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CART Students Share First Semester Class Projects With
Community
By Carole Grosch
Posted on February 24, 2011
Eleventh annual SHOWCASE draws 2,500 visitors
Excitement and
anticipation filled the air Jan. 13 as the Center for
Advanced Research and Technology (CART) campus buzzed
with activity. Student projects, hands-on activities and
research labs were displayed throughout the school.
Smartly dressed in business attire, students were eager
to explain and demonstrate their projects to the
visiting public.
The scene was set for
the school’s eleventh annual SHOWCASE event, which gives
students the opportunity to share with the community
what they have learned in the school year’s first
semester.
Story continued
below.
Photos Courtesy of CUSD
Today | Slideshow by JoAnne Green
“CART is committed to innovation, perseverance, teamwork
and hands-on learning,” said CART Chief Executive
Officer Devin Blizzard, Ed.D. “During the fall semester,
students have utilized research skills using both
primary and secondary sources, formulated hypotheses,
and analyzed data. SHOWCASE is their opportunity to
share their learning.”
The school combines
rigorous academics with technical and critical thinking
skills. There are four career clusters: Professional
Sciences, Engineering, Advanced Communications and
Global Economics. Each cluster contains several
career-specific laboratories in which students complete
industry-based projects and receive academic credit for
advanced English, science, math and technology.
Both the Clovis and Fresno unified
school districts collaborate on this unique form of
education, which increases
community college and CSU/UC attendance for all students
regardless of gender, ethnicity or economic background,
according to a seven-year study conducted by The James
Irvine Foundation (please see related story, page 1).
Once accepted into the CART
program, junior and senior high school students are
bused to the campus to participate in one of the morning
session or afternoon session labs taught by teams of
instructors from the education and business world.
“Career focus labs expose students to the many
occupations that are available within each career
cluster. Our business mentors work directly with
students either at CART or through internships at
worksites,” explained Blizzard. “Our teachers use
project-based learning as an instructional model to
deliver an integrated curriculum.”
During SHOWCASE, students’ enthusiasm and keen interest
in their fields of study was evident, whether they
explained how to Photoshop a new hairstyle on a
photograph or demonstrate forensic evidence. They
welcomed questions and enjoyed public interaction.
Kaitlin Tate, who aspires to become a district attorney,
believes her course of study is preparing her to
accomplish her goal. While working on her project, “Stop
the Silence,” about child neglect and abuse, she learned
“people know what child abuse is, but they don’t know
how to get involved. My project was to inform the public
what to do and how to get involved by supplying a
number to a non-profit organization
known as FCCAP, or the Fresno Council on Child Abuse
Prevention.”
Victoria Starks, who was one of four students
contributing to a project that won first place in the
Global Dynamics division, said, “With SHOWCASE, I was
able to learn how to work under pressure, with a team,
and how to work in a business environment. Teamwork was
a very large part of this project. We have to compromise
on all our different ideas and make sure we all do our
part.” She also learned about investment tools and how
to take this information and reach goals she had set for
herself. “The financial information and strategies that
I have learned through this project and this class are
invaluable to my future,” she said.
Some of the students originated the idea for their
projects; others were assigned a concept to be
developed. All had materials, diagrams or some type of
media explaining their findings and how they reached
their results.
SHOWCASE had three sessions: morning, afternoon, and
evening. Between the afternoon and evening sessions,
community members who volunteered their time for this
purpose judged projects that had been nominated by
teachers. The projects that were selected as first place
winners in the six award categories were:
Academic
Achievement: Biomedical Engineering – “Designer
Superbugs via Genetic Engineering” by Jonathan
Diaz, Gareth Knnablian, Alyssa McGee.
Best
Presentation: Multimedia – “The Mobile
Phone, Guess Where I’m Calling From” by Brenna
Elrich, Hannah Rumph, Justin Sue.
Excellence in
Advanced Communications: Interactive Game Design
– “The Cleaner: Action-Adventure Video Game”
by Brandon Birkholz, Antonio Garcia, Simon Reilly,
Dillon Coley, Sean Graham, Daniel Terrazas, Oscar
Bosques, Brew Lewis, Zachariah Yang, John English,
Nasalie Moua.
Excellence in
Engineering: Robotics and Electronics – “Electroplating:
The Real Alchemy” by Jacob Hathaway.
Excellence in
Professional Sciences: Biomedicine – “Effects
on the Community of an Infectious Disease:
E.coli:0157:H7” by Alex Bouchard, Vincete
Galendo, Sydney Mueller.
Excellence in
Global Dynamics-Economics and Finance-
Financial Investment Portfolio Opportunities for
Clients Ages 26-44” by Christian Murphy, Luis
Ramos, Victoria Starks, Adam Williams.
*This article was originally
published in CUSD Today, February 2011, and is
published on
ExperienceClovis.com with permission. All rights reserved.
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