Cougar University

INTEGRATED EDUCATIONAL AND INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY: THE COUGARTECH INITIATIVE
The 2012–2013 school year marked the launch of Riverside Christian Schools’ CougarTech Initiative, which began with the Secondary School. Phase I of this instructional technology thrust was the issuing of Apple® iPad® portable devices to all high school seniors and all Secondary School faculty members, and the construction and ongoing expansion of the school’s wireless networks and digital infrastructure. This EdTech leap forward for students and staff has been in addition to classroom technology already in place in all RCS classrooms school system-wide, such as interactive whiteboards. Further, comprehensive online instructional resources have been significantly expanded, providing Riverside Christian teachers with new and continually-updated tools to support student learning.  

The 2013-2014 rollout of Phase II of our CougarTech Initiative continues to expand our close partnership with Apple® Education and Distinguished Apple Educators in the major expansion of iPad® technology throughout grades 6–12 and the elementary school. In this 1:1 device initiative, all students are issued an iPad® and are empowered to explore, innovate, and transform their own educational environment, all within a Biblical context.  

The new learning potential this immediately brings to our students is extraordinary. This learning process is nothing less than revolutionary in the field of progressive education, especially in the Christian school realm, and represents a paradigm shift in the way teaching and learning occurs in the classroom. In this system of interactive education, students—not the teacher—become the center focus of learning in the classroom setting. The learning process follows a four-fold framework for students, known as “The Four C’s”— Create, Collaborate, Communicate, and Critically Think. Combining digital textbooks, key apps for learning, additional online resources, engaged teacher instruction, and classrooms that are increasingly flexible as centers for student exploration, students create solutions through collaborating with their peers, communicating that to the class and teacher, and being required to critically think throughout the process. The teacher then takes the creative result of the students’ collaboration and communication and challenges them to greater levels of critical thinking, which they would not have been adequately prepared for prior to engaging in this guided self-learning.  

Throughout the full K-12 implementation of our CougarTech Initiative, Riverside Christian Schools continues to partner with EdTech Teacher, a national think-tank and consortium of cutting-edge private and public school educators from across the country. Our staff members attend specialized national workshops (iPad® Summits) led by Distinguished Apple Educators and leading Christian and public school leaders, conducted at both Harvard and Georgia Tech. These hands-on, interactive conferences and discussions keep Riverside Christian at the tip of the leading edge of education in the world, transforming the way our students learn best in the 21st century, all within a Christian context.  

THE QUEST INSTITUTE AND THE AMSE INITIATIVE

The Applied Mathematics, Science, and Engineering Initiative (AMSE) is a division of the Quest Institute, founded and headquartered at Valley Christian Schools in San Jose. Riverside Christian Schools is a full partner with both Quest and AMSE, and as such offers unique learning opportunities for RCS students that are available at only a handful of schools in the nation. While AMSE has some similarities to STEM, AMSE programs and projects direct a strong focus on the hands-on application of math, science, and engineering in real-world environments beyond the classroom and the laboratory, with the objective of helping the United States regain its role as the global leader in math, science, and engineering. Two key AMSE programs at Riverside Christian are the history-making Race for tion Project and our new Robotic Engineering program.

RACE FOR SPACE/INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION PROJECT (AMSE)

The Race for Space/International Space Station Project began in 2012 with the goal of having Riverside Christian High School students envision, design, engineer, and deliver to NASA an experiment to be launched to the space station for activation and the successful generation of research data. Students work in sub-groups such as electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, software engineering, payload design, biology, data analysis, public relations, and business, in order reach objectives and meet critical deadlines. Mr. Bob Reinen, a recently retired aerospace engineer with broad experience in engineering project management, serves as the project’s advisor and chief mentor.  

