Special Programs and Grants

SPECIAL PROGRAMS

Industry Mentoring — Once per month at Energy Tech, we hold industry mentoring sessions for all 10th, 11th, and 12th grade students for approximately one hour. During this time, mentors from National Grid and Con Edison come into the school and work with small groups of students. They work on a variety of topics such as goal setting, teamwork skills, resume-building, interview skills, and conflict resolution. Working with professionals in this type of setting, students learn how to interact in a more professional manner while also getting authentic advice and support about college, careers, and good citizenship. 13th and 14th graders participate in one-on-one and small group mentoring off-site.

Job Shadowing — Energy Tech offers a Job Shadowing program in the fall to 10th grade students. During the program, students visit Con Edison’s headquarters in Manhattan after school and attend a series of highly engaging and interactive job shadowing sessions. Each week, employees from different sectors within the company set up stations with equipment, interactive demonstrations, and displays to explain what they do in their everyday work lives. The students learn about careers within various fields such as engineering, law, and media and how it applies to and functions within the company.

Industry Field Visits — In 9th and 10th grade, students are exposed to the industry through a series of events. These include:

• Visiting Con Edison’s Learning Center and Astoria Lab facilities, where students learn about troubleshooting and repairing electronic equipment. These eventful days serve as an introduction to Con Edison and the work in our local utility industry. Students tour the facilities, learn about the technologies used, participate in hands-on demonstrations, and learn about the numerous career opportunities at Con Edison.
• Visiting National Grid’s Learning Center in Jamaica, Queens. This hands-on day introduces our students to National Grid. The students witness a natural gas ignition and learn about the conditions under which it can ignite. They also learn how National Grid fuses plastic pipes together in a hand-on demonstration. They also work on a hands-on map reading exercise for the remainder of the day. The students learn more about a broad range of careers focused on natural gas within the local utility industry, and also learn more about what a typical day of work is like.

Upper grades students revisit Con Edison’s Astoria Lab to work on a project that furthers their knowledge of circuits. They observe a lemon circuit demo, in which a lemon is used to build a battery to power a light bulb. There is also an interactive demonstration involving a radio, and a transformer demonstration to pique curiosity about how transformers actually work. The main activity during the trip is the building and soldering of a circuit. Students are given a schematic and the necessary equipment to build the corresponding circuit. Once it is complete, they measure the frequency produced by the circuit and attach a small speaker to listen to frequencies. As the school grows, we continue to develop the specific trips, projects, and activities offered to students through our partnerships. Check back for more information in the future!

GRANTS AND ADDITIONAL PARTNERSHIPS

Verizon STEM Grant — Energy Tech was been awarded a generous grant intended to improve STEM programming and access for underrepresented students in our community. Energy Tech launched a Women in STEM initiative in 2013 in order to support and retain current students, as well as recruit additional female students as they are underrepresented in both the field and our school community. Energy Tech was awarded funds to continue to develop this program by acquiring additional equipment and securing additional mentors for increased activities. The Women in STEM program at Energy Tech made use of funding for an after-school initiative in which students learned more about coding, 3-D fabrication, robotics, and engineering careers. This took shape through hands-on activities, field trips, small-group mentoring, guest speakers, networking events, and interactive workshops. 

Liberty Partnership — Through the generosity of Liberty Partnership, Energy Tech students participate in exciting Saturday and summer academic and extracurricular programming. Some of the courses our students have participated in include Digital Photography, Latin Dance, Art, Engineering (Statics, GIS, SolidWorks, etc.), SAT and PSAT Prep, Swimming, and more. Students have the opportunity to participate in these experiences on a college campus with other high school students, and appreciate the enrichment and camaraderie. Liberty Partnership additionally sponsors after-school STEM clubs at Energy Tech, supplements our equipment inventory for robotics competitions, and sponsors field trips to places like Brookhaven Laboratory, college campuses, weekend retreats, and even Broadway shows.

Shakespeare Festival — Through the support of CUNY School Support and Design, Energy Tech participates in the annual New York City Shakespeare Festival. In this program, Energy Tech teachers are trained at day-long seminars throughout the year in teaching both Shakespearean plays and also foundational theatrical skills to students. Teaching artists are paired with schools for added enrichment, and students work closely with a teacher and a teaching artist to develop a scene for performance. After much practice, students perform their piece at an off-Broadway theater in the spring. Energy Tech students and staff enjoy this connection with the Arts, and the Shakespeare Club meets on Tuesdays in the spring to prepare for this lively event. In addition to Shakespeare Festival, Energy Tech has leveraged other theater partnerships to provide students with free and discounted tickets to a variety of shows throughout each year.