New Tech West was founded in the 2010-2011 school year and is located in the Max Hayes building. It focuses on the smart use of technology, project based learning, and fostering a school culture based on TRUST, RESPECT and RESPONSIBILITY. Most of the New Tech West students participating in ACE are sophomores.
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| Trying to transport a golf ball through several cardboard tubes. |
The ACE Mentor program was introduced to the New Tech West students on October 27th. Team building activities were held that incorporated creativity, communication and teamwork skills. The students were divided into 4 teams and they had a series of tasks to complete, including to write a haiku describing the Franklin Castle, to put a puzzle together which turned out to be the floorplan of the new Max Hayes school, to find a unique texture and get a rubbing of it, to put a series of Zoom pictures in order, to view pictures of the Gordon Arts Square and list unique streetscape attributes, to review a list of items and rank them in terms of most important to surviving on an island and to team draw a scene found in their schools.
Teams were awarded points based on how well they completed each task and a prize was distributed to the first place team.
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| Getting a rubbing of a locker grille |
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| Putting the pieces together |
This session was an ice breaker that was used to introduce the students to the ACE program and the mentors. The skills needed for each task was different and it allowed active participation by all students.
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| This house finished with minimal decorations, but with a skylight. |
The November 3rd meeting focused on the very first step in any construction process: The Owner Has a Need. The students learned about the Owner’s role in the construction team and the students were divided into 4 groups. A list of criteria for a Gingerbread house was presented to each team and they had to interpret and prioritize how they were going to build their Gingerbread house to fit the Owner’s list of desires.
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| Rakia is a talented as a decorator. |
The criteria included: sustainability issues, safety, entertainment, recreation and more space requirements.
Each team was given a gingerbread making kit, but also had extra supplies such as graham crackers, frosting, pretzels, fruit roll ups, cereal, etc. to help customize their house.
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| A snowy masterpiece |
Final projects had distinctive traits such as a basketball court, a detached shed, an attached porch, security cameras, skylights, a child’s playroom, and lots of plants and garden spaces.
One interesting point is that the number of students on each team varied, but it became clear quickly that the teams with 2 and 3 people were able to get a lot more accomplished than the teams with more people.
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| Community Assets |
Stantec Architects led a community mapping session on November 10th that included groups of students and mentors canvassing the neighborhood to determine existing assets and needs. This lesson begins to set the ground work for the students Final Project RFP.
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| Jose takes a picture in the neighborhood |
ACE and New Tech West went to testing lab of NTH Consultants on December 1st. Engineer Dave Mast spoke to the students about concrete, asphalt and soils. The students saw the giant sifting instrument used to separate various sizes of gravel, sands and silts. A test was performed on a concrete sample to see at what psi it failed. This sample was guaranteed to withstand 5,000 psi and it did. It wasn’t until 13,000 psi did it “pop” and fail.
Understanding the soils is critical to proper design of the foundation.
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| Sifting tool |
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| Engineer Mast shows clay to the students |
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