Monday
Vex Robotics Pizza Sales
Tuesday
Cohort 6 Field Trip to Port of Houston / Landfill
Energy Oilers JV Baseball
Wednesday
PTO Chick-fil-a
Cohort 1 Exhibition
Thursday
Robotics Lunch Snacks Fundraiser
Cohort 2 Field Trip to Sea Star Base Galveston, TX
HISD School Board Meeting 5pm
Friday
Cohort 2 Field Trip to Sea Star Base Galveston, TX
Term 1 Ends Next Week
Junior Payment of $50 for ACT Exam

March 12th - 16th
Spring Break
March 19th
Boys Soccer Game @ 4 pm Mason Park #4 vs. East Early 
March 20th
Cohort 5 Exhibition
April 3rd
ACT In-School Exam
April 18th
SAT In-School Exam



Congratulations to Energy teachers of the year Ms. Baird and Ms. White! Ms. White was named Energy's New Teacher of the Year. Ms. White joined us this year after graduating from Rice University last May. She jumped on board, by teaching summer school classes in June, teaching Algebra 2 and Geometry this year, and coaching UIL calculator applications, mathematics, and number sense. Outside of teaching math classes, Ms. White enjoys cooking pasta and watching math music videos. "Ms. White has patience, and really goes in depth while teaching lessons," a student told us. 

Ms. Baird was named Energy's 2017-2018 Teacher of the Year! Ms. Baird teaches Principles of Engineering in Cohort Four, the Nexus Novas. Ms. Baird has been a teacher at Energy since 2015, when she first came on board as a physics teacher. She jumped at the chance to take on an engineering position and has dedicated over 100 hours to PLTW training in order to become the Principles of Engineering teacher at Energy. In addition, she is the teacher sponsor of the InvenTeam and has contributed countless hours to supporting students on campus by developing projects and supporting their extra-curricular pursuits. She likes to "plan amazing lessons" for her students, eat tacos, read, and run marathons. 

We are so proud of Ms. Baird and Ms. White and are very thankful for their dedication, commitment, and the energy they bring to their classrooms! 
On Saturday, February 24th, 32 Energy student leaders joined the Travis Manion Foundation's veteran volunteers for the Character Does Matter Leadership Course at Sea Wolf Park. The day began with an introductory course to the Travis Manion Foundation, which discussed the four pillars of the Travis Manion Character Program: character, integrity, leadership, and service.  Then, our teen leaders moved on to an icebreaker ball toss to learn people's names while working on teamwork and speed. After lunch, students entered the problem-solving portion of the program: one group walked a trust-walk minefield, while the others encountered a sticky situation where they had to role play as experts and solve problems that had either a profitable or disastrous outcome.  At the end of the day, students toured the USS Stewart, a destroyer-escort vessel, and the USS Cavalla, a submarine.  The Travis Manion Central Region Program Manager challenged the students to give back to their community through service. We hope these Energy leaders will take a leadership role in our Spring service project, "Focus on the Third Ward", which is tentatively scheduled for April 21st at the new Energy building. If you are interested in attending our next Leadership Course on April 7th, please email Ms. De La Rosa at [email protected].



On Tuesday, February 27th, sophomores from the Nexus Novas cohort, along with a small group of freshmen, attended a field trip to the Houston Research Center of the Bureau of Economic Geology sponsored by the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA). Upon their arrival, students attended a quick lecture about the different ways rocks and minerals are formed and how geological features impact the potential for oil and gas prospects. After, students split into groups and went to different hands-on stations led by industry professionals. At the stations, students acted as geologists and classified rocks and minerals based on the physical attributes observed from core samples. They used microscopes and other equipment to further understand why certain rocks are more suitable for producing and retaining hydrocarbons. Additionally, students were able to use their sense of taste to identify salt rock. The freshmen and sophomores who attended this field trip were excited to have such an amazing opportunity to improve their knowledge of the geological studies that contribute to the oil and gas industry.



On Wednesday, February 28th, Energy's Inventeam hosted their Mid-Grant Technical Review over "The Slush Buster", an automated system for regulating biofuel viscosity in any diesel vehicle. At the review, the team presented a mock-up of their biodiesel system and its environmental impacts. After their presentation, guests asked questions about the project.  After the Q & A, session guests explored and saw the team's financial, technical/mechanical, communication, and sustainability subteam progress.  Energy's InvenTeam consists of 16 diverse students and two educators. They are the first team in HISD and the only team from Texas to receive the Lemelson-MIT grant of $9,000.

