News Briefs

The annual Dallas ISD STEM Expo packed dozens of hands-on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics activities for children of all ages – showcasing district schools with a STEM focus and highlighting career opportunities. District robotics and bridge-building teams also competed during the Expo.

School of Science and Engineering juniors Oziel De La Fuente, Meagin Montes, Laura Thompson, and Jonathan Snow are participating in the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Contest. The contest focuses on how STEM can be applied to help improve the community. They were selected as a State Winner in the 2018-2019 Samsung Solve for Tomorrow contest and won the school $20,000 in technology and classroom supplies. These students are now competing to become National Finalists in the next phase of the competition by working on a Silent Alarm System for school emergencies. Learn more about the competition at: https://www.samsung.com/us/solvefortomorrow/

On Tuesday, Jan. 29, a small group of Dallas ISD students got to tour a new hospital building – virtually. Students from Young Women’s STEAM Academy at Balch Springs, D.A. Hulcy STEAM Middle School and Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy were actually at the north Dallas building where the McCarthy Building Companies’ Dallas offices are housed. Through virtual reality headsets, the students were inserted into the three-dimensional digital renderings and able to “walk” into rooms and down hallways. The virtual-reality experience is immersive, but students could also experience “augmented reality,” which is a digital experience that adds elements to the…

Students at Nathaniel Hawthorne Elementary School in grades 3–5 had the recent opportunity to experience an on-campus field trip. TAME, also known as Texas Alliance for Minorities in Engineering, provided a grant to the campus, which accommodated nearly 200 students in a 40-foot trailer. TAME’s traveling STEM museum-on-wheels included hands-on interactive exhibits on energy, space, biotechnology, weather, and aerodynamics mapped to the TEKS. Students left the exhibits with new knowledge in relation to science TEKS and STEM professions.