Housed on the second floor of Welborn Middle School, Kearns teaches such high-tech, 21st-century subjects as artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. The small school offers big opportunities for students interested in computer science, Principal Bryan Johnson said.
“Our goal is to prepare the students for in-demand, high-wage careers,” Johnson said. “Students don’t have to be an expert in computer science, just have a willingness to give good effort and a strong sense of using technology and computers to solve world problems.”
The centerpiece of the artificial intelligence lab is Pepper, a humanoid robot, and a smaller robot called Nao. Both are multilingual and programmed for many functions, including to dance along with music.
As the small robot he assembled played the 1962 song “Loco-Motion” in the classroom, 10th-grader Darrius Robbins quietly operated it, created a course for it to follow and enabled it to pick things up with its claw.
“This generation is a technical generation,” Robbins said. “I’m learning more about technology and how to operate it. Artificial intelligence is definitely going to help me beyond my career. I can help other people with technical problems that they might not know about.”
Since the high-tech learning equipment was installed about a year ago, Johnson has seen more students excited about the hands-on opportunities.
“It engages them in the learning,” Johnson said. “The opportunities the students get — whether with programming, assembling or building artificial intelligence or cybersecurity — really make a connection between school and industry.”
The labs represent part of the Guilford County Schools’ overall educational campaign with Career and Technical Education, known as CTE, to provide students with skills for in-demand careers. Among the careers promoted through Kearns Academy are humanoid robotics, space exploration and smart transportation. Some students will go to work directly with industries, while others will get the foundations here and follow the pathway to college.
Caia Little, an 11th-grade student, agreed the school is a hands-on-learning experience.
“Previously when we were just learning how to code and learning network security, it was more difficult to actually apply what you’re learning,” Little said. “Having all this equipment is the application of what we were learning. So much of working nowadays is online, so I feel like it will help with any computer problems.”
The courses are for professional certification so when students leave school it’s going to be easy for them to find a job, teacher Marco Alzamora said.
The cybersecurity lab includes state-of-the-art servers and firewalls. Some training materials used are from Project Lead The Way, a national organization funded by large companies to train teachers and students in a more engaging environment.
Teacher Jeffrey Gates tasked cybersecurity students to analyze data and function as if they were trainers for new employees.
“They’re learning steps for protecting networks, whether it is personal computers or businesses,” Gates said. “A lot of their content will be about what to do with suspicious emails and how to determine whether someone who contacts you on the telephone is legitimate or not. They are also doing social media safety so they can know about posting things that might be inappropriate and how long they’re going to be around. Also that something an employee says about a company can be damaging to the company.”
Dellalith Matias, an 11th-grade student, said she is learning how to protect herself and others from vulnerabilities when communicating online.
“In here we learn how to prevent that, how to combat against it and protect ourselves from future attacks,” Matias said. “When we’re in the programs we’re learning, we get to see how it works and why it’s working. And all the equipment makes it more fun to learn.”
Alan Suarez, a 10th-grade student, said the class is helping him prepare for more technology to come.
“It’s basically teaching me how to prevent making stupid decisions while I’m using technology,” Suarez said. “It’s helping me be safer while I’m on the Internet overall.”
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