| NASA-SPONSORED “PROYECTO ACCESS” TO GRADUATE 110 STUDENTS IN OXNARD COLLEGE GYM ON AUG. 17
After eight weeks of rigorous instruction in science, math and engineering principles, 110 middle- and high- school students from throughout Ventura County were set to graduate Aug. 17 as “Proyecto Access” summer school participants.
The ceremony will be held at 7 p.m. in the Oxnard College gymnasium, according to Oxnard College math instructor Mark Bates, director of the NASA-sponsored project.
Last summer, Oxnard College was one of nine educational institutions that partnered with NASA to offer the program to county high school- and middle school students. In its second year of the innovative program, Oxnard College received a NASA grant of about $88,400 awarded by the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU). The program focuses on logic and problem-solving classes for selected minority middle school and high school students interested in pursuing a college degree in engineering, science, information technology and mathematics fields.
This year, “Proyecto Access” at Oxnard College drew 47 returning students from local middle schools like E.O Green, Blackstock, Ocean View, Rio del Valle, while also reaching out to middle school students in Santa Paula.
“Our goal is to let the students access what skills they need in math and science through hands-on, problem-solving experiments,” Bates said in an interview. “Then our instructors guide them in solving problems that often expand to real life situations.”
One of the most promising developments of the program has been the popularity of the program among female, Hispanic and black students, he said. About 54 percent of the students attending the Oxnard College program were female. Despite the growth of science and technology-related industry worldwide, U.S. labor statistics continue to indicate that women hold less than 15 percent of science and engineering jobs in business and industry.
In addition to the program funding from NASA, Oxnard College students were hired to serve as mentors to students through a math and science fellowship program at the University of California.
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