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Liftoff with BLAST Series

Article Contributor: Paul Jackson, Ph.D

Friday, March 17, 2017 marked the inaugural Google Hangout conducted as a collaboration between the new state-of-the-art Col. John C. Robinson American Center at the National Archives and Library Agency (NALA) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the Pan African Technical Association (PATA), a community-based organization headquartered in Los Angeles, California and the Multimedia Resources and Training Institute (MMRTI), a technology-based nonprofit organization based in Seattle, Washington. Google Hangouts was chosen as an ideal collaboration platform due to its robust and flexible features of meeting face-to-face, virtually! Read more

STEAM, not just STEM Education

STEAM education - science, technology, engineering, arts and math

Infographic Courtesy of education.arts.ufl.edu and E-Learning Infographics

Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) are the center of attention in most US public schools today. The focus on STEM fields was initiated to increase global competitiveness and the project does have its merits. However, it has left the arts languishing far off in the periphery. This is quite unfortunate, as art education is known to improve academic performance. The STEAM, not just STEM Education Infographic presents interesting facts and stats pointing out the significance of arts education.

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Fall 2015 Schedule for PATA Science and Technology Academy

This is a hands-on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math education (STEM) program that is dedicated to extending, enhancing and increasing the participation of underrepresented students’ (K-12) in these areas of their education to introduce and/or encourage their creative and technical skills and by exposing them to potential STEM careers.

Student Outcomes

  • Increase meaningful student engagement in STEM learning opportunities.
  • Increase student interest in additional STEM learning opportunities and careers.
  • Increase student knowledge and application (i.e., behavior change) of STEM content and processes 
in PATA and communities.

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PATA Expands its Reach with a Saturday Science and Technology Academy

PATA would like to express appreciation and gratitude to our donors for their support of our summer activities. The highlight of the summer was the Introduction to Science and Technology class presented at Tomorrow’s Aviation Museum in Compton. The students greatly enjoyed our hands-on activities as depicted here.

PATA’s next eight-week course is scheduled mid-October through the first week of December, one day a week. The course will be hosted at two sites concurrently: the A-Man Center in Inglewood, and Tomorrow’s Aviation Museum in Compton. PATA would like to extend its appreciation and gratitude to the financial supporters of PATA’s efforts.
The Berry Family Fund has been instrumental in PATA allocating small grants to community members of Washington and Southern California. In addition, PATA is a proud recipient of Edison International’s “Community Investment” grant that has afforded PATA the opportunity to offer Saturday Science and Technology Academy (SSTA) classes to youth in Inglewood and Compton.
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A Peek into the PATA STEAM Program

Thanks to the generous support of Edison International, The Tracy Family Charitable Fund, and The Berry Family Fund, PATA presents Spring Science and Technology classes.

“Are you coming back again?”  A repeated question by many participants registered in this year’s PATA’s Introduction to Science & Technology courses.  During April and May, PATA presented several activities that focused on Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM).  This year’s “Spring Training” was led and instructed by engineers, entrepreneurs, engineering students, and PATA’s co-founder/engineer, Yaw Davis.   Courses were held at multiple sites to serve and provide opportunities to youth in Los Angeles and Compton, California. The specialized program ensured that students would learn about STEAM via educational hands-on activities.  These activities included programming Arduino circuit boards and assembling rocket models.  Entrepreneurs discussed how STEAM is utilized daily in their businesses and/or careers.   Media technology was utilized in a fun and entertaining manner in order to capture the students’ interest and peak their curiosity in STEAM.
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Collaborations formed during Science and Technology Classes

With the assistance of our partners, Edison International, the Joan and Chris Robinson-Berry Foundation, the Tracy Family Charitable Fund and a host of volunteers our science and technology activities impacted numerous youth in the greater Los Angeles area over the past year.

With the assistance of our partners, Edison International, the Joan and Chris Robinson-Berry Foundation, the Tracy Family Charitable Fund and a host of volunteers our science and technology activities impacted numerous youth in the greater Los Angeles area over the past year.

With the assistance of our collaborators, the students were able to participate in a number of wonderful and eye opening field trips. Thanks to Tom Mueller, Nikki Austin and John Baskett, the students were able to tour Space X.  They were able to see partially assembled rockets and rocket motors.
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PATA is New Edison International Grant Recipient

The Science and Technology Education and Awareness non-profit organization, the Pan African Technical Association (PATA), is very fortunate to be a recipient of funding from Southern California Edison and the Edison International Grant Program.  PATA would like to express our heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to the staff of the Philanthropy & Community Investment Department, the employees of Southern California Edison and the shareholders of Edison International.

PATA utilizes the funding to present a Saturday Science and Technology Academy in South Los Angeles for students ages 11 to 18. Attendees of the program reside in the greater Southern California area and travel from cities such as Compton and Long Beach to participate in our activities, which include Science and Technology discussions, visits to places of interest such as the California Science Center, and classroom hands-on demonstrations.

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Student Engineering Program – Los Angeles Dept. of Water and Power

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) is currently accepting applications for its Summer 2013 Student Engineer Program (SEP).

The goal of SEP is to provide college engineering students an experiential job training opportunity, including career mentoring, theoretical and technical instruction, and complete project-related infrastructure work tasks. Student Engineers will be paired with LADWP engineers and work in technical teams within Water, Power and Joint systems of the organization.

The SEP eligibility requirements and employment application are available at https://www.ladwp.com/ladwp/faces/ladwp/aboutus/a-careers/a-c-internships

The deadline to submit a COMPLETED application is FRIDAY, March 8, 2013

Operation Book Bird A Success!

Operation Book Bird in Seattle collected many books and donations thanks to your participation. We were able to deliver over 1000 books in Seattle ready to board an airplane leaving on 11/19/10 for Ethiopia.

A HUGE Thank You for a Successful Book Drive

Operation Book BirOperation Book Bird (OBB) is an organization that strives to help prepare the rising group of Ethiopia’s leaders attending universities by providing them with educational materials and resources. By increasing access to information, OBB hopes to increase Ethiopian students’ ability to perform at levels of their global counterparts. OBB in collaboration with the National Society of Black Engineers Alumni Extension Seattle Chapter (NSBE-AES: www.nsbeaes.org), Pan African Technical Association (PATA: www.pataus.org) and Aerospace Engineering Professionals has launched its first pilot project. This project will provide Wolita Sodo University’s Engineering Library with an expanded number and variety of:

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Pan African Technical Association

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