WELCOME

1. WELCOME

2. LASARA ISD T-STEM ACADEMY Demographics and History THEME: Lasara ISD…. Transforming for the Future Through Rigor, Relevance and Relationships!

3. TRANSFORMING……CHANGING RIGOR- “LEVEL OF ACADEMIC DIFFICULTY” RELEVANCE- “MEANINGFUL” RELATIONSHIPS- “CONNECTIONS”

4. T-STEM Academy-UTPA GEAR UP Lasara High School

5. Mission Statement The mission of GEAR UP is to significantly increase the number of students who are prepared to enter and succeed in post-secondary education.

6. GEAR UP Transition to 11th Grade GEAR UP is a cohort model that follows the same students from 7th- 12th grade. Currently, we have approximately 9,000 GEAR UP Students in 22 high schools that are in 2008. 20 GEAR-Up Students at Lasara High School.

7. STEM Center of South Texas Texas Instruments AgileMind Princeton Review Vernier (Science) UTPA Math and Science Partners

8. UTPA T-STEM Partnership UTPA GEAR UP and the STEM Center of South Texas have formed a partnership to provide GEAR UP Teachers the high quality professional development paired with the most current technology to support student learning.

9. Texas Instruments Texas Instruments has created an innovative tool, the TI Navigator System, which has shown to increase student achievement and provide students with the support needed to excel in mathematics.

10. TI Technology for 11th Grade Option A 1 TI Navigator per teacher Designed to be used with TI graphing calculators Option B Class set of TI Inspire calculators (wireless in December)

11. TI Nspire Features Save time – distribute activities/notes to students’ handhelds right as class begins Fast sharing with multiple students all at once See multiple representations on single screen Observe cause and effect scenarios without changing screens Students save, review, and edit work

12. Agile Mind is an online and offline service for teachers and students of Algebra I, Algebra II, Pre-calculus, Calculus and Geometry. Assessment is aligned to TAKS and AP exam questions. Students receive username and passwords. Teacher and student usage is tracked on a monthly basis. Teacher will track usage using the GEAR UP Service Tracking form along with lesson plans and submit to GEAR UP Coordinator. Campus selects subject area(s)(11th Grade site license only) *GEAR UP is a Federal Funded Grant all services need to be tracked.

13. Benefits of Program Live instruction involving students in the learning process through modeling, discovery, application, and real-life connection. Small-group interaction that involves inquiry, gathering of information, and arriving at a method for solution Hands-on activities that require critical thinking and the potential for multiple solutions Pre- and post- assessment (approximately 45 minutes) to evaluate learning and build on results

14. SureScore ACT program utilizes a coach-team model. Teachers receive a 12-hour training for PSAT/ SAT/ACT College entrance Exam preparation. Teachers then prepare students for these tests using 50+ hours of curriculum. SureScore also offers THEA preparation. Teachers receive stipend for attending summer training from UTPA GEAR UP office. Teachers will receive extra duty pay for conducting THEA, PSAT/SAT/ACT camps from Campus GEAR UP Office. *Stipend will vary contingent on district policy. College Test Preparation

15. College Test Preparation Continuation PSAT/SAT Boot Camp Intensive weekend academy at UTPA TAKS SUPER SATURDAY ACADEMIES Small Teacher to Student Ratio Extended week tutorials utilizing differentiated instruction. Exciting incentives

16. What else does GEAR UP offer? Educational Field Trips College Visits Job Site Visit Career Exploration Counseling/Advising Mentoring Cultural and Character Development Leadership Development AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination

17. Parent Service Initiatives Workshops Counseling/Advising Family Involvement Activities Literacy Gear Up Awareness Academic Awareness College Visit

18. Monthly meetings (On campus & Gear Up Office) Parents who do not attend receive a letter and handouts of the items that were discussed. Monthly calendar of services providing dates of different activities. Parents help spread the word by phone calls due to small community (platicadoras). District –Wide Parent Conference Parental Involvement

19. Teacher Tuition Reimbursement Applicant must be employed at a UTPA GEAR UP Project School as a core content area teacher: English/Reading, History, Science, or Math Applicant must be seeking a master’s degree in their current teaching (core content) area. Teacher classes must include at least 50% of UTPA GEAR UP students. Applicants must submit a completed application to be considered in this highly selective process. For more Information contact your GEAR UP Campus Coordinator

20. College Coursework Fall 2009 TSTC/UTPA Concurrent Enrollment (Dual Enrollment) College Readiness: In striving to teach our high school students the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in entry-level college course work, LISD has also provided our students with opportunities to attend TSTC in Harlingen to gain dual credit for academic and/or elective courses. In addition, we have students who have transitioned from TSTC to UTPA, and those students, who are now 11th graders, have earned 24 college credit hours.

21. College Coursework Fall 2009 TSTC/UTPA Concurrent Enrollment (Dual Enrollment) 19 courses total 35 courses total 8 courses total

22. CRC-Cyber Resource CenterLasaraT-STEM Academy:Our HS library, includes café style tables and stools, computer/internet accessibility, college resources, and books, both reference and general interest. • College Resource Center • STEM Resources/Research Material • University Campus Climate • Internet Access

23. Lasara ISD T-STEM AcademyEmployability Skills • In an21st Century Job Skills: • effort to better prepare our students to enter the 21st Century work force, we are asked our TSTEM Partners to complete an Employability Skills Survey. This survey will help our school coordinate TEKS with the skills crucial for preparing our students for the future. • Partner’s Breakfast: • We worked diligently to create relationships with local business, agencies, and government institutions by organizing a Partner’s Breakfast twice a year. Our Partner’s have helped by attending STEM Career Days, through providing speakers for our students, and by donating to our school. Together with our partners, LISD plans to create internship opportunities for our students.

24. Lasara ISD TSTEM AcademyCareer Awareness • Pathways: • In order to direct our students on career pathways, we have used both paper and pencil inventories, as well as Explore beginning in the 7th and 8th grades. Then in the 9th and 10th grades we have utilized PLAN. In the 11th grade all our students took PSAT. • PGP’s: • In creating each students PGP, all students beginning in the 7th grade complete an interest inventory which in turn helps to connect them with a career pathway. We have used paper and pencil inventories, as well as inventories such as Explore. Every year, their PGP is update and at times their Career Pathway changes. Working TSTC, we have been able to connect the students PGP’s with their pathways by providing elective and technical courses.

25. Lasara ISD TSTEM AcademyCareer Exploration • STEM Career Day: • In an effort to promote STEM Career, we have established STEM Career Days. LISD invites our Local STEM Center, representatives from UTPA and TSTC, and our local Partner’s to speak about how their jobs involved science, technology, engineering, and math. • ALA: • LISD has also trained 2 staff members through the Academic Leadership Alliance (ALA) which trains educators through summer internships. Our teachers spent 2 weeks as interns at job sites, then another 2 weeks working on curriculum and lessons to implement what was learned at the job site.

26. Closing:“Campus Culture” THANK YOU!

27. LASARA ISD T-STEM ACADEMY Contact Information Sulema G. Osuna, Principal sosuna@lasaraisd.net (956) 642-3271