Rio Hondo College offered a summer program this year for middle school students to help develop projects within 3 California Industry Sectors as well as gain a helpful learning experience. This program was hosted by the Career and Technical Education Division(CTE) of Rio Hondo College and included 67 middle school students from the El Rancho Unified School District, Little Lake City School District, and Valle Lindo School District.
As explained on the programs website, the CTE Exploration Summer Academy expresses its help in applying mathematics and science into the projects at hand, offering an experience of higher education for the middle school students. Other than giving these students a great learning opportunity, the program also gives students a great pre-culminating experience a college/career orientation involving a campus tour, and student panel.
The CTE Exploration Summer Academy has involved projects categorized in different topics throughout its coarse. One of them being Engineering and Design which includes projects such as constructing CO2 dragsters-miniature racing cars powered by a carbon dioxide cartridge. Another topic included in  the summer program is Transportation & Energy/Utlities which includes projects such as disassembling and reassembling small engines and testing their functionality. Other projects are done also revolving around these same topics.
The program ended with a ceremony for the students, presenting certificates and providing a luncheon. These middle school students got a great learning experience through fun projects to take with them as they go on to their futures and discover their professions.
