California - San Jose
SIATech at San Jose Job Corps Cente
r
3485 East Hills Drive
San Jose, CA 95127
Tel: (408) 937-3218
Principal: StefanieBradshaw
stefanie.bradshaw@ siatech.org
Overview
The San Jose Job Corps Center is located in the heart of the Silicon Valley in the East Hills of San Jose. San Jose, which is located in Santa Clara County, is the third largest city in California and the 11th largest city in the nation. The city has been named the Safest Big City in America for three consecutive years according to FBI crime statistics. SIATech was established at the site in the fall of 1999. SIATech at San Jose has recently undergone an extensive transformation with all new streamlined office style furniture in its high tech, state of the art classrooms and the addition of new staff that allows students access to credentialed teachers in all academic subject areas. All classrooms offer students a one to one student to computer ratio which allow delivery of the SIATech academic program modeled at SIATech sites at all California Job Corps programs.
While enrolled at our vibrant center, SIATech students at San Jose Job Corps enjoy on-campus vocations and are welcome to enroll in vocations located at the Central County Occupational Center/Program (CCOC/P) with students from all Santa Clara County high schools.
Principal Profile
SIATech San Jose is honored to welcome Principal Stefanie Bradshaw. Ms. Bradshaw has more than 10 years of experience in education. She joined the SIATech organization in January 2008 as the Assistant Principal for SIATech Treasure Island in San Francisco. Prior to SIATech, Ms. Bradshaw served as an exceptional assistant principal in the Oakland Unified School District. SIATech staff members are thrilled and energized by her enthusiasm, passion and knowledge of effectively working with “at-promise” students, and Ms. Bradshaw looks forward to working with the students and staff at San Jose.
Success Stories
Students graduating from SIATech at San Jose Job Corps now work in challenging and fulfilling careers throughout the Bay Area and the state. Two graduates of our culinary program have opened restaurants in the area, one in San Jose and one in Carmel. Recent graduates have been recruited from our TCU program to work as ticketing agents for International Airlines. Other graduates have gone on to four year college programs around the state.
SIATech San Jose Job Corps Robotics
Compete at VEX World Championships!
by Stefanie Bradshaw
Students from the SIATech at San Jose Job Corps had a team at the World Championship held in Anaheim, California located just blocks from Disneyland.
(Pictured first row, left to right: Yolandia Tapia, Ma Ly, Geronimo Vargas, Stefanie Bradshaw. Second row: Laurie Pianka, Allison Smith, Jordan Scott Stillinger, Ruel Manpis)
We were not sure if we would qualify for the World Championship, and we learned one month before the event that we indeed were able to attend. That meant that we had to kick into overdrive to start getting ready!
We recruited a solid team of four students (Geronimo Vargas, Ma Ly, Allison Smith, Jordan Scott Stillinger) and worked closely with our site Mentors (Yolanda Tapia, Ruel Manpis, and Daryl Demanawa) to start the build process. The Mentors were tasked with teaching the new team members about Robotics, how to build a robot, and how to program the robot to move. Fortunate for us, we had a female student (Ma Ly) that was interested in programming which is not often represented at the competitions.
Our team consisted of four students that just started working together only a month before the competition. Two of the students also attended the VEX event at Treasure Island on January 28th and the other two are newer members who joined the team in the last three weeks. These two new teammates worked hard to learn how to build and repair the robot and take on the programming tasks.
Our students committed to meeting three times a week, including Saturdays, over the course of three weeks to learn the process and prepare to compete…..and they did!
Area Education Director Laurie Pianka said, "The students displayed amazing team work throughout the event and we are so excited to now have a female student programmer! Even better is the fact that 3 of the students are relatively new to SIATech so they plan to be with us for the next year as they finish their Trade and SIATech credits and continue to be part of the robotics program at SJJC for the 2012-2013 competition season."
Our students had an opportunity to compete against students and schools from all around the world. There are approximately 4800 VEX Robotics teams in the world and 600 of those teams were in Anaheim this past week for the Robotics World Championship. We met and competed against teams from countries such as Taiwan (pictured with the San Jose team), Puerto Rico, Mexico, New Zealand, Columbia, and Saudi Arabia (pictured below), to name a few.
Our students quickly learned how serious this competition was for the students from around the world and their drive rubbed off on our students. Our students rose to occasion and got into competition mode. They graciously met their competitors…. and obliterated some of them on the field!
