Aldine ISD, METRO Officials Unveil New METRO Bus Stop Designed by Eisenhower High School Students

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Aldine ISD Superintendent Dr. LaTonya M. Goffney, Board President Randy Bates, and Aldine ISD Trustees Dr. Viola M. García and Connie Esparza joined former and current Eisenhower High School students, Principal Mandele Davis, METRO President and CEO Tom Lambert, and others in a ribbon cutting ceremony to unveil a new METRO bus shelter that was designed by three former and one current Eisenhower High School students. The shelter is located on Antoine Dr. in front of the Eisenhower campus.

Four years ago, four students from Eisenhower High School competed against seven other Aldine ISD high school teams to create a new METRO bus shelter.

The eight teams were selected to participate in METRO’s first-ever bus shelter project for high school students.

Four years later, their hard work and ingenuity were rewarded when METRO unveiled their design during a ceremony at Eisenhower High School on Monday, May 23.

The four students whose design was selected by the METRO board in the spring of 2018 were Sergio García, Héctor Baltazar, Alexander Baltazar, and Eliezar Guillén. The Baltazar Brothers and Guillén attended the May 23 unveiling event. García was unable to attend because he is working for Amazon in Seattle.

The bus shelter is located in front of Eisenhower High School and features a curved design. A mural on the inside of the shelter serves as a celebration for Eisenhower’s 50^th anniversary.

The three students who attended the event were proud of their accomplishments.

“This means a lot to me,” said Héctor, one of the three designers on the team who currently attends the University of Houston. “This means I’ve left a legacy in our community.”

His brother Alex, who was the artist on the project and is a senior at Eisenhower, said he was happy that he could use his artistic talent to help with the project.

“I’m glad to be able to express myself through my art,” Alexander said. “This was a great experience and has inspired me to become an architect.”

Guillén, who currently attends Texas A&M University, said he learned a lot about working as a team on the project. He also thanked the fourth team member, Gracia, for his leadership on the project.

“We would not be here without Sergio,” Guillén said. “This taught me about the importance of teamwork, and it reminded me I can be a part of the community and contribute to it.”

The project was the brainchild of Davis High School teacher Brad Kaplan.

He thanked Akilah Willery, Nguyen Bui, METRO President and CEO Tom Lambert, Cindy Lambert, Eisenhower High School Principal Mandelé Davis, Aldine ISD Program Director of Secondary Science, Kaileigh Newman, AISD’s director of visual arts; Uwe Langhammer, a digital learning specialist who coached the winning team, Mike Martínez, Luis García of METRO and the team’s teachers Remelia Arpino and Hailey Jo Gross for their support with the project.

“This project, a collaboration with Houston METRO and Aldine ISD, embodied the meaning of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math),” Kaplan said. “This innovation challenge empowered our students to apply academic content to solve a relevant problem in their community.”

Kaplan added that the project challenged the students to use their creative assets to develop the winning project.

“This collaboration provided students with a creative space to envision a real-world application for their theoretical learning,” Kaplan said. “The process was designed to utilize a cross-curricular approach to produce a result. That result stands before you as a real-world product Aldine students designed and created and that METRO took from a vision to a product. The process was student-focused and teacher-facilitated. The student teams took control of their learning and developed a solution. Students in control of their learning are indicative of a great teacher. Mrs. Arpino, you did a fantastic job guiding your students to create a great product.”

METRO President and CEO Tom Lambert said he was impressed with the Eisenhower team’s finished product and that it will be a welcomed addition to the METRO family.

“Quality bus shelters are important because they are part of our commitment through METRONext to provide a better walk, a better stop, and a better ride,” he said. “Now, more than ever, we need to take advantage of opportunities like this bus shelter competition because it empowers our youth to be a part of solutions that address local challenges.”

METRO Board Chair Sonjay Ramadhadran credited Kaplan for bringing the idea to METRO.

“This competition was the brainchild of Brad Kaplan, an Aldine ISD educator who came to METRO to pitch the idea of giving high school students a real-world opportunity to develop a product from conception to completion,” he said.

Aldine ISD Superintendent Dr. LaTonya M. Goffney thanked METRO for giving Aldine ISD students a chance to show off their creative and artistic skills.

“I can’t think of a better way to start the week than by gathering with the Aldine ISD community to highlight a special partnership and celebrate the wonderful work of our talented Aldine students,” Dr. Goffney said. “We all know that improving our community takes hard work and collaboration. Today is not just a ribbon-cutting; it is a celebration of people.

“I want to thank the people who invested their time, talents, and hearts in creating this bus shelter. Tom Lambert and the METRO team. Thank you for your partnership and continued collaboration. Projects such as this enhance our neighborhoods, and they provide our students with an opportunity to experience real-world scenarios and create something that impacts their community. I also want to commend all the Aldine students who presented design proposals. You are all amazingly talented, and I am proud of you. And I want to thank our school and district staff. Thank you for creating authentic and engaging learning opportunities for our students. And, finally, to our Aldine families and supporters. Your belief in our students and dedication to this community never ceases to amaze me.”

The winning team from Eisenhower competed against six Blanson CTE High School teams and one team from Nimitz High School in the METRO bus shelter challenge.