Tension + Integrity = Tensegrity
The Providence Engineering Academy seeks every year to put skills to use for the benefit of the community. From designing playground equipment to running science lessons, “we have an obligation to turn our skills outward to the world around us; we learn not for our own sakes” (quoted from the Engineering Academy application). This year, […]
Robots Head to Head
In the Providence Engineering Academy, we take care of a lot of serious business. We use trigonometry to calculate vector components. We learn how Rene Descartes’ philosophy paved the way for a flawed view of “the ghost in the machine”. We learn how to identify fixed, hinged, and simple supports in typical static structures. And […]
MS Bridges: Welcome to Mr. Eves!
Joining us this year at Providence is the highly qualified Mr. Matt Eves. A long-time friend of Mr. Meadth, Mr. Eves brings his experiences in engineering and business to the AP Calculus AB class with our seniors, and the Intro to Engineering class with the middle schoolers. Mr. Eves wasted no time in getting down to […]
Guessing Games and Plywood Furniture
The first couple of weeks are already under our belt, and we are off to a good start in the Providence Engineering Academy! This year, we have ten determined engineers-in-training in the older group, and thirteen in the younger. The older group will spend the year studying statics—the science of things that don’t move—and the […]
Summer Camp 2018
It was such a roaring success the first time that we just had to do it all over again! The second annual Providence Engineering Summer Camp finished today, and the brightly lit robot city took wings with our special theme: SPACE. We all know it’s the final frontier, and our fifteen campers interpreted this idea in […]
MS Final Challenge: Flawless Victory!
A new record was set this semester, with the biggest group ever signing up for Intro to Engineering in Room 202. The eighth cohort to take this class, they were full of excitement as they spent the last four weeks of class designing and building a LEGO robot to respond to Mr Meadth’s latest Final Challenge. […]
Homelessness and Architecture
Earlier this year, our Upper School students spent a day of service around Santa Barbara, with a theme of “homelessness”. Students spent time at PATH Santa Barbara, Showers of Blessing, and Food Forward, to name just a few organizations. Our school also has a long history of working with the Santa Barbara Rescue Mission and Habitat […]
Gliders Launched!
There was a mixture of feelings in the Advanced Engineering II class last week, as they put the finishing touches on their gliders. These thirteen students had conceived, planned, and brought forth finely-tuned creations over the past nine months. The thought of now—literally—throwing them to the wind was somewhat concerning, to say the least. Aaron throws […]
MS Science & Engineering Expo 2018
The annual Middle School Science & Engineering Expo was a huge success once again, thanks to the hard work and positive attitudes of so many students, parents, teachers, and staff. This year’s theme of The Human Machine inspired a range of hands-on explorations, from Masa and Cameron’s tennis and baseball clinic, to Heidi and Ella’s […]
Architectural Competition in Santa Ynez
If you had been lurking around the Upper Campus at 6:55 am on Tuesday the 13th of March, braving the rain and stumbling about in the dark, you might just have caught sight of a strange and unusual thing: eight high school students and one teacher loading up into a white van. Wielding scale rulers, […]