CHRISTINE KIM / SACRED HEARTS ACADEMY
Under the watchful eye of instructor Richard Huwel, engineering students Jessica Yuhara, left, and Sherolyn Chang prepare to drill a part for their robot. Students in the Introduction to Engineering class won the safety award at the First Hawaii Underwater Robot Challenge in December. Despite a lack of experience, the class managed to create three self-propelled robots for the competition.
Women can be
engineers, tooA Sacred Hearts class introduces
female students to a field dominated
by men
Engineers are important to Hawaii, especially in the development of technology industries. Nevertheless, as a traditionally male-dominated field, only 10.6 percent of employed engineers were women in 1999, according to the Society of Women Engineers.
With the ever-increasing demand for qualified engineers, Sacred Hearts Academy, an all-girls school, encourages students to pursue the rewarding career of engineering. The academy has created a pre-engineering class based on Southern Methodist University's Infinity Project.
The class of 19 seniors, taught by Richard Huwel, takes ideas and turns them into solutions that make the world a better place to live. Huwel's main goal is to introduce engineering concepts to female high school students to encourage them to consider engineering as a possible career.
"There is a good job market in Hawaii for civil, electrical and mechanical engineers, especially with the federal government," Huwel said. "Women can help meet this need, and students in this class soon realize that engineers are not a bunch of dorks."
Senior Stacie Kamada said: "The pre-engineering class is a great opportunity for us to learn and experience the creative strategies that can be applied in engineering. It involves far more than equations."
Huwel, a U.S. Coast Guard Academy graduate and retired military officer, uses the Infinity Project to emphasize the course's content as an engineering skill, as opposed to being theory-based. "This course is a pleasant surprise to most of the students since they were imagining a lecture-styled course filled with mathematics," explained Huwel.
Since August, pre-engineering students have done more than just textbook work, and much of it is heavily focused on technology.
"We have designed and built an underwater robot, attempted to solve real problem situations in our school by designing a plan to improve cafeteria congestion, worked closely with an expensive high-tech computer program to understand textbook concepts, and designed and tested a bridge for the West Point Bridge Contest," said senior Nova Kuencer.
"I am learning that engineers are problem-solvers, people who make things work better, more efficiently, more quickly and less expensively," said Kuencer.
The Hawaii Underwater Robot Challenge had students construct an original underwater robot. Huwel said, "Students worked for several months building three robots, an incredible feat since they were untrained and had little previous experience with tools."
The pre-engineering students also participated in Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day on Feb. 26, during which each student shadowed an engineer.
Kamada shadowed biomedical engineer, Lance Tsutsuse, at the Kuakini Medical Center. "It was exciting because we received a real-life view of how biomedical engineers work alongside doctors to improve medicine."
Huwel took Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day as a way for his students to find their calling. "I wanted them to learn what engineers do on a day-to-day basis. If they are already interested in engineering, this was an ideal opportunity to understand how a chemical differs from a mechanical engineer or how an electrical differs from a civil engineer," said Huwel.
The academy also used this day to motivate other students. Sophomores were introduced to the engineering world in an assembly by electrical engineer and University of Hawaii assistant professor Audra Bullock and Stacy Lyn Dees, NovaSol project manager and mechanical engineer.
"We are here to present options to young women on engineering as a career and to provide you with details on the high-quality engineering programs at the University of Hawaii," said Bullock. "Being an engineer, working to develop new devices to help make life better for people puts us at the forefront of technology."
Senior Michelle Cheang captured the essence of the engineering career: "Mr. Huwel convinces us that engineering is more than a science, it's a way of life. It's the way we look at things, the way our brain works and the way the world works."
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Camp Timberline gives
girls faith to take a leapNature conservancy is also
taught to eager campers
Located in the Waianae Mountain Range overlooking Makakilo, Camp Timberline has provided Sacred Hearts Academy fifth-graders with an outstanding learning experience for more than 10 years.
Because Timberline allows students to gain respect for the natural environment and their relationship to it, the education program has become an integral part of the academy's fifth-grade curriculum.
Through the integration in science and social studies classes, the Camp Timberline experience encourages students to take part in hands-on opportunities that teach them respect, teamwork and environmental awareness.
