A moment of silence please for the passing of Cal High’s beloved engineering pathway, as this appears to be the final year the program will be offered.
Beginning in August, students will no longer be able to take the Introduction to Engineering Design and Principles of Engineering courses because they have been removed from the school’s course offerings. These two classes are the only ones offered in Cal’s engineering pathway.
Engineering pathway teacher John Reed is the only instructor for both courses and teaches two periods of each class, but he is retiring in June after 16 years at Cal. Administrators confirmed that since they were unable to find another teacher to replace Reed, the classes would be eliminated for now.
“We had to make the decision, “ Principal Demetrius Ball said. “Do we put it on the course offering sheet, knowing that we don’t have a teacher yet, or do we leave it off and then if we’re able to hire an engineering teacher? [We] decided to go with not offering it since we don’t have a teacher secured at this point.”
Ball said Cal could offer the classes again in the future if a teacher is hired. He noted that it is difficult to find teachers qualified to teach the pathway because they need special credentials and a specific number of hours in that industry.
“Those require time and money, and it is challenging to find folks, teachers that are willing to take that time and that financial investment,” Ball said.
Ball also noted that at this time, the school district is unable to provide subsidies or support, which is proving to be a barrier to finding qualified teachers.
“I think it’s a good program, but [because the course is being cut], some students just won’t have the opportunity to take engineering in high school,” Reed said.
This will affect many students, especially those planning to pursue engineering.
“It was really sad because I was planning to do [the engineering courses] for a long time, and I was committed to that pathway,” said freshman Yagna Pinnaka, who is taking Intro to Engineering Design.
Students learned about this change when course selections rolled around in February. This didn’t give students much time to consider backup options.
“It was really disappointing because I learned [that the pathway wasn’t being offered next year] during course selection, so I didn’t have time to plan a different pathway that I wanted,” Pinnaka said.
Freshman Mithra Diyaa Gopinath, who took the first course in the pathway this year, said that while she was planning on pursuing engineering as a career, she had to pivot to find a new interest because engineering classes were no longer being offered.
“I’m planning on taking Intro to Business,” Gopinath said.
Senior Dev Kalra took Intro to Engineering Design his freshman year and Principals of Engineering as a sophomore. He is planning on pursuing mechanical engineering at Los Positas College. He says that the engineering pathway was one of the reasons he came to Cal.
“It is sad to see the class go as I had lots of fun times in the class,” Kalra said. “It was one of my favorite classes.”
As a senior seeing the course come and go, Kalra believed the loss of this pathway will have a big impact on students.
“Since the class is no longer there, students can’t experience engineering along with friends and grow a passion for it,” Kalra said.
Engineering wasn’t just a pathway course but also a fun and interesting elective for many students.
“Even though I’m not pursuing engineering as a career, it was still a really fun class,” said freshman Sahana Ramakrishnan, who took Intro to Engineering Design.
Students explore various topics in the class that help them gain a deeper understanding of engineering and the principles that are a part of it.
“We do 3D solid modeling, and we do technical sketching, so design,” Reed said. “We also study some of the physics associated with engineering, electrical statics, mechanical things like that.”
Students found many of the topics covered to be not only educational but also fun and interesting. They also learned many life lessons along the way.
“My favorite project was the supply drop project,” Ramakrishnan said. “I loved it because I worked on it with friends, and we had to design and construct a cargo plane that would carry supplies down a zip-line to the researchers.
“This project made me realize that it takes a lot of mistakes and tries for a person to get something right, and it’s ok to do that,” she continued.
The loss of these classes are a major blow for Cal, but students hope that they will return in the future.
“I think it’s a really valuable pathway because it’s helpful for STEM, and that’s a pretty big career option that a lot of people take,” Pinnaka said.
Ball said there is a chance the pathway returns if the district finds a qualified instructor to teach the courses.
“Backfilling someone once they get to their retirement is extremely difficult, but we’re going to continue to try [to find a replacement teacher]” Ball said.
