, mathematics, technology, engineering, and English language arts into a comprehensive project. This is what makes this project Above & Beyond.
The technology used in the classroom is very adaptable to the diverse population at Framingham High School, which includes students who do not speak English as well as those who may have cognitive disabilities and/or reading problems.
A portion of the funds received from the Above and Beyond award will be used to update the software and possibly purchase a license to take it live on-line. Framingham High School also plans to buy data probes, hand-held GPS units and two additional computers students can use to gather and analyze data.
INDIVIDUAL RECIPIENTS
Barnstable High School Michael Gyra
In addition to his success in the classroom inspiring students in the study of science, Michael Gyra’s crowning achievement is the development of Astro Park. This facility –unlike any other in this part of the country – enables the hands-on study of astronomy in a Greek-style outdoor theatre. Committed to the fact that public schools “must not settle for second best,” Mike gathered volunteers, material and resources to build this center of learning and discovery for both students and the community.
Michael funded the project solely through grants and volunteer contributions. Now, in its third year, Astro Park has hosted more than 75 “Star Parties”. At the parties, Michael guides the community through the wonders of the night-time sky using audiovisual effects displayed on an outdoor screen projecting images 17 feet high and 14 feet wide. The park also includes seven telescopes, including some that are designed for handicap usage.
600 students helped work on the Astro Park and thousands of others have participated in the “Star Parties” and other programs.
Under Mike’s guidance, high school seniors teach astronomy to third graders and become their “astro pen pals.” In Mike’s words, by studying the stars students can “escape to a place of wonder,” and benefit from the “love of learning, looking at something bigger than ourselves.” The program has resulted in improved grades in the state frameworks, and many of Mike’s students went on to further study science in college. This is what makes Michael’s project Above & Beyond.
With the Above and Beyond Award grant, Mike will purchase a woofer, that will make these presentations more realistic.
Natick High School Doug Scott
As part of the A+ Certification class, Doug Scott worked with students to construct a Remote Operated Vehicle or ROV. The goal of the program is to link computer skills with an innovative project giving students an opportunity to learn about technology in a hands-on environment. Through the program, the students develop skills in problem-solving and collaboration as well as technology.
The ROV Scott’s students developed is being used to explore a local pond behind Natick High School. It provides opportunities for all of the students at the school to study marine biology in the field through the video feed mounted on the ROV. The results of the program have been outstanding – students have researched technology that they are using in the lab, such as neutral buoyancy, ballast, relays, lead-acid battery technology.
Natick High School’s ROV was truly put to the test in an archeology mission to locate an underwater steam wreck that a professor at Plymouth State College was searching for. Natick High School’s ROV was able to successfully locate the wreck.
Scott has plans to use the funds provided by the Above and Beyond Award to increase the capabilities of the ROV.
Newton School of Greenfield Donna Cycz
Two years ago when art was dropped from the Newton School curriculum, Donna Cycz developed a program to expose children to art and at the same time use art to create a deeper understanding of the study of math.
Donna is able to help elementary students understand the abstract concepts of geometry by using concrete pictures, sculptures, and architecture such as the Taj Mahal, Mayan temples, pyramids and Baroque Cathedrals. Her curriculum fosters an appreciation, understanding and integration of math and art, and the important role that geometrical principles play in everyday life.
The curriculum aligns with national and state frameworks, and by applying mathematical concepts through art, students have been able to achieve higher test scores. This is what makes Dona’s program Above & Beyond.
The culminating project for the combined art and geometry curriculum is a walk around the community where students take digital pictures of shapes. Students create a PowerPoint slide show and bound books filled with mathematical definitions and the pictures of geometric shapes they have found in the community.
Using the Above and Beyond grant, Donna wants to take this project one step further. She plans to purchase equipment that will enable students to create videos of their projects.
|