By Cynthia Chin
East High School
East High students and current eighth-graders are in the process of selecting courses for 2019-2020. Be sure to investigate all the options and think ahead about what can be done now to develop skills for a livelihood tomorrow. In addition to core academic skills, there are many opportunities at East to develop cultural competence and artistic talent, investigate specific career fields and get a head start on earning technical certifications or Madison College and UW-Madison credits.
Talk to counselors soon about dual credit options, Advanced Placement and the Youth Options program, all of which enable prepared and motivated students to begin their post-secondary studies early. More about Youth Options can be found at cte.madison.k12.wi.us/youth-options.
Pi Mile: The Math Club’s Annual 5K fundraiser for graphing calculators is coming up soon. Start your engines. Students who can’t wait for snow to melt off the race course should see Mr. Galarowicz or Ms. Paschke to sign up for the February and March math meets.
Smart Homes, Smart Students and One Wild Ride: Four teams of East students participated in the November 2018 High School Mathematics Competition in Modeling. This is a 36-hour overnight creative thinking and technical writing event. Results were still pending as of press time, but were scheduled to be released by the end of January. Three teams researched and wrote algorithms for automated climate control in single- and multi-family dwellings. Team four designed a ranking system and customizable app to search and rate rider experiences on roller coasters. A group of experienced students drawn from among our four teams will compete in the Math Modeling Challenge sponsored by MathWorks and the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics in early March.
America Saves Week is Feb. 25‒March 2: East students can improve their financial know-how by taking specific math, social studies, business, and family and consumer science courses. Read the course catalog carefully.
High school students with Summit Credit Union branches in their buildings (like East) have the opportunity to participate in Project Teen Money each year. Visit summitcreditunion.com/project-teen-money/videos to watch short videos made by students about spending, saving and giving.
Teens with first jobs are often eligible for income tax refunds. The business department at East runs free afterschool clinics to help students submit federal tax returns. Students (and parents/guardians) receiving refunds who are 18 or over may also wish to investigate the SaveYourRefund incentive program sponsored by America Saves. Visit americasaves.org/local-campaigns/wisconsin-saves.
National Engineers Week is Feb. 17‒23: Mark your calendar and come share in the fun Wednesday, Feb. 20. Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) will be promoted for families throughout the East attendance area at our second annual Family Engineering Night Out. There will be opportunities to engage in hands-on activities and meet with representatives of the UW-Madison College of Engineering. We hope to also show the documentary film “Underwater Dreams,” which celebrates the curiosity, inventiveness and determination of a team of Mexican immigrant students who entered a prestigious American robotics competition in 2004. The 2014 film examines the students’ experiences in competition, the challenges they faced in pursuing professional goals, and the legacy they have created and fostered in their community. The film will be accessible to both English and Spanish speakers.
We anticipate a welcome/activity/snacks period beginning at 4:30 pm, with the 90-minute film at 5:45 pm.
PLEASE NOTE: This schedule is tentative as of press time. Please email or call Engineering Club Advisor Cynthia Chin for an update after Feb. 1 at cchin@madison.k12.wi.us or 204-1603 ext. 41534.
East High First TECH Challenge: Our team competed at the state level Jan. 12, placing twelfth in the field as a novice group. David Gandjui, Khaleilei Kidau, and Matias Berggren represented Team Pizza-Powered. They designed, programmed and operated a robot that lowered itself out of a space capsule, delivered a payload onto a planetary surface, and (almost) climbed back into the capsule. Tipping over in a crater was not part of the mission plan, but provided a great learning experience for next time. Students interested in joining the team can join the email list at https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/Sector67-ftc or see Ms. Chin at East.
Thank you to Sector 67 for serving as our design-and-build venue. Thanks also to Chris Meyer, Sean Size and Alex Squitieri for mentoring the team members and securing sponsorship for this year’s competition fees and parts. Community members interested in financial support of the team may make donations to www.donate.sector67.org.
For more information about Engineering careers, visit discovere.org, egfi-k12.org/ or fabfems.org/.