2008 Woodie Awards
Eastfield program preps students for college and careers
Corrine Asbell
Issue date: 7/23/08 Section: The News
This summer Eastfield is hosting the first year of the Texas Prefreshman Engineering Program.
The academic program takes seven-weeks and is designed to increase the number of minorities and females in science, technology, engineering and math fields also known as STEM.
Eastfield's School Outreach Director Shaunyale Canada said they're hoping to get the students exposed to a college environment and maybe get them interested in a field they wouldn't otherwise see as a career option.
According to the TexPREP Web site, the program identifies middle and high school students with an interest in the STEM fields and strengthens their potential for careers in these areas.
Dean of outreach and student development Rick Garcia said the program concentrates on the math, science and engineering fields in the first year with classes like logic and pre-engineering.
The program is in its first year at Eastfield, but TexPREP has been in existence since 1979 and originated in San Antonio.
TexPREP Executive Director Rudy Reyna said universities throughout Texas started replicating the original program from the University of Texas San Antonio in 1986 and now the programs throughout the state have about 1,300 students.
Reyna said that each college that starts a program receives help from UTSA, they provide them with a course model, academic course work, help with fundraising and working with the school districts to recruit students.
"We just try to help them help themselves," he said.
Garcia said the program doesn't turn down any students that meet the requirements.
The program targets students in grades sixth through tenth. Interested students from grades sixth and seventh must have a 90 or better average in math and science or English and eighth graders must have an 85 or better average in the same courses.
Canada said they even accepted some students that didn't quite meet the grade requirements in order to expand the fledgling program.
"The program is open to any student, but the majority are from Dallas, since DISD was able to cover the registration fee," Canada said.
The registration fee is $300 and covers the transportation to and from Eastfield as well as providing a daily box lunch and the field trips. Canada said she is actively working to get DISD to pick up the tab for next year's students so that the applicants won't have to pay the fee out of their own pockets.
"I hope they foot the bill next year," she said.
While enrolled in TexPREP students can receive one elective credit toward their high school diploma each year they participate. They receive education in the science, math and engineering fields from teachers in the DISD, career awareness speakers like University of North Texas professor of engineering Nandika D'Souza, Ph.D. And on Fridays the students go on field trips like to Texas Instruments' Wafer Lab.
"I hope all this is going to improve their math and science skills," Canada said. "I believe that they're going to do better once they start school in the fall. And I am hoping that we've increased not only awareness but an excitement about the field of STEM."
Eastfield will only offer the first two years of the program, but interested students can continue years three and four at Southern Methodist University.
Since the program's origin there have been over 20,000 students that have completed at least one summer year of the program, and 88 percent of the students are attending college students, 76 percent of those students are minorities. Fifty-one percent of those college graduates went on to a career in science, mathematics or engineering.
Contact Corrine at corrine.asbell@gmail.com
The academic program takes seven-weeks and is designed to increase the number of minorities and females in science, technology, engineering and math fields also known as STEM.
Eastfield's School Outreach Director Shaunyale Canada said they're hoping to get the students exposed to a college environment and maybe get them interested in a field they wouldn't otherwise see as a career option.
According to the TexPREP Web site, the program identifies middle and high school students with an interest in the STEM fields and strengthens their potential for careers in these areas.
Dean of outreach and student development Rick Garcia said the program concentrates on the math, science and engineering fields in the first year with classes like logic and pre-engineering.
The program is in its first year at Eastfield, but TexPREP has been in existence since 1979 and originated in San Antonio.
TexPREP Executive Director Rudy Reyna said universities throughout Texas started replicating the original program from the University of Texas San Antonio in 1986 and now the programs throughout the state have about 1,300 students.
Reyna said that each college that starts a program receives help from UTSA, they provide them with a course model, academic course work, help with fundraising and working with the school districts to recruit students.
"We just try to help them help themselves," he said.
Garcia said the program doesn't turn down any students that meet the requirements.
The program targets students in grades sixth through tenth. Interested students from grades sixth and seventh must have a 90 or better average in math and science or English and eighth graders must have an 85 or better average in the same courses.
Canada said they even accepted some students that didn't quite meet the grade requirements in order to expand the fledgling program.
"The program is open to any student, but the majority are from Dallas, since DISD was able to cover the registration fee," Canada said.
The registration fee is $300 and covers the transportation to and from Eastfield as well as providing a daily box lunch and the field trips. Canada said she is actively working to get DISD to pick up the tab for next year's students so that the applicants won't have to pay the fee out of their own pockets.
"I hope they foot the bill next year," she said.
While enrolled in TexPREP students can receive one elective credit toward their high school diploma each year they participate. They receive education in the science, math and engineering fields from teachers in the DISD, career awareness speakers like University of North Texas professor of engineering Nandika D'Souza, Ph.D. And on Fridays the students go on field trips like to Texas Instruments' Wafer Lab.
"I hope all this is going to improve their math and science skills," Canada said. "I believe that they're going to do better once they start school in the fall. And I am hoping that we've increased not only awareness but an excitement about the field of STEM."
Eastfield will only offer the first two years of the program, but interested students can continue years three and four at Southern Methodist University.
Since the program's origin there have been over 20,000 students that have completed at least one summer year of the program, and 88 percent of the students are attending college students, 76 percent of those students are minorities. Fifty-one percent of those college graduates went on to a career in science, mathematics or engineering.
Contact Corrine at corrine.asbell@gmail.com
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