CISD Middle Schools awarded IBM Grants

By Mary Whitfill Features Editor IBM (International Business Machines) awarded $15,000 in grants to Coppell ISD that will be used to encourage middle school girls’ interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math.) A $10,000 IBM Catalyst Grant will help CISD increase what they call the “girl friendliness” of middle school STEM programs. The grant will be used to purchase equipment to implement a rigorous STEM program that taps into interest of girls and enhance certain math and science classes. The objective of the Catalyst Grant is to provide role models with positive images of females in the fields of science and engineering. In addition, a $5,000 IMB Community Grant will be used to purchase…

EMAC, other Academies recruit students for upcoming school year

By Caroline Carter Staff Writer With the first semester of the 2011 school year coming to an end, the Coppell High School Academies began the process of trying to recruit fellow students for the upcoming school year. Though scheduling for the 2011-2012 school year does not begin until the spring, Academy students hope to recruit freshmen, sophomores and juniors. EMAC Academy sophomore Emma Eells was one of the students that visited history classes to promote the learning experience that the Academies have to offer. “We are basically trying to inform students that are already at CHS about the benefits of joining EMAC,” Eells said. “We just spent about five minutes in each class giving out…

Yakubovsky, Engineering department round off a great year

By Lance McCaskey Staff Writer The hard work and determination of STEM Academy lead teacher and Solar Team coach Mike Yakubovsky made this summer one for the record books for the engineering department. Yakubovsky led the Solar Car team to Texas Motor Speedway for the Solar Car Challenge. Every year the Winston Solar Car Team gives out awards, and the Randall Murphy Award is considered one of the most prestigious. It is given to the teacher who they feel inspires not only their team, but also the entire Solar Car community to do the best they can. The committee felt Yakubovsky encompassed the entire award and has earned his success through his work. “It was…

CHS’s Engineering and STEM Academy hosts annual Engineering Expo

Underwater robot, shooting free T-shirts, chances to win half a hour of simulation and along with meeting with a variety of organizations, highly recognized colleges, and companies such as GM made this Sunday’s Engineering Expo worthwhile. The Coppell School of Engineering and STEM Academy hosted their third annual Engineering Expo last Sunday, Nov.7. The event is absolutely free with the exceptions of creative T-shirts and raffles to help support the School of Engineering. The event took place from 2 to 5 p.m. in the Coppell High School Commons. The turnout is estimated 2,000 as great as last year’s expo. It is not put on just for CHS’s high students, it is available for the public…

STEM Academy launches at CHS

Zeb White Assistant Business Manager, Staff Writer Engineering, simply put, is using math and science to turn ideas into reality. That’s the foundation for Coppell High School’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Academy, which aims to teach students about engineering with hands-on learning and relevant projects. “I joined STEM because I wanted to see how engineering works,” freshman Clayton Howeth said. “I wanted to get a feel of what real engineering is like and how I could use it in high school and college and in future careers.” Being in an Academy like STEM gives students the opportunity to form relationships with students who have common interests—in this case, engineering. “Since I’m in STEM,…

CHS to introduce Career Academies for incoming freshmen

By Daphne Chen Starting with the Class of 2015, CHS will be introducing Career Academies in order to encourage freshmen who already have an interest in a certain career. The three academies are the Science, Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) Academy headed by science teacher Mike Yakubovsky, the Public Services Academy headed by science teacher Brenda Brinkman and the Emerging Media and Communications Academy (EMAC) headed by KCBY-TV director Irma Kennedy. This new model is part of the Strategic Planning process that began in October 2006 as part of an effort to create smaller learning communities within CHS. “We realized that you can’t just motivate kids,” CISD Superintendent Dr. Jeff Turner said at a Jan….