More than 30 working professionals in a wide variety of fields recently visited South Middle School to showcase their careers to students and to highlight the exciting aspects of their jobs.

Professionals from design and engineering firms, colleges and business, trades and construction, and law enforcement and the military, discussed with students the exciting aspects of their jobs, the kind of schooling they needed, and what they like most about the work they do.

Students gained insight into a variety of job fields and learned what interested them the most as part of their participation in APS Academic & Career Pathways.

• Learn more about APS Academic & Career Pathways.

Hundreds of staff, parents and community members enjoyed a first-hand look at APS Academic and Career Pathways at a recent celebration. Student demonstrations including spine palpation, bioloid robots and aerospace engineering highlighted the annual "Pathways to Results" event.

Visual demonstrations from each pathway – plus other learning related to business/community/workforce partners – gave students the opportunity to showcase what they are learning in the classroom.

"One of the coolest things I have done in science was when we learned about electricity... we connected the wire with the battery to make a circuit to turn on the light bulb," said Park Lane Elementary School student Simon Sanchez. "We were also pharmacists for a day. We got to wear lab coats and make lotion at University of Colorado!" 

There are four Academic and Career Pathways in Aurora Public Schools:

• Arts and Communication
• Business
• Health Sciences
• Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM)

"With the APS pathways program, students are provided a map and they become aware of the potential that they posses," said Aurora Central High School student Vadessa Camack. "They use these tools to not only dream, but they use them to actually reach the destinations they have set to reach on the path that they chosen."

APS partners continue to significantly impact the development and hands-on learning opportunities related to Academic and Career Pathways and student success. Thank you for your support!

An article from GetDegrees:

We know where the jobs are now... but where will they be ten years from now? Twenty? Some job descriptions will always be in need (most secure jobs for the future), but many others are evolving to fit the ever-changing course of technology and science. When the future of employment comes, will you be ready? Read on for some ideas of what to expect:

Read the full article and view the 60 jobs at http://www.getdegrees.com/careers/tips/top-60-jobs-that-will-rock-the-future/.

Snap circuits. Rocketry. Electronic device guts. Girls? No way, right?

Wrong!

In partnership with CounterTrade and Hewlett Packard, Aurora Public Schools recently hosted its third annual Girls Technology Camp.  The day-long event takes girls through a series of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) workshops, showing them that STEM is fun. 

"It's not something you learn everyday, and it isn't mundane at all," one student said. 

The students made and launched rockets, explored circuits with lights and sounds and disassembled and reassembled personal devices. This year's camp also featured design theory learning opportunities using Mindcraft.  The girls ended the day creating a poster illustrating their experiences.

"I like the hands-on experience," another participant said. "I like it rather than being at a desk at school. It's more interactive."

APS Pathways to Results Student Demos and Press Conference
April 25, 2013, 10:00 a.m.
Aurora Public Schools Professional Learning & Conference Center
15701 East 1 st Avenue Aurora, Colorado 80011

APS partners continue to significantly impact the development and hands-on learning opportunities related to Academic and Career Pathways and student success.

Please join us for this special celebration to see the results of your contributions to APS student learning through student demonstrations and discussions.

For more information, please contact the APS Education Foundation at (303) 326-2042. Please RSVP to: aepayne@aps.k12.co.us

Only a handful of students are selected to participate in the rigorous BA/BS-MD program. Camack says a high school counselor set her on the right path when she was a freshman.

“In eighth grade, I had a 1.0 GPA,” she said. “My counselor got me into harder classes.”

Camack quickly advanced and will graduate this May with a 4.0 (4.1 weighted) GPA. She is tied for eighth in her class out of nearly 400 students. Early in high school, Camack learned to set goals and heard about the Aurora LIGHTS program offered by Aurora Public Schools.

“I dove right in and started on the pathway,” she said. “Aurora LIGHTS steered me in the right direction.”

The Aurora LIGHTS program also prepared Camack for her postsecondary education and beyond. She says the workload has taught her how to manage her time, whether for homework or her duties as a member of the National Honor Society and the Air Force Junior ROTC program (AFJROTC).

“The coolest thing I have done in Aurora LIGHTS was when I learned how to isolate my own DNA,” she said.

Through the BA/BS-MD program, Camack will rely on a strong support system consisting of the nine other students selected for the program. The students will have access to special tutors and will work together as they make their way through undergraduate studies and eventually medical school.

“My ultimate goal is to help people,” said Camack. “You can’t just treat a patient. You heal them and you build a relationship.”

Submitted by Loretta Erickson
North Middle School Health Sciences & Technology Campus

Twelve students from the Aurora LIGHTS pathway at North Middle School Health Sciences & Technology Campus recently shadowed a Colorado state legislator at the Colorado Association of Gifted and Talented Legislative Day at the Colorado State Capitol. 

