Belmarie Ponciano/Contributing Writer
To gear up future science, technology, engineering and mathematics college students, Biscayne Bay Campus has fostered an innovative experience for high school students.
With last fall’s opening of the Marine Academy of Science and Technology, a 4-year high school magnet program, students interested in STEM fields complete two-years’ worth of college credits by graduation.
The program’s curriculum includes high school and college courses like honors, Advanced Placement, and Dual Enrollment.
Matthew Welker, the school principal and University alum, has worked closely with FIU — prompting MAST @ FIU to be the only university-based public high school in Miami-Dade County.
For more than three decades, Welker worked as a County employee. He said that becoming principal of the academy is the highlight of his career.
“For me, this represents the culmination of 33 years of public service at Miami-Dade Public Schools,” Welker said.
According to Welker, MAST @ FIU was designed to complement the University’s Worlds Ahead strategic plan of increasing the number of STEM-based programs and courses at FIU.
What began as a collaborative conversation between President Mark B. Rosenberg and Miami-Dade County Public Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho resulted in the “easy marriage between the original MAST concept and its iteration at BBC,” said Welker.
FIU’s partnership with the program has created a total university experience for MAST students due to their presence on campus, he said. According to MAST @ FIU, students are given access to the University’s resources which include University lectures with leading scientists and professors, access to University internships, clubs and honors societies.
These on-campus amenities help to supplement their academic success.
“The interaction of our students…will undoubtedly make them more comfortable, and hopefully minimizes the academic difficulties that are often observed when students leave high school and go to college,” Welker said.
Christopher Jones, a senior computer science major, believes that the program will be helpful for high school students who wish to pursue college STEM degrees.
“A lot of students pursuing STEM majors are unaware of the requirements they need to meet,” Jones said.
He said that the general number of math and science high school courses aren’t enough to prepare them for college courses.
“‘Calculus II’ is required for my major, but in my high school, I believe you didn’t even need to take ‘Algebra II’ to graduate which means a lot of math catching up to do in college,” he said.
Amy Tenorio, a sophomore biomedical engineering major, said she sees the value the academy can have for up-and-coming college students from her own experiences.
“Having teachers who have a background on what you wish to study in the future is so much more helpful,” Tenorio said. “Doing something like this will definitely help lower the percent of students who drop out of STEM majors due to the fact that they can’t keep up or were not ready.”
MAST @ FIU’s emphasis on early hands-on career experiences will help prepare students for the growing STEM fields which according to the U.S. Department of Commerce Economics and Statistics Administration, are projected to grow to 17 percent by 2018.
The next step for the school is its own building.
According to MAST @ FIU, construction for a freestanding facility adjacent to Bay Vista Drive will be completed within the next two years. The new facility would allow the program to expand from its current 178 student capacity to 500.
“It helps that students will study in a college environment with professors who will teach them in the future so they will already gain a feel for college,” said Welker.
news@fiusm.com
About Post Author