The SIATech San Jose Robotics team and its robot performed amazingly well. Pianka commented, "Once again they showed that our students are able to compete with the best and brightest from around the world."
The competition spanned the course of three days and took over the Anaheim Convention Center. Each day was filled with several competition matches divided between four divisions ranging from middle school to college. Each match last two minutes and took place in 1- 2 hour intervals. After each match, our students collectively discussed what worked well and what areas they needed to improve in and from there they got busy tweaking and re-programming the robot to make it a stronger contender.
Saturday marked the day of the Finals. The teams that ranked high overall were selected to compete in the finals. While we did not make it to the finals, we did score very well in our division. We scored 48th of 100 teams in our division…which is great considering that our team only had four weeks to prepare for the competition. We beat out teams from traditional schools that had an opportunity to work together all school year. We are very proud of our students and their contribution to the team.
Saturday evening we received another special surprise, Mrs. Laurie Pianka treated the entire team and mentors to Disneyland. We can truly say we had a great time in Anaheim and we are already planning ahead to figure out how we can make it to the VEX Robotics World Competition next year…..and WIN!
I would like to give a very big thanks to the San Jose Job Corps Center for all of your support with our Robotics Team. With your support we are able to make Robotics an educational and life learning experience for our students.
Hands-On Learning + Community Service:
San Jose and Treasure Island Science Teams Restore Wetlands
by Natasha Loveless
On Feb 28, 2012, SIATech Science Teachers Matt Hesby from SIATech at San Jose Job Corps and Natasha Loveless from SIATech at Treasure Island Job Corps in San Francisco went on a field trip to the Palo Alto Baylands.
The Palo Alto Baylands are a salt water wetlands area. The field trip included 20 of the science teachers' students. Pictured above, SIATech student Hana Girmay gets her hands dirty as part of the restoration project.
The group spent time learning about plant and animal diversity. They also discussed the impact of wetlands on the Bay Area and how they had been destroyed and are now being re-grown. After a very interesting and extensive lesson the teachers and students spent some hands-on time helping to restore the wetlands.
To start off the day, two Save the San Francisco Bay staff members, Jack and Crescent, began with an activity of identifying characteristics of plants and coming up with unique names. They then explained binomial nomenclature to our students (part of the unit 3 Ecology curriculum) and explained the importance of the different plants they held. They then explained what a wetland is, why they are important, and the history of the wetlands.
These specific wetlands had at one time been dredged and turned into a harbor for a yacht club. We also learned about the Clapper Rail, which is an endangered bird (only 700 are alive in the world, all in California, and 20 of those in the Palo Alto Baylands).
The students were then taught how to plant seedlings and were given time to plant. Pictured at right, Justin Villers uses the pickaxe to prepare the soil. Each student planted between four and six seedlings. All together with three SIATech staff members and 20 SIATech students we were able to plant over 100 seedlings in our designated wetland restoration spot!
Once finished, we ate lunch. Afterwards, Jack and Crescent spoke to the students more about the impact of the work that the students did and why it was important.
We then went on a short hike to see the bay itself and the students spent time drawing something they found interesting or writing down thoughts and facts that they learned. It was an enriching and memorable day for all!
Natasha Loveless is a science teacher at SIATech Treasure Island.
SIATech San Jose Students Gain Legislative Experience
by Ernie Silva
Senator Elaine Alquist has added three SIATech San Jose Job Corps student interns to her staff. Students Angel Miranda, Holly Vo, and Liliana Ramirez began working with State Senator Alquist at her District Office in San Jose during the middle of January. The students were subject to a detailed interview process at both the school site and the Legislator’s office. All three were accepted by District Office Representative, Carol Ong.
The Legislative Interview process was lead by SIATech Principal Stefanie Bradshaw, Job Corps Business Community Liaison Kathy Rich, and Social Studies Teacher Nate Malkemus. The students came through with flying colors. Each of them has a strong commitment to community involvement and expressed great interest in gaining a broader understanding of the role of legislators in serving community needs.
Senator Alquist has long been a supporter of SIATech and Job Corps students and hosted a demonstration by the SIATech Robotics team at the State Senate Chambers last year. Her District Office Representative, Carol Ong, selected all three of the applicants after interviews. Ong said, "I thought they did very well in their interviews by being prepared and were eager to learn."
