Academy Boot Camp
Academy Boot Camp is a one-week introduction to the SEA and WHS for freshmen entering our program. Students are given a Freshman Handbook which includes things they should know about the SEA, and they are given a tour of the West High campus. They learn and improve their technology skills by doing business letters, spreadsheets, and presentations. They play teamwork games to develop their teamwork skills and to get to know some of their fellow SEA freshmen. And they spend the week working on a team Drone Project. By the end of Boot Camp they are ready for their first official day of high school.
Drone Project
To introduce students to skills in planning, design, teamwork, and documentation, they are placed in teams and given a week-long project: each team must demonstrate how their drone can be used to deliver packages to homes by two methods: under driver control (by remote control), and autonomously (using coding and sensors). They design and build a model house and test their delivery methods, and then do written and oral reports on their projects.
All of the teams are evaluated based on their drone delivery performance, their house design, and on the quality of their documentation. The winning team gets SEA swag and bragging rights. The project is both challenging and fun.
Students learn to work in teams to complete different tasks to get to know one another and develop teamworking skills.
