DRSS Juniors Participate in Interview Extravaganza!

Students in the 11th grade Technical Reading and Writing class at DRSS have many in-class Career Exploration opportunities throughout the year. This week students focused entirely on developing the specific skills needed to navigate an interview successfully. During this process, student were lucky enough to have Jackie Anderson, an Associate Business Relationship Manager at LexisNexis, serve as a volunteer interview coach. Ms. Anderson planned and led today's "Interview Extravaganza," where students "battled" with one another to see who would rise to the top of the interview process.

Ms. Anderson began the week speaking to each of the classes and going over the interview process in depth.

During the coaching sessions earlier in the week, Ms. Anderson hit on multiple learning targets, including how to prepare for an interview, what pitfalls to avoid during the interview itself, and what questions employers can't ask during an interview. After learning about the process, students voted on questions to ask one another during the "extravaganza."

On Friday, students participated in the Interview Extravaganza, which were organized and led by Ms. Anderson, an Associate Business Relationship Manager at LexisNexis.

During the process, students sat on both sides of the table, taking turns as the interviewer and the interviewee in a panel interview setting. Students were competing for two internship positions that were found on actual online job postings, including one as a Marketing Manager at R&R Business Consultants, and another as an IT Intern at LexisNexis.

Students faced a panel of interviewers during the process and took turns on both sides of the table.

Ms. Anderson provided on-site coaching during the process itself, helping students nail the finer points of the interview process.

For Round 1, there were two winners: Alyssa Egbert and Tyler Cox.

After two hours of grueling interviews, interview finalists had gone through eight separate interviews. By the end, there were two clear winners. Mark Ayala earned the Marketing Manager position at R&R Business Consultants and David Williams landed the IT Internship at LexisNexis!

David Williams (left) and Mark Ayala (right) soared to the top of the interview process!

The entire interview process serves as a great example of a Project-Based Learning experience, and DRSS is grateful to have such authentic community partnerships with organizations across the Miami Valley. Thank you to Jackie Anderson for giving up her time to help coach our students!

Below you'll find more pictures from today's Interview Extravaganza.

DRSS Sophomores Recognized for Ohio Historical Marker Creation

Chloe Johnson and Anjali Phadke, both 10th graders at The Dayton Regional STEM School, were recognized at Chaminade-Julienne Catholic High School during their Prayer Service on December 3rd, 2015. The service was held in honor of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, who are celebrating 175 years of service in the United States. 

The Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur are celebrating 175 years of service in the United States.

During the service, Chloe and Anjali shared the story of how their 9th Grade U.S. History project turned into an Ohio Historical Marker celebrating the life and achievements of Sister Dorothy Stang. 

Chloe Johnson (left) and Anjali Phadke (right) had the opportunity to speak at the prayer service.

The marker will be publicly dedicated in Fall of 2016, where it will be permanently installed on the campus of Chaminade-Julienne. Congratulations to Anjali and Chloe on this wonderful achievement!

Chloe and Anjali with the Ohio Historical Marker that they proposed to the Ohio History Connection's Local History Office as part of a project they completed during their 9th grade U.S. History class, which is taught by Kevin Lydy.

Tremco Presents to DRSS Students About Sustainability

KETTERING, OH - On Wednesday, December 2nd, Jeff Gates of Tremco Roofing & Building Maintenance gave a presentation to students while filming a demonstration for their roof cleaning services. DRSS has a white roof, which reflects heat energy. During presentation, Mr. Gates gave a presentation on sustainability and "going green," as well as the tools they use to diagnose how energy escapes buildings, such as thermal radiation goggles.

Jeff Gates of Tremco shared a wealth of information with students and staff about "going green."

Students also had a chance to see the truck Tremco uses for the cleaning, which has a number of filters that work to filter out the chemicals used during the cleaning process and send them back to the water system safe to drink.

Students got to see the truck up close

Tremco also created a video about the day featuring our students and the work they did while they were here. Check it out!

 

Many thanks to Mr. Gates and Tremco for coming to the school to teach about the business of sustainability!

13 signs that you really should be going to The Dayton Regional STEM School

Ever wondered if The Dayton Regional STEM School (DRSS) is right for you? There's much more to The Dayton Regional STEM school than just Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. Here are some signs that maybe you should give it some serious thought.