Representative Ong demonstrated her confidence by selecting one of the students, Angel Miranda, to assist with a February 17, reception by the Silicon Valley Education Forum with State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom Torlakson. Angel had a chance to discuss education policy and his high school experience with the State Superintendent at that event. "The Superintendent has experience as a high school teacher and seemed really interested in my views," said Angel after the meeting.
Each of the SIATech students has had a chance to see how a State Senator serves their community up close. Their responsibilities are broad and include everything from interpreting governmental forms and activities to Spanish and Vietnamese speaking constituents to helping community members navigate the many agencies involved in providing governmental services. Additionally, they aide the office in researching, data entry, participating in meetings and community events and drafting reply letters to constituents, support letters on behalf of organizations and congratulatory letters to outstanding citizens.
As to future Legislative Interns, Kathy Rich (pictured with Tom Torlakson and intern Angel Miranda) said, "Job Corps and SIATech are very proud of our students. We hope to expand this program to serve our Assembly Member and Congress Members as well. We've already received interest from Congressman Honda's office. This is a great opportunity for students to gain valuable life and work experience."
SIATech San Jose Legislative Intern. One student from SIATech San Jose, Angel Miranda, is currently working as an intern for California State Senator Elaine Alquist.
This internship provides opportunities to meet with public officials and share his perspectives on education based on his own personal experiences.
Pictured from left to right are Social Studies Teacher and Intern Coordinator Nate Malkemus, Angel Miranda, SIATech San Jose Principal Stefanie Bradshaw, and California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson.
According to Principal Bradshaw, "Angel is excited. He is very interested in politics and is having a good time with his internship."
Overview of the Great Student Debate at SIATech San Jose
by Nate Malkemus
The students of SIATech San Jose's English and Social Studies classes recently engaged in an inter-class debate about the appropriateness of building an Islamic community center in New York City. This issue was chosen largely because of the media attention it received, which has resulted in enhanced polarization of our already-divided country; it also coincided with the 9th anniversary of September 11 and Constitution Day, both of which were prominent topics in the debate.
The students spent two weeks researching, writing, and preparing their arguments. In doing, they learned how to construct and de-construct arguments, apply reason and expose logical fallacies, write from their hearts instead of their minds, and perform rather than recite oral presentations.
All students seemed to benefit greatly from this process: they worked closely within their teams to develop cohesion and consistency, offered moral support and encouragement to both teammates and opponents (despite the competitive nature of the whole event), and garnered a profound level of confidence after presenting to a group of 50-60 student and staff observers.
A few excited students suggested that we create a debate team and several others asked when will be doing it again…all I know is that the next one cannot come soon enough.
Nate Malkemus is an instructor at SIATech San Jose.
SIATech San Jose's Student Newspaper
SIATech Revolution Debuts
by Stefanie Bradshaw
The SIATech San Jose team has been very busy over the past couple of weeks working on a school newspaper. Our Social Studies teacher (Nate Malkemus) and Sr. Projects teacher (Yolanda Tapia) worked with our students to create our first edition of the SIATech Revolution student newspaper.
Not all students were excited about the idea of creating a school paper in the beginning. But, through class conversations about life on and off center, more students realized that they too had thoughts, views, and opinions that they wanted to share from the student perspective. This project allowed the students to discuss issues and concerns as a class and pick the topics that they felt were of importance and needed to be heard.
The students had an opportunity to work together to bring the paper to life. The students learned how to write for a publication by jotting down their ideas, writing their first drafts, having the drafts reviewed by peers and staff, and re-writing their drafts. The students also learned how to be socially responsible writers contributing their opinions without offending their audience. This meant a lot of editing and re-writing to make the paper ready for publication.
The best part is that the students were able to see their work published. To celebrate the occasion, the students and staff held a "SIATech Revolution Release Party" while some students took turns sharing their pieces with the class. The students also worked on a distribution strategy to determine where to place the papers on center for our readers.
Mr. Nate brought the idea to my attention last month and shared with me a great online printing company that we could send our newspaper drafts to. The company would take our final draft and print it on recycled paper to look just like a real newspaper. From there Mr. Nate introduced the idea to the students. Once the students created the first draft, I met with the Deputy Center Director and Center Director to review it and received approval to publish the paper and distribute on center. We received our first shipment of 200 newspapers in March at which time I shared the paper with the Center Director and Deputy Center Director. They were both very impressed.
