Public, private sectors work together to steer students toward careers in science

EDINBURG — Aileen Palacios cheered on the battery-powered robot she helped make as it rolled through a maze Monday morning.

A GEAR-UP family and community liaison at PSJA North High School, Palacios and a colleague were the first to complete their robot during a workshop at the University of Texas-Pan American as part of the sixth annual Hispanic Engineering, Science and Technology (HESTEC) Week festivities.

“Girls rule,” Palacios said.

The robot, which was not much bigger than a television set remote, bumped into the wooden blocks that set the maze’s path with its wire “whiskers,” then spun around to find its way through the labyrinth.

The workshop was part of many HESTEC events this day.

The weeklong event is a joint project between the university and U.S. Rep. Rubén Hinojosa, D-Mercedes, to encourage Hispanic youths to pursue careers in science and technology.

Public school teachers throughout the Rio Grande Valley said they’re always looking for new ways to show their students how what they’re learning in the classroom is applied in the real world.

“It’s how you get the kids hooked,” said Alicia Rodriguez, a business computer and information technology systems teacher at Jimmy Carter High School in La Joya.

And robots are popular with kids, they said.

Amy Uribe, a GEAR UP coordinator for PSJA North High School, said her ninth-grade students have worked with robots in the past and want to start a robotics club.

“They want something that’s challenging beyond the classroom,” Uribe said.

Monday’s events started with a roundtable discussion that included Hinojosa, fellow U.S. Reps. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo and Charles Gonzalez, D-San Antonio, as well as business leaders and representatives from NASA and the U.S. Department of Education.

All involved in the discussion said partnerships between educational institutions, government and businesses are essential to recruiting more Latino youth into science and technology careers.

Many on the panel expressed their concerns about the anticipated dearth in engineers as baby boomers get closer to retirement. They also discussed how to attract more Hispanics, who are underrepresented in science-related fields.

To address those matters, they’re developing outreach programs for middle school students, hoping to spark interest in them to complete college and take over those science and engineering jobs being vacated.

HESTEC continues today with Student Leadership Day.