Sierra Vista students in La Puente create in MakerSpace lab

 Luis Ruiz, 17, demonstrates robotic car at Sierra Vista Middle School in La Puente

Luis Ruiz, 17, demonstrates robotic car at Sierra Vista Middle School in La Puente

By Richard Irwin, Staff Writer

Robots roamed the room, optical and ultrasonic sensors silently guiding them around obstacles. Sierra Vista students continued to work on electronic circuit boards, building security alarms, cooling fans and other whirligigs.

Others displayed the video games and computer coding they had constructed themselves. All were proud of the engineering accomplishments the seventh and eighth graders have achieved thanks to the Makerspace lab sponsored by the Alcoa Foundation.

“We’ve seen significant increases in attendance and math scores, as well a rising interest in careers in science and engineering,” said Principal Terry Ceja .

The La Puente middle school was celebrating the second anniversary of the innovative program. Sierra Vista is one of only two Makerspace labs in Southern California.

“We couldn’t have done it without close to $40,000 in grants from the Alcoa Foundation,” Ceja said.

“We want to get our students interested in science and math. These are the aerospace workers of the future,” agreed Gwen Moore, human resources director for Alcoa’s plant in Industry.

The Alcoa official said the company has been impressed with the growth of the program over the past year. It now offers two classes for seventh graders as well as an advanced class for eighth graders.

“We need more engineers. Anything we can do to get the students interested in a technical career is good for everyone,” said Jeff Railton, engineering manager at Alcoa Fastening Systems.

The local company makes a variety of aerospace fasteners. The local plant employs about 350 workers, but it’s always looking for more highly skilled workers.

Read more in Rich Irwin’s story MAKERSPACE.

Speakers shares stories of Iraq with Sierra Vista students

Photo courtesy of Sierra Vista Middle School

Photo courtesy of Sierra Vista Middle School

By Sierra Vista Middle School

Guest speaker Lynn Matthews brought stories of her travels to Afghanistan and Iraq to the students at Sierra Vista Middle School in La Puente on Wednesday.

Many of the students are part of  TLC, the school’s Letter Club.  Students recently wrote letters and sent artistic drawings to students in schools in Jalalabad.

They received letters and pictures in return, which were drawn by their counterparts in the middle eastern countries.  The club will be teaming up with Matthews again to draw pictures and write letters of encouragement to Syrian refugees in camps in Northern Iran.

Matthews will send them along digitally, or perhaps she will hand deliver them on her next trip.  The students had the opportunity to learn about schools in these war-torn regions and ask questions about traveling in an area where terrorism has a daily impact on the lives of children.