We plan to have more editions of the SIATech Revolution Newspapers in the future. We also expect to have new contributing writers as the paper grows in popularity. We feel very confident that the newspaper will get better with each edition as the students build their comfort level with the writing process and editing their work and the work of their peers.
Read the SIATech Revolution.
Robotics Program at San Jose SIATech
Robotics Teams Shatter Stereotypes
Season Off to a Winning Start
The SIATech Robotics program is in its fifth year and continues to make waves in the Robotics world and beyond. Spectators are surprised to learn that our students were previously struggling students who did not experience success in 
the traditional high school classroom. At the past two tournaments, SIATech teams have walked away with the Gracious Professionalism Award, a Judges Award, and a Regional Finalist award.
View Team 1834's student-created video!
Why the SIATech Robotics program so significant: (1) Approximately 42% of the participating students are English language learners or bilingual. (2) Mentors are instrumental in the technical leadership as well as being a caring adult in the lives of these students. (3) Despite teams comprised on 99% previous dropouts, more than 90% of SIATech Robotics participants graduate from high school. And 40% of past team members have gone on to college. (4) Public-private partnership: The exceptional transformation of the students is a result of the collaborative hard work of SIATech, mentors from the classroom and community, and partners at Job Corps.
The engineers and teachers that mentor the students in the SIATech Robotics programs always knew these students were smart and capable. Thanks to their participation in SIATech Robotics, the students now know it, too.
About the 2009-2010 Season
The San Jose and San Francisco (Treasure Island) teams traveled to the Silicon Valley Regional on March 19-20 to compete with more than 50 teams, some of which were from the top schools in the country. Both teams had an exciting and enriching tournament. And, the San Jose Team 1834 won the Judges Award!
Each team learned a great deal at this competition. For example, the ranking system is different this year and teams are awarded extra points called “coopertition” points during the qualifying matches. This system of “coopertition” was devised to promote cooperation between the opposing teams and not just between the alliance mates. Based on a complicated logarithm, teams earn points for helping opponents in the other alliance score points if the score starts to become too lopsided. This was not an easy lesson to learn. SIATech Area 1 Director of Education Laurie Pianka wrote, “For our competitive group of students who like to score points and enjoy a strong defense which they interpret as their opponents having zero points, there was a learning curve before we all got it. (This was hard for the mentors too!)”
Each year, everything is new: a new Robotics game and often for an open entry / open exit program like SIATech, new student participants. SIATech Treasure Island Principal Khristel Johnson commented, “The Treasure Island Pirates managed to hold 12th place at the end of the first day of competition and concluded in 27th place out of 50 other competitors. What makes our ranking most impressive is the fact that we entered our third competition like every year, with all new students and a new lead mentor. To assemble and competitively engage with these unique challenges makes our students winners in the true sense of the FIRST mission. We are thankful for the opportunity and appreciative that our students will carry this empowering experience with them long after FIRST season has ended.”
The San Jose Team 1834 was awarded the Judges’ Award at the Silicon Valley Regional. They were the only team of the 50 teams present who received it. The description of the award is as follows: “During the course of the competition, the judging panel may encounter a team whose unique efforts, performance, or dynamics merit recognition.” Then, at the Regional competition held at UC Davis, Team 1834 made it all the way to the finals. After a fun and fierce two days of competition, Team 1834 earned two awards: Regional Finalists and the Gracious Professionalism award. The Gracious Professionalism Award (sponsored by Johnson & Johnson) celebrates outstanding sportsmanship and continuous gracious professionalism in the heat of competition, both on and off the playing field. At FIRST Robotics, sportsmanship means playing fairly, playing with humility, helping others, and not allowing results to compromise or drive your efforts. According to FIRST, “It is a high standard, and one that we are proud to report is one of the distinguishing features of the FIRST's robotic competitions.” Congratulations to SIATech San Jose!
In the span of a few weeks, the Robotics program at SIATech impacts the lives of young men and women who just a year or two ago were out of school, out of work, and out of hope. FIRST Robotics inspires these students to become lifelong learners and look toward the future with hope, determination, and anticipation of being contributing members of their families and their communities. Thank you FIRST for this remarkable program that reinvigorates our students inspires our school and our community and forever changes lives!
Read about the SIATech Robotics program in the Job Corps San Francisco Region’s Annual Report.
Visit the SIATech Robotics website.
