ENGINEERING ACADEMY Weekly Updates
Week of January 18, 2021
ATTENTION 9TH GRADERS YES Volunteer Application
Student's Spotlight
We would like to start highlighting our outstanding Academy students and their accomplishments in and outside of school. If your student has won an award, received a scholarship, participated in a competitive summer program, etc. please submit this Google Form. We will post your student's accomplishment in/on the varies academy social media platforms and they may be featured in other community publication.
Enrichments
When you have completed your enrichment activities, fill out the academies enrichment form and upload to your class school course. If you have not join the course the course code is below.
Schoology Codes
Class of 2021- 42F32-3KMG7
Class of 2022 - TS63D-BX5CP
Class of 2023 - 65X8-HWNW-KJF7M
Class of 2024 - 83J4-D2CT-PTPG7
Online Building Valuable Skill Set for Life
Lifehack believes in skills that multiply your time, energy and overall quality of life.
In this rapid changing world, traditional education skills just don’t cut it anymore. You can’t afford to take years learning a skill you’ll never really practice. below are the three free courses which aim to train some of the Core Life Multipliers including:
- how to learn faster – Spark Your Learning Genius
- how to stay motivated – Activate Your Motivation
- how to stop procrastinating to sharpen your focus – No More Procrastination
These are cross functional skills that work across many aspects of life.
The Michael G. Meyers Design & Scholarship 2021 Competition
The Michael G. Meyers Committee (MGMC) Student and Teacher Workshop registration is open! Register here. You must find a teacher sponsor to work with your team.
This year’s Student & Teacher Workshop will be held online using Zoom. For the online workshop, we will need each student that is participating to register by Thursday, January 21. This year’s workshop will be held on Saturday, January 23, 9am-1pm. If you’ve not attended before, this is a really fun event. We cram the entire first year of architecture school into three hours and introduce this year’s design program to students and teachers. Students work in small groups with architects on a series of architectural exercises. This year’s challenge will be announced at the Student and Teacher Workshop in January. In the past students have been asked to design a multi-purpose building for Houston’s Third Ward, a soccer stadium, a museum, a recycling center, and many others. Students can work in groups or as individuals.
This year, students are being asked to gather materials from around their house for a series of sketching exercises and model building. A suggested list of materials can be found here.
Mark your calendar for these upcoming virtual MGMC events
Project Site Tour / Saturday, February 27
Interim Review / Saturday, March 27
Projects Due / Friday, April 30
Awards Ceremony / Monday, May 17
An questions can be direct to Jennifer Ward (ArCH Associate Director) @ jennifer@aiahouston.org
Click on the attached PDF file to learn more about the competition.
FREE CyberSecurity Training opportunity for US high school students - Sponsored by SANS
It’s a fast, fun, free way to accelerate cybersecurity skills -> It’s open
to all high school students of all abilities in the US -> Students can qualify for the National Cyber Scholarship Competition through the program – a life-changing opportunity -> No prior experience is necessary -> It teaches invaluable industry skills such as Python coding, networking and forensics -> Everything is taught via a fun gamified environment -> It’s a collaborative, sociable platform with an encouraging, community feel
Timeline of CyberStart America
· October 30th – Registration Opened for CSA
· March 8th, 2021 – Cut-off date to qualify for the National Cyber Scholarship Competition through CyberStart Game – participants need to complete at least 20% of Game to qualify.
· April 4th – CyberStart Game Closes
· April 5th-6th – National Cyber Scholarship Competition
· May 18th – National Cyber Scholarship winners announced.
Texas A&M-Chevron Engineering Academy at HCC Info Sessions:
Additional Dates for the Texas A&M Chevron Engineering Academy @ HCC Info Session
· Dec. 16 at 6pm: tx.ag/hcc1216
· Jan. 6 at 6pm: tx.ag/hcc16
· Jan. 14 at 6pm: tx.ag/hcc114
· Jan. 28 at 6pm: tx.ag/hcc128
Stanford Engineering Everywhere (SEE
Stanford Engineering Everywhere (SEE) expands the Stanford experience to students and educators online and at no charge. A computer and an Internet connection are all you need. The SEE course portfolio includes one of Stanford's most popular sequences: the three-course Introduction to Computer Science, taken by the majority of Stanford’s undergraduates, as well as more advanced courses in artificial intelligence and electrical engineering.
