Harmony Magnet Academy's Elijah Garcia has been named as a Linked Learning Student of the Year.
Last week the Linked Learning Alliance released its first ever Linked Learning Student of the Year winners. Garcia was among eight seniors in the state selected for the award. Garcia is a student in Harmony's Academy of Engineers Pathway.
Garcia has been an intern with the district's Energy and Sustainability Project for the past two years. “In that time, he learned to read mechanical building drawings as part of our efforts to retrofit older heating and air conditioning systems,” Porterville Unified School District Director of Pathways Cindy Brown said. “Through this process, he noticed the inefficiencies in storing data in Excel and pitched the idea of creating an online database to the program's engineer.”
Working with a mentor he sought out, Garcia coded and created the database that will ultimately reduce time spent on analytics. His work fast-tracked the initiative, which is expected to help improve indoor air quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions at district sites.
Garcia is planning to major in chemical engineering in college and pursue a career making semiconductor manufacturing more sustainable.
The Linked Learning Alliance established the brand-new award to recognize civic excellence to honor high school seniors who have made meaningful contributions to their community through their Linked Learning pathway experience.
Linked Learning Alliance is a national coalition of educators, employers and community organizations working to implement a linked learning approach in education.