Displaying a desire for technology and learning

Nearly 700 ninth and 10th grade students from 25 area schools who are enrolled in the CIJE-Tech High School Engineering program participated in their Young Engineers conference at the Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway on May 19.
The students’ work, which was examples of biomedical and electronic engineering innovations using robots, sensors and machine technology, were demonstrated at the conference, which served as the program’s capstone project presentation.
The Center for Initiatives in Jewish Education (CIJE) strengthens and enriches education in Jewish schools throughout the country. The center focuses on educating for innovation, instilling critical thinking, creativity and problem solving skills. It currently provides funding for programs at 150 schools nationwide including advanced technology, engaging curricula, teacher training and vital support in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) subjects. It was established as an independent, non-profit charitable organization in 2008.
CIJE offers a number of innovative programs including its Tech High School Engineering Program. It is a national, two-year course in scientific and biomedical engineering for high school students. The program exposes students to a diverse range of STEM careers. A discovery-based STEM education program, it was developed in collaboration with Israel Sci-Tech, which is a network of Jewish schools focusing on STEM learning. The program provides teacher training, ongoing teacher mentoring as well as engineering laboratory equipment and materials.
Judy Lebovits, the vice president and director of CIJE, said that the center and its program teach the children about science and life skills. “Our goal is to help children in our schools to gain knowledge about Judaism and successfully face the challenges in society,” she said. “We concentrate on kids gaining self-confidence, research skills and self-reliance, the ability to work independently. These are all skills that can be applied to other school subjects and life.”

Since HAFTR added the CIJE-Tech program two years ago, Rebecca Reinherz, the school’s ninth and 10th grade science teacher who guides her students in independent research, has noticed how many more girls are enrolling in her engineering courses. “In my classes, the boys seemed more naturally inclined to enroll,” she said. “But I pushed the girls to try it out, and to ask questions. Now I’d say it is 50-50 males and females enrolled. The females are not afraid to be smart. There’s not such a bias anymore.”
Students working on their capstone projects learned a lot from the experience, such as trial and error, and how mistakes could advance the process. Miriam Kopyto, a ninth-grader from Woodmere, presented her project “The Guardian Canopy.” Kopyto worked with two classmates on a motorized canopy on a remote control car. “This canopy was too heavy for our project,” she said. “We
should have used a lighter piece for the canopy, like cardboard, and a stronger motor to lift it up and move it down easier. If we recreated this, we’d make those changes.”
The CIJE aims to work with younger students and with more schools in the future. To learn more, visit www.thecije.org.