Tuesday, July 31, 2012

IB Diploma Graduates

At Westchester Academy for International Studies, 21students have earned the prestigious IB Diploma, program leaders report.

International Baccalaureate Diplomas awarded to 21 students
Twenty-one seniors enrolled in the International Baccalaureate (IB) program at Westchester Academy for International Studies (WAIS), a district charter school, have earned the prestigious IB Diploma this year, program leaders report.
 Program Coordinator Valerie Harelson reports that May’s class of IB Diploma recipients is the biggest in Westchester history. In addition, the average score for all IB Diploma Candidates in this special program has increased from 3.5 in 2009 to 4.1 this year. Exams are scored from 1 to 7, with 4 or above as passing scores.
 “Both teacher and students have worked hard, and we are proud of the results,” Harelson said. “Our goal is for our WAIS students to challenge themselves and be prepared and confident as they pursue their post-secondary goals. We’re also pleased that our IB Diploma program attracts an increasing number of full IB Diploma student candidates as well as students taking one or more individual IB courses.”
 WAIS was formed a decade ago as a district charter middle and high school campus. This year’s IB Diploma awards add to this district charter high school’s recent accolades. Last fall, WAIS received the nation’s highest ranking from the U.S. Dept. of Education, the Blue Ribbon School designation.
 In the past three years, 35 graduates have won the highly regarded IB Diploma: 13 diplomas were awarded last year, 16 in 2010, and six in 2009. A total of 63 IB Diplomas have been awarded since the first graduating class of IB Diploma students in 2007.
 To earn the IB Diploma, students devote their junior and senior years to fulfilling a lengthy program, which requires English, a foreign language, math, science, history or social studies, and a fine arts class, as well as a Theory of Knowledge course.
 In addition, students write a 4,000-word research paper, fulfill other class activities and participate in a variety of activities, including traditional community service projects.
 IB Diploma recipients this year included three Bilingual Diploma award recipients, all of whom are fluent in Spanish. They are Kelsey Miller and Roger Torres, who plant to attend the University of Houston, and Leticia Trevino, who will join the freshman class at Rice University soon.
 An additional IB Diploma recipient, Jarred Gillie, was accepted into the nation’s top training school for naval officers, the U.S. Naval Academy located in Annapolis, Md.

The 17 other new IB Diploma graduates and their colleges and universities are:
  • Jennifer Andrade, University of Texas at Austin 
  • Gabriela Belmarez, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Mass. 
  • Yvar Carcaces, University of Houston 
  • Rachael Dunn, Western Washington University, Bellingham, Wash. 
  • Nathan Dwyer, University of Houston 
  • Gwenn Fineran, St. Edwards University, Austin, Texas 
  • Lilly Gonzales, University of Houston 
  • Lupita Herrera, Sam Houston University, Huntsville, Texas 
  • Theodore Leung, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 
  • Iman Mazloum, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pa. 
  • Craig Miller, University of Texas at Dallas 
  • Liam Miner, Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas 
  • Richey Puntarelli, Not Available at This Time 
  • Johanna Rauch, Karl-Franzens Universitat (University of Graz), Graz, Austria 
  • Kent Robinson, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State Univ., Blacksburg, Va. 
  • Elena Streuding, Blinn College, Brenham, Texas 
  • Emily Taylor, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Melbourne, Australia

May graduate Jennifer Andrade plans to major in biology at the University of Texas at Austin. Today, she is thinking about medical school and a possible career as a pediatrician. She believes that the structures of independent inquiry and study found in the IB program will help her at UT.
 “IB is very different. You are on your own with many projects. For me, it was a good experience and I do believe that I am better prepared for the college lectures and note taking. IB, like college, is for those who are comfortable with independent study and learning,” Jennifer said.

 Trinity University-bound Liam Miner is considering medicine, too. When a summer assignment rolled in from Trinity’s first-year program to compile an annotated bibliography, Liam neither cracked a sweat nor reached for a Google dictionary explanation. “I said this will be easy. I’ve done this before. In IB, overall, you have to be more organized than the average student, and I think that’s a good thing,” he said.

Friday, July 27, 2012

WAIS Middle school students attend Houston Prep college program

Paloma June, Celesta Monsivaiz, Alexis Gaxiola, Raman Srivastava, Nancy Uroza, Adrian Villalobos are among twenty two SBISD middle school students chosen to attend a six-week, mathematics-based academic enrichment program at the Univeristy of Houston (UHD) earlier this summer.


The program, called Houston Prep, identifies high-achieving young teenagers with an interest in science, technology, engineering and other mathematics-based disciplines, often referred to as STEM. One of the program’s main goals is to also increase the likelihood that these students, most of whom are minorities, will pursue careers in these important fields.
Since it began in 1989, Houston Prep has enrolled about 3,000 students. Follow-up surveys of program participants found 99.9 percent of the students had graduated from high school, 99 percent were enrolled as college students, and about half were majoring in high-need STEM disciplines.
SBISD students selected for this year’s Houston Prep program attended Landrum and Northbrook middle schools and Westchester Academy for International Studies. Students attended classes at UHD from June 11 through July 20. Students from underserved groups, including young women, are encouraged to apply.
At UHD, students in the four-year Houston Prep program were introduced to academics ranging from first-year engineering, logic and problem solving classes. After four years, students can earn up to six credits in dual high school and college computer science and psychology. The classes are taught by college professors, scientists, engineers, mathematicians and high school teachers.
In addition to classroom work, field trips are taken to NASA and the Museum of Natural Science. An Engineering Day with corporate presenters and special guests was also held.
Students learn by doing at Houston Prep. At Engineering Day this year, for example, Landrum Middle School eighth-graders Francisco Giron and Jesus Perez joined other students in designing, planning, building and then weight load testing a bridge built out of linguini noodles.
“I think this is an awesome program. We do such awesome things in our engineering classes,” Jesus said. He’s interested in “building things,” as well as soccer. “This program teaches you how to do college type things vs. spending summer just watching TV.”
Said Francisco, “I like engineering, and I’m good working with computers. This program has helped me learn more about engineering and how to grow up and be an engineer.”
Robert Dantzler, who teaches at Landrum Middle School, is one of several instructors who are employed during Houston Prep. His own son, Javaughn, a ninth-grader, also attended Prep classes this year.
“The program really develops math and science skills. It is organized with those skills in mind,” he said. “I’m very pro-enrichment for students. Our students need access to summer enrichment program like the one here that increases math and science skills. It’s definitely beneficial.”
Professor Richard Aló is program director of Houston Prep and executive director of UHD’s Center for Computational Science and Advanced Distributed Simulation. He states that the program is “making a difference in producing exceptional students who will go on to become leaders in engineering, mathematics and science.”
“Moving forward into the next decade without such efforts, our nation is risking its leadership role in the high technology society that we have developed,” he has also said.
“The intent of Houston Prep is to provide students with the academic and intellectual competencies they will need to succeed in high school, in college preparation courses, and in college programs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics,” Houston Prep Coordinator Sangeeta Gad said.
“Participating students get ahead of their peers in their schools, meet new friends from all over the city, and learn from them,” she added. “Participation in Houston Prep also gives students glimpses into higher education, college professors and STEM curriculum."
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