Page 34 - Campus Technology, January/February 2019

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technical content and provided a way for them to feel like they’re already contributing in their chosen fields.
From Modest Beginnings
According to Michael Pitcher, director of Academic Tech- nologies, and Pedro Espinoza, instructional technologist, a departmental conversation about how college students often struggle with issues related to self-esteem and soft skills led to talking about how the kids in their city face simi- lar problems. Often, kids might have been great at com- puter science or engineering, but didn’t necessarily believe they had what it takes to succeed — especially when their families couldn’t afford to send them to a summer camp where they might develop those skills. As a group, the peo- ple around the table decided they’d volunteer their time and run their own camp for a week.
Outreach to area teachers unstoppered a hidden need. “We were thinking that if we got 12 kids, we’d be ecstatic,” recalled Pitcher. “A ton of people applied.” In response, the group opened two additional camps that summer. And by the following December, teachers were already lining up with new candidates for the following summer. By Febru- ary the upcoming camps were filled up too, and there was a wait list.
And then, the team fielded interest at the district level. School leaders saw what the students were like who had been exposed to the camps, and the school system was interested in piloting a program delivered for the whole school year. While Pitcher and his group envisioned testing
out the idea on a single school and maybe 75 students, the district had a different idea: bringing in 400 students. “We asked ourselves, how can we grow this? We sat down for a long couple of days and nights, and we said, ‘OK, let’s do this.’” The program was formalized; funding issues were hammered out; and it became part of the rotation for people in the Academic Technologies division, which recruited stu- dent volunteers to help deliver the content.
Months later, the district decided it wanted to add a sec- ond cohort, and then a third. And it suggested turning the year of training into a multi-year program that would con- tinue growing ever after, all the way from second grade to the end of college.
How Tech-E Works
Nearly every Friday during the school year, the buses start arriving to campus. Loads of students, primarily in grades 2-8, step out to be greeted by their college mentors. These are university student volunteers from engineering, science and other degree programs who will stay with the kids throughout the day and move from session to session, act- ing as helpers, guides on the side and lunch companions.
Following a quick welcome and overview, grade-level groups are split into sections, which rotate through four workshops during the day. Each grade may be learning the same topic, but the lessons are tiered to incorporate more challenges and higher-level activities. For example, while the second graders might learn how to convert binary num- bers to decimal and back again, middle schoolers and high
WIN Academy 7th graders working on a Tech-E IoT activity
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CAMPUS TECHNOLOGY | January/February 2019