A first-of-its-kind high school in Houston is taking energy education from "The Flintstones" to "The Jetsons".

Energy Institute High School is giving youth a path to careers in oil, gas and alternative energy through a curriculum modeled for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). This cutting-edge program may help relieve an industry already grappling with a shortage of qualified workers.

Since opening last fall, the school has reaped support from colleges and the industry. Many industry players could see an immediate need for such a school, said Anne Ford, director of the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) and the Petroleum Equipment Suppliers Association’s (PESA) energy education center in Houston.

The IPAA/PESA energy education center teamed up with the Houston Independent School District (HISD) to launch Energy Institute. The magnet school has bragging rights as the first high school in the nation focused on energy technologies.

The school is working hand-in-hand with the oil and gas industry to develop its next generation of professionals.

“Essentially what we are doing is deep workforce development,” Ford said.

Employment in the oil and gas industry outpaced the total U.S. private sector from 2007 to 2012, jumping 40% compared to a total private sector increase of 1%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, the department estimates that half of the oil and gas industry’s workforce will be eligible for retirement within the next five to 10 years—a loss of talent nicknamed the “great crew change.”

For ninth-grader Matthew Brack, a school that focuses less on pen and paper tests and more on software he will someday use in his career was just what he wanted.

“Honestly, what attracted me was the difference—how everything is based on technology and not just in books,” Brack told Oil and Gas Investor.

21st-century student

Students at Energy Institute attend classes any high school student would—English, geography, social studies, math and science. However, their core curriculum incorporates energy themes into most lessons.

In one case, an English teacher added a twist to a how-to writing assignment by focusing on the building of an electrochemical clock powered by potatoes. The students were working on grammar and communication skills, but the concept of a natural battery incorporated into the lesson is not part of a typical high school English curriculum.

Energy is a campuswide goal for the school, said Noelle MacGregor, dean of students. “We want energy to naturally spill into all the classrooms to make it more a schoolwide focus rather than one isolated class,” she said.

Freshman year provides an overview, introducing students to broad themes of engineering and the energy industry. Students are exposed to the school’s three strands—geosciences, alternative energy and offshore technology— through course work, field trips and guest speakers.

At the end of their freshman year they will decide where they want their focus to be, MacGregor said.

In order to prepare for their future, students are taught using the project-based learning method. The school chose this method, principal Lori Lambropoulos said, after receiving industry feedback during its launch that companies seek employees with leadership skills and initiative.

“They’re looking for employees with a lot of 21st century skills—things like strong communication, leadership, following through on a project, knowing how to do a project, knowing how to take initiative, problem solving—all of the qualities that just knowing the content can’t give you,” Lambropoulos said.

The school chose the project-based learning method after receiving industry feedback that companies seek employees with leadership skills and initiative, said prinicpal Lori Lambropoulos.

Project-based learning is a formulaic process, MacGregor said. Students are given multiweek projects to learn a standard-based objective by collaborating, investigating and problem solving.

At the beginning of a project, teachers introduce an objective that hooks students into the process. Students receive a rubric covering exactly what is expected for each project. At any given time, they can be working on as many as seven projects.

Students are given responsibility to figure out what they need to complete a project, MacGregor said.

“It seems traditionally in schools the idea has been to cram as much information into a kid’s head as possible,” she said. “Instead, the students here have to take ownership for their learning.”

This method might take some getting used to, Brack said.

“It’s going to make me better as an engineer, but it’s not going to be easy,” he said. “Nothing in this school is going to be easy, but that’s OK, because that’s what makes you better.”

Brack is as certain as any ninth-grader can be that he knows which field of engineering he wants to pursue.

“I want to be a chemical engineer, that would be my major and then a minor in business so I could eventually get an MBA and own my own chemical company,” he said.

He envisions himself in a field that produces products essential to everyday modern life. Energy Institute was the only school he saw geared toward engineering in Houston that would help him earn a college scholarship.

According to Lambropoulos, Brack and his classmates are what make the school special. Every student traded a traditional high school environment for a school devoted to STEM. Similar to Brack, most already know that’s the kind of career field they want to pursue.

“It’s really interesting to have them all in one place, because it also creates that energy and excitement around their curriculum,” Lambropoulos said.

School of the future

The energy theme of the school led to a huge commitment in technology.

“We really want to align well with the corporate world so that kids are receiving an updated, unique education,” Lambropoulos said. “It just feels different. It’s not pen and paper tests. Corporations use laptops and so do our kids.”

Each student at the school has his or her own laptop—one of the first schools in HISD to be able to boast the one-to-one ratio. Students are connected not only to each other, but also to their teachers and parents, through Edmodo, a social media platform described as the Facebook for schools.

Instead of a library, students visit a media lounge—a collaborative space furnished by IPAA/PESA—featuring media-scape furniture where tables are integrated with technology. The school also has an engineering computer lab and a 3-D printer. Classrooms are equipped with Smart Interactive TVs and class sets of iPads.

But students are also exposed to the real world by interacting with professionals in the oil and gas industry. This motivates the students, MacGregor said. “They feel like they’re actually doing something and solving the problems of the world.”

Brack looks forward to hearing firsthand from engineers in the industry. He said he attends nearly all guest speakers because they have such great information. His favorite so far was a petroleum engineer who spoke about how to excel in his field.

“It’s crazy because he was in the same position you were in once,” Brack said. “He told us how he made it and how you can always be better by not being scared to fail."

The groundwork began in 2006 when the first energy academy in Houston launched at Milby High School. Since then, three other academies have been launched—two in Houston and one in Fort Worth, Texas—along with Houston’s Energy Institute—the first high school with a comprehensive program devoted to energy studies.

Ford said it was natural to launch the center’s first energy high school in a city considered by many to be the world’s Energy Capital.

The school has generated a lot of interest from industry and colleges. With the frequently discussed “great crew change” and the rising need for engineers to fill those jobs vacated by retiring baby boomers, people immediately realized how great a need there is for the school.

“We have the perfect population of their future employees, so they’re invested in the success of our students,” she said.

Right now there are no plans for a second school, but that doesn’t stop the questions, Ford said. To launch a new high school or academy requires cooperation from the school district and school board, the right personnel in place and industry involvement.

“For all the activities that we provide and enrichment opportunities, there’s tremendous cost,” she said. “We do look to the industry to support us.”

As the Energy Institute continues to grow, many are seeing its technology-driven students as an example of what will elevate the country’s ongoing energy renaissance.

Matthew Diaz and Timothy Chung receive instruction in DNA testing from teacher Jillian Estrella. Students at the Energy Institute attend classes any high school student would. However, their core curriculum incorporates energy themes into most lessons.

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