EL MONTE – El Monte City School District students of all grade levels enthusiastically demonstrated their knowledge of technological platforms, computer software and applications to parents and community members during the inaugural EMCSD Tech Fair, held May 30 at Durfee School.

Ed Tech Coordinator Jessica Pardini said the fair was created to allow students to display all the technology being used in their classrooms to parents and family members, while teachers used the fair to share curriculum ideas with their peers.

“Our student presenters were extremely well prepared,” Pardini said. “Everyone who came to the fair walked away having learned something new.”

The District’s Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program students demonstrated robotic vehicles created using Lego robotic technology, ahead of the Districtwide rollout of the Lego Robotics curriculum for the 2019-20 school year.

Gidley School eighth-grader Tracy Chow and her classmates showed off a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) they designed to compete in the 2019 SeaPerch Challenge, an aquatic engineering competition sponsored by the U.S. Navy for middle and high school students.

“We learned how to use buoyancy and refraction to conduct an underwater search-and-rescue mission, while detailing our progress in an engineering notebook,” Chow said. “We won first place in mission recovery and notebook and took third place overall in the middle school division.”

Columbia School eighth-graders Jorge Duenas-Mendez and David Alvarado showed off their computer-aided design (CAD) skills, using SketchUp design software to create 3-D and virtual buildings according to specs they wrote themselves.

“I want to be a zoologist, and I will need to have a thorough understanding of all the ways technology and computers can help me in my work,” Duenas-Mendez said. “Using CAD, there are so many ways to express your creativity. I am especially interested in the field of making prosthetic limbs.”

Cherrylee School instructional lab specialist Rebecca Sauceda is a member of the Generation YES network, who employs Do Ink software in her computer lab to allow students to create their own campus news reports using green-screen technology.

“GenYES supports developing students into technology leaders in the classroom, where they can mentor their peers and even their teachers,” Sauceda said. “Many of our projects are media-based, such as the news report. These projects really excite the students and bring out the best in them.”

The fair also highlighted computer programs and software apps that embrace music, art, dual-immersion, human anatomy, yearbook publication, gaming and podcasting.

“The tech fair embodied the excitement and desire for learning seen in our classrooms throughout the District,” Superintendent Dr. Maribel Garcia said. “We believe our continuous development and deployment of in-class technology will be a boon to our students who are preparing for careers in the digital age.”

PHOTO CAPTION:

EMCSD_TECHFAIR1: Gidley School students on May 30 show off a remotely operated underwater vehicle they designed to compete in the U.S. Navy’s 2019 SeaPerch Challenge, during El Monte City School District’s inaugural Tech Fair at Durfee School.

EMCSD_TECHFAIR2:
New Lexington School students share their knowledge of computer software programs and applications during the El Monte City School District’s inaugural Tech Fair, held May 30 at Durfee School.