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Chicago Pre-College Science & Engineering Program to host Spring Summer orientation and registration program on April 28

Guest Speaker Dr. Araceli Martinez Ortiz, LBJ Institute for STEM Education and Research

Dr. Araceli Martinez Ortiz
Dr. Araceli Martinez Ortiz

Chicago Pre-College Science and Engineering Program (ChiS&E) will host their Spring and Summer 2019 Parent Orientation and Registration on Sunday April 23, 2019 at the University of Chicago – Logan Center for the Arts, 915 E 60th St., Chicago. Special guest speaker for the event will be Dr. Araceli Martinez Ortiz, executive director of the LBJ Institute for STEM Education and Research, and associate research professor of Engineering in the College of Education at Texas State College. The event will be held from 2 p.m. – 4 p.m.

Dr. Ortiz works with students from traditionally underserved populations and seeks to understand challenges and frame solutions for improving student motivation and academic readiness for college and career success.

She teaches graduate courses and provides professional development in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and collaborates on research initiatives in STEM teacher professional development programs and pre-engineering student outreach programs. Her research interests include studying the role of engineering as a curricular context and problem-based learning as an instructional strategy to facilitate students’ mathematics and science learning. Ortiz holds a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and a M.S. degree in manufacturing management from Kettering University. She worked over ten years with General Motors, Ford Motor Company and Microsoft with experiences in the areas of manufacturing, quality improvement, product design and marketing.

“We at ChiS&E are pleased to have Dr. Ortiz join us for the Spring-Summer Orientation,” said Kenneth Hill, founder and president of ChiS&E. “Her expertise specifically in working with students from underserved populations has been groundbreaking and we welcome her participation with our students and their parents.”

The ChiS&E, in partnership with the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), the University of Chicago (UofC), and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) Colleges of Education, Engineering, and the Department of Mathematics, provides highly-engaging, age appropriate hands-on science and engineering activities and promotes careers in science and engineering. ChiS&E provides young people a pathway to careers in science or engineering and believes that adults are essential in making that happen.

This upcoming parent orientation is for students currently in grades K – 2, and 5th -9th grades. There will be four subsequent Saturday sessions (three hours each) for those joining the program. A four-week summer program is also open to students who are enrolled in the Saturday sessions. The program is free to participants with the only requirement being that a parent must participate with their child. Students must bring their most recent report card in order to participate.

About ChiS&E

The mission of the Chicago Pre-College Science and Engineering Program (ChiS&E) is to increase the number of historically underrepresented African American and Latino students who are motivated and academically prepared to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). ChiS&E is a 501 ©3 tax exempt organization.

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