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DeSoto Independent School District scholars from Ruby Young Personalized STEAM Academy, Katherine Johnson Technology Magnet Academy, West Middle School Male Leadership Academy, and DeSoto High School participated in the Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024, Best Southwest Partnerships STEM Showcase held at Texas State Technical College in Red Oak.
The event included a STEAM-focused showcase and competitions as well as opportunities for free play STEAM activities, career and industry exploration, and networking opportunities for scholars to have hands-on and interactive engagement with peers across the Best Southwest school communities.
“As part of the DeSoto ISD Triple-A Experience of Academics, Arts, and Athletics, STEM and STEAM are huge components of the district’s curricular experiences for scholars,” said Chief Academic Officer Stephanie McCloud. “The opportunity to have our Eagles be a part of this event is an opportunity to see learning come alive for our DeSoto ISD attendees.”.
KJTMA Scholar Nicholas Adderley participated in the day’s robotics competition.
“STEM is great,” said Adderely. “There are more opportunities here and more stuff to do, lots of hands-on experiences. It’s very fun.”
In addition to robotics, DeSoto ISD scholars participated in competitions for esports and gaming; drone racing; and 3-D design.
RYPSA’s Fernanda Castenanda who participated in the day’s drone racing event said she loves STEM but what she enjoys most about it is that “you never know what you’re going to learn.”
“Today’s competition was great,” said Ryan Grant, DeSoto High School Esports Gaming Sponsor, who was excited to put his team to the test following the January 2024 launch of the district’s first-ever esports gaming lab, an opportunity made possible through the support of the City of DeSoto and the DeSoto Development Corporation. “My guys really enjoyed it. This is our first real competition. The tournament was great and there were some great teams here.”
DeSoto ISD’s participating scholars included:
West Middle School Male Leadership Academy
- Cesar Rincon
- Larry White
- Aiden Williams
Ruby Young Personalized STEAM Academy
- Aiden Hollins
- Fernanda Castenanda
- Casen Avery
Katherine Johnson Technology Magnet Academy
- Joshua Piper
- Nicholas Adderley
- Xavier Rashad
- Jaylah Traylor
DeSoto High School
- Philip Horton
- Mystacal Winters-Kirvin
- Jayden Gilkey
- Chris Strahan