For those of you who have read the children’s book The Little Engine that Could, I sometimes think of CAST STEM High School as The Little High School That Could. Today I would like to tell you a story about drones and electric cars at this amazing campus.
A few years ago, an excited CAST STEM teacher, Cerina Zamora, won a grant from the Dee Howard Foundation to start a drone program at CAST STEM. That grant allowed her to begin training students at the campus first through a club, and later through a class, to fly drones.
Last year, CAST STEM had its first student graduate with a drone pilot license. Did you know that a drone pilot can earn a starting salary of $60,000 in San Antonio without a college degree? The average salary right now in San Antonio for a drone pilot is $120,000.
This is what we mean when we say we’re preparing students for college and careers, that they are leaving high school with skills that the local market will pay them for.
Our first pilot, Karissa Herrera is in college, but is using her drone pilot license to work part-time doing roofing surveying. Now this year, already 10 students have passed the exam for their pilot license, and another 15 are taking the test before they graduate. Stay tuned for more exciting news about our drone program in the coming weeks, but our goal for CAST STEM High School is that all of our seniors will graduate with a drone pilot license.
A few years ago, CAST STEM also started an electric car program. It started with 1 car, and grew to 2, and by this year, the students were able to fundraise to support 6 electric cars. This growth occurred in the midst of CAST STEM moving its home from the former Southwest Elementary School all the way across town to Palo Alto College. Because the college did not have a lab space for the cars, participating students spend Saturdays at their old location working on the cars. Engineering Teacher Michael Driesse describes his work on Saturdays with students and families on the electric cars as the most fun he has had in years of teaching and military service.
East Central has dominated the electric car competitions for years, but CAST STEM is making rapid progress, last year coming in 3rd place, and this year placing second in the annual ACE Race, South Texas’s biggest electric car competition. In addition to that impressive showing, CAST STEM students traveled to Florida this year to participate in a national competition.
Now that CAST STEM celebrates its first full year at Palo Alto College and will welcome its largest incoming class of 9th graders next year, expect these two signature programs to grow and flourish.
Jeanne Russell
Executive Director
CAST Schools
