MadSCI is an after school project that has been on-going at Madison HS since 2010. MadSCI’s mission is to advance knowledge and educate a wide diversity of students in science, technology, engineering, math, sutainability and other areas of scholarship that will ensure that they will best serve themselves, San Antonio, Texas, the nation, and the world in the 21st century. There is a tremendous need for students with innovation and expertise in fields that will help solve the world’s most critical problems. Students need to be exposed to, and involved in, activities that involve authenticity, collaboration, critical thinking skills, global implications, in-depth investigations, cross-curricular applications, and a very high student motivation and engagement factor. To these ends, MadSCI was created.
MadSCI is the perfect beyond the classroom project because in striving to meet the challenges this project entails, students in addition to learning about engineering, alternative energy, battery technology, aerodynamics, computer science, and meteorology, have to translate that knowledge into strategy. Such a project furthermore involves activities that empower students, foster deep learning and communication skills across a variety of subjects, enhance critical thinking and problem-solving skills, necessitate collaborative work, develop engineering intuition and innovation, project and time management, skills, and provide experience working with students of different cultures, backgrounds, and academic and technical skill levels. Students learn what it takes to successfully carry a project from inception to completion. It requires them to push themselves and often step outside their comfort zone. These skill sets allow students to be better prepared to enter college & the university, tackle the challenges in life after that, push the envelope of science & engineering, and be significant contributors to solving the world’s current & future problems. It builds leaders.