The Legislative Day’s activities included attending general session meetings of the Colorado State House of Representatives or the Colorado State Senate, as well as sitting in on committees with their assigned legislator, culminating in a question and answer forum with many legislators.  The students wrote essays to the legislators on various issues ranging from immigration reform to gun control.

Congratulations to the following students on this incredible experience: Hannah Dinkel, Brenda Flores, Tomas Garcia, Samantha Gonzalez, Isis Hammond, Kyla Kuykendoll, Hannah Maze-Morney, Massiel Moncada, Jordana Montiel, Sonia Reyes, Yutziri Reyes and Nastassja Wilburn.

Hannah Dinkel

Submitted by Loretta Erickson
North Middle School

Recently, students from Columbia Middle School, North Middle School Health Sciences and Technology Campus and Hinkley High School students  participated in The Greater Denver Metro Region’s National History Day competition held at Legacy High School in Parker. 

For this annual competition, students work as individuals or in groups to create exhibits, websites, documentaries or  write research papers on the this year’s National History Day theme, “Turning Points in History.”  Students submitted entries on a wide variety of topics ranging from African-American Cowboys in the West to the Hubble Telescope. 

The winners advance to the state competition, which will be held May 4 at the University of Colorado Denver on the Auraria campus.  From state, students can advance to represent Colorado at the national contest, held annually at the University of Maryland,  College Park,  in June.

Congratulations to all the winners:

North Middle School

• Hannah Dinkel -- “Best Project on Women in Colorado History” for her individual research paper entry on Eliza Routt

Hinkley High School

• Senior Individual Exhibit

  3^rd Place: Helina Zemede--The Impacts of the Civil War

  Senior Group Exhibit

  2^nd Place: Elizabeth Navarro and Kathrine Khuu--Miss America Pageant, 1968

  3^rd Place: Stephanie Pacheco and Raphael Noltemeyer--The Wounded Knee Massacre

  Senior Individual Documentary

  3^rd Place: Adriana Montiel--Foreign Policy: Containment: Cold War: Communism

  

  Hinkley High School National History Day participants

Rangeview High School student Ashley Perfecto trims a piece of wood for the robot during one of the building sessions.

Rangeview High School second-year math teacher Adam Ruff is doing all he can to help his first-year Robotics Club students win big at an upcoming regional competition.

Ruff's students, comprised of freshmen through seniors, have designed and built a robot that they will put to the test at the NASA FIRST Robotics Competition beginning April 4. The building process began in early 2013, and students like Ashley Perfecto were more than excited to get started. Perfecto  , who joined the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) pathway during her eighth grade year, wants to be an engineer. She was confident that joining the school club would give her some much needed exposure to the career field.

"I like how I get to be hands on and mentors help you out a little bit…they don’t do all of the work for you," Perfecto said.  "They let you do what you’re doing because it’s for you and not for them.  So, it’s really hands on and I like that."

To prepare for the robotics competition, the students have engaged in after-school sessions to build the robot and teach it do tricks. This year's competition is centered around sports, particularly throwing Frisbees. Engineers from Raytheon have even teamed up with Rangeview's club to assist. 

Beyond the competition, Ruff said he hopes students will gain the type of knowledge and hands-on experience the club offers that will help them long after they've graduated high school.

"It’s a fantastic learning experience and there's a lot of networking opportunities," Ruff said. " Going through this program, there’s a huge amount of corporate sponsorship to let these kids get their hands on equipment they’d otherwise never get a chance to work with."

The school's FBLA members competed against schools in their district in a variety of business events.  Clearly up for the task at hand, all Vista PEAK students placed in their events and thus qualified for the April 2013 FBLA State Conference in Vail.

Congratulations to the following students:

• Evelyn Alvarado: 5th in Business Communication
• Noah Butler: 1st in Parliamentary Procedures, 2nd in FBLA Principles and Procedures
• Nicholes Carter: 1st in Marketing, 1st in Parliamentary Procedures
• Allison Embury: 2nd in Sports Management, 2nd in Entrepreneurship
• Jharen Johnson-Knoblock: 3rd in Intro to Business Communication, 3rd in Marketing
• Aimee Leyva Cardenas: 2nd in Intro to Business Communication
• Daisy Nava: 2nd in Entrepreneurship
• Taylor Phan: 1st in Marketing, 1st in Parliamentary Procedures
• Isamar Quijada De La Vega: 2nd in Entrepreneurship
• Iomar Rodriguez: 1st in Parliamentary Procedures, 3rd in Marketing
• Ayodeji Sanusi: 1st in Marketing, 1st in Parliamentary Procedures 
• Colten Thomsen: 3rd in Marketing, 3rd in Principles and Procedures