Success Stories

From a Lamar CISD Junior High Parent:

"[My daughter] was one of the students who was fortunate enough to be on the EcoBot team. I just wanted to write to thank you and others who made the EcoBot challenge possible. I attended the event and saw so many students who were excited about what they were doing. I believe that this challenge has changed some of the students prospective not only about our environment but about school as well. I have seen a great change in my daughter. She use to be very shy and didn't want to participate in any school event. When she came home and told me and my husband about the challenge and asked if she could be on the team we we're happy that she finally wanted to participate in an activity for school. My daughter worked hard to bring her grades up so she could be on the team and that has motivated her to try to keep them up. I want to thank you again for putting together such a great event that has impacted my child and other children as well."

Humble ISD embraces EcoBot throughout the district...Dr. Guy Sconzo, Superintendent tells of the impact on the community and schools. Read the complete letter...

KIPP teacher is excited about EcoBot's role in teaching critical thinking and problem solving!

"I am a middle school and high school robotics teacher who came to teaching after 30+ years of experience in engineering and manufacturing. I didn't start out teaching robotics. During the first year I taught 7th and 8th grade science. After that first year as a science teacher, I was given an opportunity to create some electives that would focus on objectives that are absolutely essential for success in life but are not given a high priority in most classes: critical thinking, problem solving, teamwork, good communication skills, and project and time management. Robotics is a perfect vehicle for meeting these objectives. It is a very engaging and appealing subject for students and it allows them to apply the math and science they learn in their other classes to real-world problems." - KIPP Robotics Teacher. Read the full letter here.

EcoBot Coach, Keh-Han Wang, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Houston, Specialty: Hydraulics, Water Resources, and Ocean Engineering talks about his community-based team, sponsored by an Asian organization, ACAP (Association of Chinese American Professionals):

"Thanks for organizing such a wonderful event for kids to learn real world engineering problems and think ahead to the potential they can contribute in the future to solve big challenges. The whole procedure from forming a team to the eventual competition gave kids plenty of opportunities to learn, to express opinions, to receive challenges, to solve problems, to compromise, and certainly, to test the concepts and make sure it's working. They worked together by brain storming, thinking of ideas, learning programming, and testing the programs through the responses of the robot. They also developed a marketing power point file using the ideas they discussed and the power point skills they learned at school. At the competition, they surprised me and did beyond my expectations in presenting their marketing ideas. Kids are eager to learn. Give them a constructive and challenging environment, they can learn more."

"The workshop, Teaching Chemistry with Children's Literature, was really informative and wonderful. The idea that you were able to combine Science, Literature and Art into several wonderful lessons is fantastic. I am already applying what I learned from your workshop into next week's lesson plan. I just wanted to tell you how grateful I am of your workshop. I am a pre-k teacher with a Science degree, and the fact that I am able to use your idea to teach 3 and 4 years old Science is very exciting to me. I am hoping that you will be able to continue providing teachers with workshops such as this." - Houston ISD teacher

"AWESOME TRAINING! Lisa did a fabulous job of applying the concept of chemistry to an early childhood level. The activities were engaging, relevant and age and developmentally appropriate. Activities can be taken back to the classroom, ready to do tomorrow!" -Humble ISD teacher

"I want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to experience such a great workshop. I was really weak in the area of Earth Science. Many people think just because we are science teachers that we know all science, but there are so many disciplines in the field. I hope that I will be able to experience many more of those. I am always eager to learn and know that you can never learn to much. The more I learn, the more I am able to give to my students." - Middle School Teacher

"The AMAZING Shell Earth and Space Science workshop series was instrumental in re-acquainting myself and my team with creative labs, incredible power points and pictures, and inquiry -based activities that has enhanced our science program at our campus overall. Killough Middle School is a direct testament to the success and quality instruction of the workshop series?we increased our science TAKS scores by 24% overall with double digit increases in all of our subpopulations! Research and knowledge from experts in their respective scientific fields have helped to enlighten teachers and students alike about Earth and Space Systems! I would highly recommend this series to any teacher at any level of expertise!" - Karen Jacobs, Killough Middle School

"Your support means a lot because it means that one day my students, who have all the potential, will finally be able to say "I did it."" - Ms. Woodbury, Houston ISD Teacher

"I would like you to know that I coached a team of 4 girls who competed in a science festival for our district. My 6th grade team chose to present a power point on volcanoes. I am excited to share with you they won first place (beating 7th and 9th graders)!

If it was not for the workshop I attended, I never would have been able to share the connections with rocks and volcanoes. Or for that matter, take my class to the next level in learning. The girls also chose to put in a video clip demoing how volcanoes erupt and shape our earth. This was an activity I learned from the workshop.

I can't be more thankful for the workshop! I was able to share so much good information with all my classes." - Alief ISD Teacher

"Meeting people from other schools and people in many companies who gave me valuable input."

"Being proud of what we built"

"Visiting Rice [University] meeting energy officials. Sharing our plan and model with others."

"Learning about ways to make a better Houston"

"Learning from other groups, answering difficult questions!"

"Working with my team"