· View complete lecture videos via streaming or downloaded media—anytime, anywhere—on your PC, Mac or mobile device.
· Access full course materials including syllabi, handouts, homework, and exams.
Online Enrichment Through Alison
You can select the topic you want to learn about. Email me the course link and name for approval before you take it. These are free courses, DO NOT PAY for anything. Take a picture of the screen when you complete the course as your evidence. Insert the picture into the enrichment form https://alison.com/courses/science
Online Enrichment Through EdX
You can select the topic you want to learn about. Email me the course link and name for approval before you take it. These are free courses, DO NOT PAY for anything. Take a picture of the screen when you complete the course as your evidence. Insert the picture into the enrichment form https://www.edx.org/
Private Frontier Student Contest
Our new contests have launched! Inspired by SpaceX, this year's contest topic has students examining the relationship between entrepreneurship & innovation — $20,000 in cash prizes.
Spring Volunteer Hours
By the end of this school year you have a total of
Freshmen - 9th Graders: 18.5 hours
Sophomore - 10th Grade: 31 hours
Juniors - 11th Grade: 56 hours
Senior - 81 hours (for graduation)
BookShare
Create a Short Video Promoting the Engineering Academy
Promote your academy while earning volunteer hours!
Create a 30 second - 1 minute video/advertisement that encourages Middle School students and their parents to apply to the Engineering Academy.
The 30 second advertisement needs to include:
- Your favorite thing about the academy
- What you have got out of being in the academy
- What events, enrichments, and/or volunteer opportunities have you enjoyed (or what has 'spoken' to you)
- Why you would recommend joining the academy
Remember any images, sounds, or songs you use must fall under the fair use policy (Example: Do not take a popular song and use it as your background music, as this violates copyright).
Please email a link to your completed video to Mr. Lam @ donald.lam@fortbendisd.com Once the video has been approved you will earn 3 volunteer hours.
Tutor Children Virtually With TeensGive
Our virtual volunteering options are a dream come true for our volunteers and their parents alike by removing the transportation component and opening up communities well beyond our local area and allowing direct interaction with people that need our help.
Sessions are delivered via laptops and even phones and are all recorded to ensure quality and safety.
Archive Historical Documents
Fans of history may be interested in becoming citizen archivists for a non-profit organization such as the National Archives in Washington, D.C. Would you enjoy transcribing speeches made by Franklin Roosevelt, case histories made by the Tennessee Valley Authority during the Great Depression, or cataloguing Purple Hearts awarded between 1942-1963? All of these tasks are awaiting the help of virtual volunteers right now. The Smithsonian also engages citizen scholars in tasks such as transcribing diaries of prominent Americans or joining the Wikipedia Volunteer Program’s efforts to strengthen the website’s offerings on Smithsonian-relevant content.
YES Hours Important Please Review
IF YOU ARE NOT A MEMBER OF THIS ORGANIZATION, STOP HERE AND DELETE THIS MESSAGE!!
IF YOU HAVE COMPLETED AN APPLICATION AND ARE ACTIVELY EARNING SERVICE HOURS OR ARE INTERESTED IN DOING SO, PLEASE CONTINUE READING TO REVIEW THE ENCLOSED UPDATES.
As you all know, many things have changed because of COVID-19 and its subsequent restrictions. Just as some of you are attending classes face to face while others are receiving virtual instruction, I too am working remotely from home. This has made the standard practices of receiving, logging, and updating Y.E.S. hours very different and somewhat challenging. As opposed to being the primary point of contact, I have been able to enlist the assistance of a colleague to make it a bit easier and more feasible for everyone involved.
IF YOU ARE A STUDENT THAT ATTENDS FACE TO FACE CLASSES, PLEASE TURN YOUR SERVICE HOUR DOCUMENTATION FORMS IN TO THE Y.E.S. BUCKET THAT IS LOCATED IN THE COUNSELORS' OFFICE (ROOM 402).
IF YOU ARE A STUDENT THAT RECEIVES VIRTUAL INSTRUCTION, PLEASE EMAIL YOUR SERVICE HOUR DOCUMENTATION FORMS TO MS. ADAMS AT ANDREA.ADAMS@FORTBENDISD.COM.
