SAUSD’s Migrant Education Program offers STEM Workshops for 6th-8th Grades

Santa Ana Unified School District
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SAUSD’s Migrant Education Program Offers STEM Workshops for 6th, 7th, and 8th Grade Students

SANTA ANA, CA – July 16, 2013 – N.A.S.A.’s trained facilitators will conduct activities designed to teach 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students in the Santa Ana Unified School District the Engineering Design Process, a series of steps that engineers use to guide them as they solve problems. Made possible through the District’s Migrant Education Program, students who qualify for the program will engage in STEM workshops on August 5, 6, and 7, 2013 at Villa Fundamental’s gym from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The culminating project is a demonstration of lunar vehicles and rockets created by the students.

What makes this curriculum different than others is that there is no “recipe” for building the items in each activity, and there are no given drawings. The emphasis is for students to understand that engineers must “imagine and plan” before they begin to build and experiment. To successfully complete the NASA’s B.E.S.T. activities, students must draw their ideas first before constructing.

T4T, a nonprofit organization, has partnered with the District to administer the activities. They specialize in rescuing manufacturing overruns, discards and castoffs, originally headed for landfill, and re-imagining these items in various ways. T4T not only helps the environment, they also create awareness in educational institutions, community organizations, and young minds. T4T’s non-traditional materials are utilized in classrooms, communities, and more to inspire curiosity, experimentation, and hands-on learning that reinforce critical thinking and creative problem solving essential for all ages and disciplines.

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Contact:
Deidra Powell, Chief Communications Officer
(714) 558-5555
Deidra.Powell@sausd.us