BGC Academics: Brennan HS art murals, John Jay HS engineering class

SAN ANTONIO – When students walk down the hall of Brennan High School near the art department, they are greeted by a huge mural on the wall of five different famous artists.

The mural is not like you would imagine, nor was the beginning of the class.

Mrs. Rogers had the students in her Art I and Art II classes write down a word to describe themselves -- an icebreaker to allow them to get to know one another. They got into groups and then received a sliver of a picture of one of those famous artists.

"You couldn't really tell what it was because it was just a little piece of paper, a big project," said Kayden Estrella, a Brennan freshman.

Using the words they had written on notebook paper, they all went to work.

All of the students' individual interpretations came together for one incredible wall greeting. Each mural is about 6 feet high and 3 to 4 feet wide.

"It has everybody's description, it has everybody's meaning. Every individual person has a story and their story is on the mural," said Eliana Monast, a Brennan junior.

John Jay High School engineers students for success

John Jay High School is the host school for the Science and Technology Academy, a four-year program.

By the time the students leave, they are ready for engineering schools like Texas A&M, the University of Texas and Texas Tech.

Graduates will also be ready to take a big step toward changing our future for the better.

Rafeal Thrash is headed down the path of chemical engineering. One of the reasons, he said, is because "currently they are doing research using gold nano-particles to cure cancer."

The students are learning under the watchful eye of teacher Luis Rivera, a former engineer.

The program will produce mechanical parts from a 3D printer. Those parts are tested for quality assurance, and that is right up the alley of senior Christian Castellano.

"I love to do hands-on things, (and) I am very interested in math," Castellano said.

The field she plans going into is building aircraft engines. 

"Hopefully we can advance planes, make then a lot more ergonomic (and) easier to fly," Castellano said.


About the Author:

David Sears, a native San Antonian, has been at KSAT for more than 20 years.