Biodiesel tends to gel up at colder temperatures, which can harm the fuel line and damage the engine. Thus, the team's invention will monitor the viscosity of the biodiesel and warm it accordingly whenever it reaches a certain gelling point.  Currently, Houston Independent School District buses run on 5% biodiesel, a fuel which significantly reduces 78% net of carbon dioxide compared to diesel and other greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere. The team hopes to increase the use of higher-percentage biodiesel on school buses and other means of transportation across the nation, even in regions of colder climates.  The students have been diligently working together to come up with an innovative solution and will have an opportunity to present our invention at MIT during the annual EurekaFest in June. They are extremely grateful to have an opportunity such as this one! 

If you would like to support Energy's InvenTeam travel to Eurekafest. Email them @[email protected] to donate and get the chance to display your company logo or name on their banner that will be displayed on their bus and travel with them to Eurekafest in MIT, Boston, Massachusetts.



On Friday, February 23rd, Energy's Society of Hispanic Engineers toured the University of Houston's engineering and architecture schools, learned different ways to get involved while in college, and listened to presentations from current student engineering organizations. Some of the engineering organizations included: eNABLE at UH, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) with their myoelectric prosthetic arm, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) with their chemical reaction powered Chem-E car, and the Formula Society of Automotive Engineers (FSAE). Lastly, the students toured the Brain Imaging Laboratory of Dr. Contreras-Vidal, where they learned about reverse engineering the brain, brain-machine interfaces, neuroprosthetics and wearable exoskeletons. The SHPE program hopes to inspire and educate the Hispanic community about STEM careers. In SHPE Jr., students are mentored by SHPE UH members so that they can learn about their engineering studies and receive guidance for their college planning process.
On Monday, February 22nd, Ms. Harris' cohort 5 class traveled to A&M University to further develop their projects in sustainable agriculture. Currently, students are building their gardens, in which Ms. Harris' class voted to produce potatoes using aeroponics. When they arrived, a sophomore college student led the class on a one-hour campus tour and taught them about college life and culture at A&M. Following the tour, they ate lunch at the college's popular dining hall, Sbisa. At the agriculture department, alumni spoke to the group about A&M's project of increasing diversity in potato breeds by diffusing and facilitating the production of new crossbred species. At the end of the discussion, the students toured the breeding and nurturing lab and learned about how to count seed yield. At a Q&A panel of two college alumni and their professor, students asked questions on how to efficiently create higher yields and use sustainable agriculture to effectively grow their potatoes. Lastly, the speakers discussed college admissions, scholarships, and how the agriculture department is run.

On Wednesday, February 27th, ninth grade students from the Lightning Volt Cohort welcomed architects, Krista Thomas, Brad Ewing, and Angel Rivera, from VLK Architects. VLK Architects is the company in charge of designing Energy's new campus. These architects explained their roles as architects and elaborated on the design process they used for Energy's new home. They informed students that they must not only look at the site itself, but also the area surrounding the land to see how it will affect the surrounding community. The architects are also responsible for creating a balance between green spaces and the campus interior. During the design process, there is a constant need for communication between the architects and client. They must identify what kind of spaces the client needs and then determine what materials will be used in renderings and schematics. Students will now use this new knowledge about design for their project's 3D-printed landmarks. Thank you to our amazing architect team from VLK!



On Tuesday, February 27, the junior and senior students welcomed Sadaf Jaffery. Ms. Jaffery was born in Pakistan and moved to the United States at the age of three. She went to a German high school, where she was part of Key Club, National Honor Society, and International Club as president and treasurer. Ms. Jaffery graduated from the University of Notre Dame, a school that offers mentorship and internship opportunities. After college, she worked with Deloitte and Touche in oil and gas, healthcare, and other industries, but she spent most of her time in oil and gas auditing. During this information session, the students learned about accounting through an example balance sheet as Ms. Jaffery elaborated on the opportunities and challenges accountants face. In addition to covering the requirements needed to take and pass the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exams, she explained the process students should take to become an accountant.
As March begins, most seniors have received their college offers and are deciding where they will attend. Energy is proud to announce that seniors from the class of 2018 have been accepted to over sixty-three colleges across the country such as California, Alaska, Massachusetts, New York, and Oregon. Congratulations, seniors! The yellow states in the graphic below show the location of the universities that the graduating class of 2018 have been accepted.







CONNECT WITH US: