A School Where Learning is Automatic

It was a mere chunk of plastic the size of a finger when Adrian Rodriguez, 17, got hold of it. The El Rancho High School junior designed a chess piece on the computer, downloaded the measurements into a lathe, and out popped the Bishop.

That was so cool, his classmates agreed.

But what’s really cool is that the class, Manufacturing Technology, has inspired Rodriguez to choose a career in biomedical engineering. When he started the class in September, he didn’t even know what a biomedical engineer was. Now, using the principles he’s learned over the last semester, he knows what he wants to do--design and build prosthetic arms and legs.

While graduation day on Thursday ended the secondary education of some students, it also marked the end of the first year of Manufacturing Technology. El Rancho, in Pico Rivera, was one of 17 schools chosen for the pilot program developed by Lab-Volt Systems in New Jersey. It is the only school west of the Mississippi offering the program to students.

The state-of-the-art software and equipment, including such machines as the Automation Armdroid, look and sound like futuristic mechanisms straight out of “Star Wars”--or at least straight out of an upscale Westside school that could afford such an investment. But because of the determination of the school administration--and the Board of Education, which approved matching funds--the lone high school in Pico Rivera is a testing ground for the latest in manufacturing technology.

Teacher Paul McKillop, 44, a former Chevron engineer, admits that he didn’t even know where El Rancho High School was when he applied for his teaching job there. But this program, he believes, will put El Rancho students on the map when it comes to job offers and higher education. What they are learning on the computers and high-tech machines is the wave of the future.

“The school might be poor on the socioeconomic scale,” McKillop said, “but this is definitely preparing [the kids] for jobs in the future. That’s why we focus on careers.”

Among those focused on the future is principal Julie Ellis.

“It was our responsibility to bring more technology into the high school classroom,” Ellis said. “We wanted a healthy blend of technology and academics . . . for those who will further their formal education and for those who will join the work force following high school graduation.”

To make room for the equipment, El Rancho remodeled its auto shop and welding classrooms. While vehicle lifts and garage doors are still part of the decor, the rest of the lab is state-of-the-art. Computer stations are joined by six different application modules: Design, Electronics and Electricity, Mechanical Systems, Automation and Material Handling (robotics), Quality Control and Manufacturing Processes (the lathe).

All that, said 16-year-old student Jesse Alvarez, was a bit intimidating at first.

“When I first saw the robot, it looked so complicated,” said the junior. “But after I started using it, it was real easy.”

Alvarez later discovered a program in the new Design application that allowed him to design a car, determine conditions such as ramp and wind conditions, and simulate crash tests. It became his class project.

Hidden talents have had a way of surfacing in the class. McKillop said that one student was failing all his other courses. In the tech class, however, he and the robot clicked.

“He demonstrated skills on the robot that others didn’t have. He has a linear thinking that enabled him to figure out all the stops to program--and it came easy to him. In a normal classroom environment, that may not have come out.”

Not everyone is sold on forgoing good old-fashioned auto mechanics and wood shop to teach the high-tech way. But, McKillop said, the students learned more about a lot of things rather than focusing on just one thing.

“It grabs the students’ attention,” he said. “They learn fast, and they enjoy it.”

It grabbed the attention of Richard Salazar, 16, a junior who found programming the robotic arm his favorite class activity. He plans to take the advanced version of the class, which is being offered for the first time next year.

“I’ll probably go to a tech school or engineering school,” said Salazar, contemplating his future. “The product doesn’t really matter. The challenge is getting the robot to do what you want it to do.”