 1. You love projects. Especially hands-on ones where you learn by doing. 

At DRSS, students engage in project-based learning (PBL) in each grade and in all classes and content areas. The school is well-known for its PBL approach, and even hosts an annual conference called the Project:WRIGHT Symposium in which PBL is a major theme.

 

2. You think STEM is great and all, but you still love the arts and humanities.

It might be hard to believe, but DRSS has a nationally recognized arts program. In 2015, DRSS was one of just eight schools from across the nation invited to the White House to meet with the Director of Making after winning a $10,000 grant in support of its "model integration of the arts and STEM (STEAM) program."
Watch a short video about the arts program here.

 

3. You wish that math was a team sport.

Middle school students at DRSS use a math curriculum called "Connected Math," which is a three-year program designed to issue Algebra I credit to students at the end of their 8th grade year. There are many opportunities, like MathCounts, for students to pursue their passion for mathematics outside the classroom as well.
Most of students' actual math classwork is done in team-based groups.

 

4. You love robots.

Robots are a big thing at DRSS (even the DRSS mascot, Ace the Innovator, is a robot), and DRSS has both FIRST Lego League (FLL) robotics teams and FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) teams that participate in competition regularly. Follow them on Twitter @DRSSRobotics.

 

5. You'd like to be on the #1 Cyber Patriots team in the state.

The DRSS Cyber Patriots team met with Lt. General William Bender, Chief Information Officer of the United States Air Force, after taking 1st place in state competition in 2014/2015. Read more about the Cyber Patriots team here.

 

6. You see connections across the curriculum.

Cross-curricular content integration is the norm at DRSS, not the exception. Students routinely work on projects across different content areas at the school. As just one of many recent examples, check out this short video on the Plate Tectonics project, involving Science, Language Arts, and STEM Foundations.

 

7. You think learning Chinese would be pretty cool.

DRSS students take a minimum of two years in Chinese, although many students take up to four or five years with the option to earn college credit for their upper-level Chinese courses. For the last two years students have performed a Chinese dance at Wright State University's Chinese Immersion Day.

 

8. You like the idea of having classmates from all across the Miami Valley.

The Dayton Regional STEM School is truly regional, with over 620 students coming from seven counties and over 30 districts. DRSS promotes an Accepting Culture for Everyone (ACE), and the diverse student population serves as the cornerstone of the school's culture.

 

9. You like using computers in school... like, a LOT.

DRSS has had a one-to-one netbook program for all high school students since it was founded in 2009, and it's close to having a one-to-one program at the middle school level. While computers are important, they don't drive instruction, they enhance it. Students learn 21st-century skills, as well as specific programs like Maya 3D animation, AutoCAD, and Inventor.

 

10. You think Wright State University is great for the Dayton region.

A lesser-known fact about the school is that it was actually founded by Wright State University and maintains close ties to WSU. All DRSS teachers and staff members are WSU employees, and many DRSS students do their job shadowing or internship experiences at the university. All students have WSU email addresses and use Wright State's course management system regularly in their classes. While our students go to many different colleges and universities, there are a number of scholarships available only to DRSS alumni for those who choose to pursue a degree there.

 

11. You're ready to start working with industry professionals now and want to do an internship while you're still in high school.

DRSS has a strong career exploration program that focuses on providing students with real world experiences. During their time at DRSS students will experience seven career fairs, two job shadowing experiences, and one 72-hour internship experience (at a minimum). See pictures from the most recent Job Shadow day on Facebook here.

 

12. Instead of going to class the last two weeks of school, you'd rather just do cool projects or travel with your friends all day. 

STEMmersion is an experience unique to DRSS where students take the final two and a half weeks of school to go to one all-day immersive class. Courses are new each year and include everything from spelunking to crime scene investigation to geocaching on bikes across Dayton. Some students have even traveled overseas to China, Costa Rica, and Italy during STEMmersion!

 

13. You're looking for a tuition-free public STEM school that will prepare you for the real world.

The Dayton Regional STEM School's motto is The Real World Starts Here. Check out this video to learn more about what that looks like and hear directly from students and teachers what a STEM education means to them.

