Entering high school, there are a lot of choices you have to make. You can join a sport. Maybe a club. Play an instrument. How about applying to advanced classes and experiences with the Academy of Science and Technology?

“Each year, each fall we start recruiting for next year’s class,” Dr. Caffery said.

These past few weeks the students of the Academy of Science and Technology visited the local junior high schools to recruit the incoming class of 2027. They met with many different students at Knox, York, Irons, and McCullough and walked around during lunch meeting with prospective students.

“To just kinda get face to face with them to let them know about the academy and invite them to information night,” said Dr. Caffery.

The academy holds an information night each year to let prospective students know about the application process. This year’s first and second information nights are on September 26 and September 28.

“We take some flyers and they just walk around during lunch and just say hey,” Dr. Caffery said.

They get a chance to interact with the students and find those that are interested in math and science and who would benefit from the academy.

“This was the first time we’ve been able to go in three years due to Covid,” Dr. Caffery said.

Covid shut down a lot of things. Recruitment visits were no exception. They were finally able to go after all those years of quarantine and limited contact. While there, they found that the kids all had expectations about high school and what it is like, while some aren’t true it is fun to see what they believe. They were also very excited to find out about the academy and ask the academy ambassadors questions about their experiences.

“So many were excited to come to our information nights, we have entire sports teams applying,” sophomore Rebecca Garza said.

The mission was a success, so many students are excited to join the academy. The students want to join for various reasons and benefits that the academy has to offer.

“I joined the Academy as an opportunity to demonstrate dedication in STEM fields for college applications and to find support for my research,” Garza said.

These students are already thinking about the future and what comes next in their lives, and often busy schedules.

   “In addition to info nights this Saturday

we have the all academy picnic so its indoor because it’s just too hot also all the logo items the shirts that they ordered will be there,” Dr Caffery said.

The academy has a multitude of logo items, from shirts and jackets to water bottles and safety goggles. It shows how unified they are and how proud the students are to be a part of the Academy of Science and Technology and all the programs it offers.

“All the different activities that we do: science fair, destination imagination, envirthon, quiz bowl, science bowl, first robotics, will all have tables for parents and students to go to,” Dr. Caffery said.

The academy participates in loads of science and math related activities. However some of these activities are open to all students, not just members of the academy. 

“Next Saturday we have the first for first robotic fall remix. It’s all day, there are thirty-three teams in addition to ours coming with their robots from last year but all the new students from this year,” Dr. Caffery said.

The academy is holding a mock robotics competition in the competition gym on Saturday, September 24th. The competition is open to spectators, whether they are family

members or friends supporting a competitor, or just students wanting to see a little

robot action. Make sure to check it out.

Gallery • 4 Photos