On March 1, 2013, the space science engineering team from RCS personally witnessed the launch of two of their experiments from the shores of Cape Canaveral. Carried aloft inside a Dragon capsule, atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from Launch Complex 40 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Race for Space project team became the first U.S. high school students in history to witness firsthand their science projects launched to the International Space Station (ISS). They also became the first high school students to ever design, engineer, and place two experiments inside a single MicroLab unit destined for the ISS. Truly, “The heavens declare the glory of God!” (Psalms 19:1)  

On March 3, 2013, the RCS space engineering team’s two MicroLab NanoRack experiments reached the ISS. Testing battery life in microgravity and genetically-altered bacteria growth in a near-zero gravity environment, the data is adding to the knowledge base required to safely complete a manned mission to Mars. Both experiments were constructed inside a single MicroLab unit, conserving both space and cost.  

Among many honors and recognition received, including from the California State Assembly, Riverside Christian’s space engineering team was also featured on a live broadcast by ABC-7 in Los Angeles following the successful March launch and delivery of the team’s orbital experiments to the space station.  

Students on the Race for Space team at Riverside Christian are among the rare few in the world who also have the opportunity to earn course credit in “Space Science and Engineering.”  

 
ROBOTIC ENGINEERING (AMSE)

The Robotic Engineering program, starting in 2013-2014, is designed to provide Secondary School students with the basics of robotics and robotic engineering, ultimately leading to the design, development, engineering, and activation of operational robots. This includes robots built by students and entered into robotic competition with other schools from across the state and nation.  

Mr. William Le Fevre, with a degree and background in Mechanical Engineering from California Baptist University and experience throughout his high school and university studies in robotics, serves as the course instructor for the Robotic Engineering classes and the advisor for the comprehensive Robotic Engineering Program at RCS.  

As with the Race for Space project, Riverside Christian students in middle school and high school grades are among the rare few in the world who have the opportunity to earn course credit in “Robotic Engineering.”

CHRISTIAN AUTHORS CLUB

The Christian Authors Club (CAC) of Riverside Christian Secondary School was founded in 2010 by high school student writers and artists seeking a forum in which to both demonstrate their creativity through the written word and illustrations and develop a vehicle for sharing those creations with a broader audience, to the glory of God. The ultimate objective of the club is to publish—in hard-bound, paperback, and e-book form—a collection of student works and take it to the marketplace every two years.  

The students’ first book, Tablets of the Heart, published in August 2012, is an anthology of student-authored selections including poetry and prose traversing a broad spectrum of literary genres. The book was published by AuthorHouse and is sold additionally through Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com. It is also available for sale in the Secondary School Office at RCS, and was on shelves at the Riverside Barnes & Noble at the Galleria at Tyler upon its first printing.  

CAC meets weekly to discuss writing, editing, and publishing progress; to organize and implement fundraising activities to cover publishing expenses, and to engage in interactive writing exercises designed to increase compositional and literary skills in a fun atmosphere.
 
INTERACT CLUB

Riverside Christian’s Interact Club is an officially-chartered, high school chapter of the Rotary Club. As a service organization, Interact interfaces with members of the community and various other civic and community groups to plan and engage in service projects to help benefit Riverside and the people of the greater Riverside area. These projects include both on-campus and off-campus service opportunities.

JR. CONSERVATORY

Fulfilling our Secondary School commitment to families to expand at multiple levels of academic excellence and performance arts expression, the Middle School established our Junior Conservatory. Junior Conservatory features Dance (Jazz, Tap), Piano, Musical Theatre, Guitar, Voice, and Karate. In a time when public schools and even non-public institutions continue to eliminate offerings in visual and performing arts and other exciting opportunities, Riverside Christian is moving in the opposite direction to develop programs and present additional choices to students and their families.

INTERNATIONAL STUDENT PROGRAM (ISP)

Riverside Christian’s International Student Program (ISP) is a federal government-approved educational study program facilitating the instruction of students from outside of the United States here at RCS. Approved in early 2013, ISP draws most or all of its students from Asia, particularly China, as teens and families from overseas seek preparation in the U.S. for entry into top American universities. This provides both an opportunity for international students to study in the U.S. and for our staff and students to engage in cross-cultural learning and communication, all within a Christian context.