The Dayton Regional STEM School is a tuition-free public STEM school located in Kettering, Ohio serving grades 6-12. Want to learn more about whether or not The Dayton Regional STEM School is right for you? There are a number of options. There's an Exhibition Night that is open to the public taking place on December 8th, 2016 from 5-7PM. Beginning on December 1st, 2016, students can also schedule a visit and shadow another student for a half day and experience what an actual school day entails. Another way to learn about the school is to register to attend an Information Session, or check out our website's "What to Expect" page.  The Dayton Regional STEM School is also active on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

If you're ready to attend DRSS, visit www.daytonstemschool.org/apply and apply to become an Innovator today!

DRSS Students Serve as STEM Ambassadors with ThinkTV!

As part of the Dayton Regional Science Festival, DRSS students traveled as "STEM Ambassadors" to River's Edge Montessori in a partnership with Think TV to help teach the students there about light. They were aided by episodes of Sid the Science Kid's television show. During their visit the DRSS students helped do labs for the children. It was a fun day of peer-to-peer instruction! Check out pictures from their visit below!

The visit was a great opportunity for peer-to-peer instruction.

DRSS students taught lessons that were tied to Think TV's Sid the Science Kid children's program.

Special thanks to Greg Schell of Think TV for arranging the visit.

DRSS students put on labs for the students at River's Edge

DRSS student Brian Bollinger teaches students about light refraction with a glass of water and a straw.

Alyssa Egbert runs one of the labs for the students of River's Edge.

9th Graders Visit Two Dayton Gems

On Friday, November 6th, DRSS students went on an exciting engineering field trip to two Dayton landmarks: The Dayton Engineers Club and the Sinclair Community College Unmanned Aerial Systems Laboratory.

Students tour the Engineers Club of Dayton

When students arrived they were treated to a tour of the club, where they had a chance to see all of the historic rooms like the Shaw Library, the Wright Room, the Wedgwood Room, and the Hall of Fame, which was the primary reason for their visit. They also learned about many of the famous Dayton inventors like Charles Kettering, Edward Deeds, and, of course, the Wright Brothers. Students also learned about some of the lesser-known Dayton inventions, like Margaret Andrew's dishwasher rack, Arthur Frei's ice-cube tray, and Ermal Fraze's pop-top tab for cans.

The students got an introduction to the Engineers Club before heading on a tour of the historic building

The tour started off in the Hall of Fame

Tom Mastbaum shows the students around

Students learn about the Dayton inventions that put the city on the map!

Students check out the pop-top pull tab, a Dayton invention

Checking out the library

After their tour, students attended a lecture in the auditorium to hear about the three 2015 inductees to the Hall of Fame. Two were posthumous inductions - Alexander Graham Bell (inventor of the telephone) and John W. Lincoln (for his work in aircraft structural technology). Students heard from relatives of both. Edwin Grosvenor, great-grandson of Bell, told the students a story about how Bell's path to the creation of the telephone included a talking skull that Bell created! The third inductee, Professor Bradford W. Parkinson of Stanford University, (the father of the GPS system) was there in person to give a lecture to the students. Professor Parkinson's advice to students was to "learn scarce skills," because you never know when they will apply to a project you are working on.

Students heard from Professor Bradford Parkinson, father of GPS technology

Students also heard from the great-grandson of Alexander Graham Bell, Edward Grosvenor

Special thanks to Engineers Club members Tom Mastbaum and Brian Sullivan for coordinating the trip and the tours, and to the Engineers Club for generously covering transportation costs for the trip. 

After their visit to the Engineers Club, students hopped back on the buses and traveled to the brand new Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Laboratory at Sinclair Community College, where they were given tours of the labs by Assistant Professor Benjamin Sears and UAS Program Coordinator Ryan Palm. Students then had a tour of the training and certification center, including a stop in the flight simulation lab, where they took turns trying to fly simulated quad copters and planes. Special thanks to Dr. Andrew Shepherd for inviting the students and coordinating their visit to the labs.

Ryan Palm shows the kids around the labs

Ben Sears shows students one of the quad copters printed with the help of Tangible Solutions, a company students went to for job shadow day!

Students spent some time in the flight simulations labs too!

The lab has quite the assortment of planes and helicopters inside the building!

Thank you to everyone who made these trips possible. The students had a great visit to both Dayton gems!