In either case, these documents will be gathered and reviewed once every two weeks. After this is done and the service completed is approved, the hours will be entered, updated, and properly filed. If the service completed is not approved you will be notified.
Please exercise patience and flexibility as we recalibrate our methods during this time.
Thanks,
Mrs. Sands
HCC Engineering Partnership with UT@Tyler, Texas A&M and UH
Goal: Provide affordable, convenient, and supportive pathways to enable students to successfully complete the first two years of an engineering degree. In 2012, 48 HCC students enrolled as declared engineering majors. Today, that number is over 3000 students (unduplicated annual headcount).
*My nephew Austin went through this program and starting his classes at Texas A&M this coming Tuesday studying Mechanical Engineering
Engineering Partnerships:
University of Texas at Tyler: www.hccs.edu/engineering-utt
Through this unique program and the engineering partnership with the University of Texas at Tyler, you have an opportunity to earn a Bachelor’s degree in engineering that is conveniently located at the HCC Alief-Hayes campus, affordable at less than $24,000 for a four year degree (in-district tuition), seamlessly aligned with the UT Tyler curriculum, and ABET accredited.
Texas A&M/Chevron Engineering Academy: https://www.hccs.edu/programs/areas-of-study/science-technology-engineering--math/engineering/tamu-academy/ The Texas A&M-Chevron Engineering Academy at Houston Community College is an innovative co-enrollment program that provides a pathway to students interested in pursuing an engineering degree at Texas A&M University. Students admitted to the Engineering Academy are co-enrolled at Texas A&M University in the College of Engineering and HCC. The program is based at the HCC Spring Branch campus.
University of Houston – UH/HCC Engineering Academy at Katy:
- YouTube Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHimTNZywqA
- Application Website: www.hccs.edu/engineering-uh
- UH Website: https://www.egr.uh.edu/engineering-academies/hcc
- Academy Email: hcc.uhengracademy@hccs.edu
- Attend an Information Session (Recorded and Virtual options): https://www.egr.uh.edu/engineering-academies/hcc/information-sessions
Did you know Houston Community College offers an Associate of Science in Engineering Science (ASES) degree program? www.hccs.edu/engineers
The Aggie Homework Helpline
The Aggie Homework Helpline (AHH) is an initiative to help provide quality, free online tutoring to PK-12 learners and families. The mission of the AHH is to connect Texas families and school district partners with Aggie tutors and education interns who are committed to improving learning outcomes for PK-12 students.
Tutoring appointments through the AHH can be scheduled between 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. CST Monday-Thursday and 8 a.m. — 5 p.m. CST Friday.
The Coolidge Scholarship
The Coolidge Scholarship is an annually awarded, full-ride, presidential scholarship that covers a student’s tuition, room, board, and expenses for four years of undergraduate study.
This one-of-a-kind scholarship may be used at any accredited college or university in the U.S.
Questions About Transportation
I know some of you have been asking about transportation for academies students who have chosen to return to face to face instructions. It's my hope after the district has a better picture of the number of students request face-to-face instruction, FBISD transportation will be better able to coordinate bus routes for pick-up and drop-off. If you have specific questions about your child transportation you can contact FBISD Transportation at (281) 634-4077 or email them at
transport.support@fortbendisd.com.
For further concerns or questions you can always go on FBISD Let's Talk and voice your concerns or questions. This is the best way for FBISD leadership to hear your concerns and questions.
FBISD Technology Resources
Remind Code
Join remind to get the latest academy news and updates
Text the correct code to the number 81010
Class of 2021: remind.com/join/eaco-2021
Class of 2022: remind.com/join/eaco-2022
Class of 2023: remind.com/join/eaco-2023
Class of 2024: remind.com/join/eaco-2024
Schoology
Schoology Codes
Class of 2021 - 3PXGJ-ZX2NB
Class of 2022 - 944J5-PCV4R
Class of 2023 - W7TJ-WW8J-R5GKD
Class of 2024 - NQK8-BJ8F-KHGC3
Student Body Meeting Dates
Student Body Meeting Dates (Currently all student body meeting will be virtual). All Student Body Meeting is eligible as an enrichment credit.
- September 8
- October 13
- November 10
- December 8
- January 12
- February 9
- March 9
- April 13