"The camp staff and kumu a'o organize activities that keep the students busy from sunrise to past sunset; and above all they have fun," said fifth-grade teacher Sheila Banigan. "They awake each morning for an optional 'polar bear' swim at 7 a.m.!
"The girls take time to get to know classmates with whom they don't necessarily hang out," Banigan added. "They learn to be more patient, accepting of one another and considerate because they are living in such close corners with each other. Living in cabins and renovated horse stalls for three days, students return home with a new sense of respect for their families and friends."
MARY CATHERINE LENNON / SACRED HEARTS ACADEMY
Fifth-grader Stephanie Conroy takes on the challenge of the high ropes course at Camp Timberline.
Fifth-graders take part in a variety of activities from hiking and rope courses to bonfire skits and astronomy. One popular activity is the Leap of Faith, where girls work as a team and learn to trust their classmates to support them as they jump off a 30-foot pole.
"Because I never did anything like this before, I felt scared, but my classmates cheering me on really helped," said Adelle Kim, who enjoyed the leap more than any other Timberline activity. "They convinced me that I could overcome my fears."
The camp also stresses the importance of nature conservation. Students are taught about conservation and recycling biodegradable foods and resources through studies of different plants and insects and adding to a compost pile after every meal.
"During their two-hour, 2-mile hike to Palehua, the kumu share their knowledge of Hawaii's native plant and animal life," teacher Kelley Fitzgerald said. "The students see firsthand the effect of plants in preventing erosion in order to preserve the forest floor."
Evenings at Camp Timberline are times of excitement and learning as students use high-powered telescopes to study the constellations and participate in the Mad Science Night assembly. The students gather in a circle to close out each day with prayer, concluding with the song, "It's a Wonderful World."
"On the final night all of us gathered around a gorgeous campfire; we sang, did cheers, performed skits and roasted marshmallows to make delicious smores," shared Kim.
"While I was unsure of what camp was going to be like, the three days showed me that Camp Timberline is a very worthwhile experience that helps classmates work better together," said Kim.
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About ‘Hawaii’s Schools’
Each week, Hawaii's teenage reporters and photographers tell us about their school. This week's school is Sacred Hearts Academy.
Newspaper: Ka Leo Editor: Erica Koike Faculty adviser: Gaylen Isaacs Next week: Kaiser High School
Lancer facts
Address: 3253 Waialae Ave., Honolulu 96816 Phone: 734-5058 Founded: 1909 Head of school: Betty White Colors: Gold and white Nickname: Lancers School motto: "Orare et laborare" ("To pray and to work") Enrollment: 1,141
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You Asked...
"What are your summer plans?"Mazie Tsang
Senior
"I hope to work as a ceramics teacher's assistant and to take a course in marine biology. As the retiring state Key Club lieutenant governor, I also will help the new 2004-2005 Key Club Division 22 lieutenant governor plan the 2004 Regional Training Conference in Hilo."Kapuaonalani Aiu-Yasuhara
Fifth grade
"I usually go to St. Andrew's Priory for summer school, but I also go to my grandma's house. We do almost everything together. My summers with her are always fun."I'ishah-Moahnea Keliikoa
Seventh grade
"I'll be working at Alphabetland preschool for community service. Then I will be running summer track for the Renegades at Punahou. I'll also be an assistant coach for hurdles. I won't get paid but I'll make new friends."Jennifer Turner
Senior
"I'm going on the FL.CA.HI. (Florida-California-Hawaii) surf tour sponsored by Billabong as an advanced amateur. Pros can win up to $25,000 while amateurs can win up to $2,000-3,000. I've been asked before, but I was not sure about it. I'm going to try it this summer."Theresa Tanner
Senior
"I am going to China for four weeks with my mom. We'll be in Beijing for three weeks and work in our church's mission teaching English to elementary, junior high and high schoolers."Danielle Biddle
Sophomore
"My hula halau is traveling to Germany. My kumu, Pattie Wright, has been working with other kumu to plan the trip. We are performing with other halau from Hawaii, Japan and Germany in the coliseums that Hitler built. The purpose is to drive out the negative energy from these places so that they can be used for good."
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