Reverse Engineering Learning Fair 2018

The Reverse Engineering Learning Fair was a huge success! Students showed up at 5:30 to set up their boards and eat the pizza that was provided by the teachers. Parents and students signed in at the front desk and then moved into the main room. 
The speakers of the night were Sokol Hoxha, Erisa Sote, and Fabjola Sote. Sokol gave a speech about what the project was about in the class. The Sote sisters spoke about student's experience with the project, thanking the teachers for all of their help. Then the learning fair began in earnest. The projects were about reverse engineering an object, by taking that object apart and then building that object on Inventor software. Parents walked around, asking the students about the project, and the students explained what their favorite part was, what was the most difficult, and what they did for each class. The learning fair ended promptly at 7:30, and the teachers were very proud of this year's freshmen and their projects. Have a great summer!

The feedback given was:

"Great!"
"You guys did well but some of the students are so nervous they don't know how to explain their work properly."
"It was fantastic! The students are so poised and articulate!"
"Really nice job setting up the projects this year."
"Great job! The space is still small but it was better than last time. Super hot in here though."
"All students did an excellent job! Proud parent here!"
"Everybody did a great job on their project. I think the project helps these students use their talent and ideas toward their development and advancement."

Reverse Engineering Learning Fair

Engineering and Technology Academy Invites You!

The ETA is holding their 4^th annual “Reverse Engineering” learning fair, and welcome the community to see. Those who attend will have the freedom to walk around and talk to the students, parents, and staff about the projects and the items that were selected, in a casual environment. Snacks and drinks will be provided.  

Date:
May 10th, 2018

Time: 6:30-7:30 pm.

Location: In the cafeteria of Doherty Memorial High School

Reverse Engineering Learning Fair Due Dates

March 16th- Introduction of the project/brainstorming

March 26th- Research for Biology and History

March 28th- Engineering Gantt chart due

April 2nd- Researched dates for the History Timeline completed

April 5th- History Timeline completed

April 12th- English Technical Writing completed

April 16-20- APRIL VACATION

April 25th- iProperties

April 27th- Math Calculations completed

May 1st- The Human Connection for Biology completed

May 4th- Inventor Files and Working Drawings printed for Engineering

May 8th- Poster Board completed for Learning Fair

May 10th- Learning Fair

The 18th Annual Doherty Food Drive

Doherty just finished it's 18th food drive for Jeremiah's Inn. This food drive is run and organized by Mr. Garcia, the freshman history teacher of the ETA. The food drive annually makes posters to advertise and boxes to hold the donations in. For four weeks, the students bring in non-perishable items like canned food, boxed goods, hygienic products, and similar products to donate. 
The students and teachers raised 6,295 items this year! On Feb. 15th, the food drive took a field trip to Jeremiah's Inn, and unloaded all of the donations. 
A huge thank you to the Doherty community, the students in the food drive, and anyone who donated. Another huge thank you to our chaperones, the retired Health teacher Mr. Garcia, the guidance counselor Mr. Halfmann, and the organizer of the food drive Mr. Garcia.

Document Based Writing

As the freshmen return from the holiday break, they will starting a new project in World History II. They will be learning how to write Document Based Questions, or DBQ's. These are essays that are written in history classes and that are written after reading documents from a specific time period. The question is based within that same time period, and in a standardized test setting, the essay is timed. Mr Garcia will allow the students to work on it in class and after.

Documents can be anything: a letter, a picture, a speech, a political cartoon, a poem, an excerpt from a book, etc.

An acronym for writing based off the documents is SOAP.

• S- Who is the speaker? What is their point of view?
• O- What is the occasion? What is happening? 
• A- Who is the audience? In the time period, who would've read/heard this?
• P- What is the purpose? Why is this being written?

Pre-College Programs at WPI

To any juniors and seniors who are interested, WPI is offering pre-college STEM programs. Some of the programs offered are in Biology, Physics, Robotics, Engineering Technology, Chemistry/Biochemistry, and more!
If you are interested, click here.

Learning Fair: Bringing Back the Blackstone

Last week, the ETA held its annual learning fair on Wednesday, December 7th.
It opened with Mr. Garcia introducing the night, and explaining the learning fairs to the parents, guardians, and guests on the students. Ina Zhidro and Ama Agyeman-Williams, the student speakers, talked about the project. Zhidro walked through the specifics of the project and how it related to all of the five core subjects of the Engineering and Technology Academy. Agyeman-Williams spoke of the dangers of procrastination and about the more challenging aspects of the project. 

Mr. Garcia opening the night

Ama Agyeman-Williams

Ina Zhidro

After that, the learning fair officially began. Guests walked around, seeing the models and the all the hard work the students had put in. Students explained the fair to the guests and showcased the projects that they had spent so long on. It was the busiest fair we've had in years!

At the end of the fair, two raffle winners (one guest and one student) were awarded $25 gift card to Barnes and Nobles. We'd like to thank the students and teachers for all of their hard work and dedication. If you have any ideas on how we did at the fair, please comment below. We'd love to hear your thoughts!

From left to right: Ms. Cochran, Ms. Vanni, Ms. Perez, Mr. Garcia and Mr. Simmarano