29 total ESD students have completed and passed the Occupational Safety and Health Association (OSHA) General Industry Certification. These students completed this training in Principles of Engineering and Robotics classes.

While some high school students earn this certification, this test is primarily designed for college and working professionals. We are proud of our students' achievements as they compare to state and national scores. These scores are combined from high school, college, and adult grades:

ESD Students             State Average                         National Average

Pretest:                       68.66%                        56.48%                                   57.99%

Posttest:                      86.06%                        83.72%                                   83.9%

Percent Change:          17.4%                         27.24%                                   25.91%

In Texas, having an OSHA card benefits those working in any industry, from the medical field to theme parks, manual labor, and construction. Next spring semester, a new group of ESD Engineering students will be taking the ESA-1 Industrial Certification and we will see if we can beat last years 58% pass rate. Congratulations to these hard-working students!

The following students completed the OSHA General Industry Certification and were recognized at a special town hall meeting:

Aston, Owen '20

Bakewell, Carter '21

Bannister, Ford '21

Butler, Brooks '20

DeYoung, Mason '20

Gangasani, Meera '20

Hess, Christopher '21

Hieber, Aidan '20

Huggard, Reece '21

Jones, Briggs '20

Knight, Zander '21

Knodel, Sydney '22

Knudson, Grace '21

Kozelsky, Dane '19

Kozielec, Gabe '22

Krispin, Peter, '21

Lindsey, Sam '21

Lutz, Lilly '21

Morash, Jackson '22

Nuth, Ryan '20

Pfaff, Andre '21

Powell, Judah '21

Raza, Danyal '22

Robinson, Kai '22

Seymour, Garrett '20

Viquez, Emma '19

Wharton, James '22

Wood, Hollis '21

Wysk, Alexander '22

After studying Thomas Edison and various inventions, fourth-grade classes at The Episcopal School of Dallas brainstormed different problems that needed solving and worked together to develop potential solutions. They also pondered how inventions could emerge from combining two existing items. 

Students were then paired with a peer and were responsible for coming up with an original idea which they sketched and explained when filling out a "Student Patent Application."  Once approved, they designed a tri-fold board advertising their product.  Many also created company logos, t-shirts, and even slogans and jingles.  

Fourth-grade parents and Lower School classes attended Invention Convention where they got to hear the student inventors pitch their ideas.  Fourth graders were thoroughly engaged throughout this student-driven project. It allowed them to demonstrate creativity, independence, and ownership, and they thrived!

The ESD World Affairs Club is an umbrella organization for students interested in global news, events, and issues. Affiliated with the DFW World Affairs Council, WAC supports student participation in Model UN competitions, in the World Affairs Council’s annual WorldQuest competition, and in spirited weekly debates and discussions of current events on a global scale.

For its philanthropic/service commitment, the club supports a number of entrepreneurial clients around the world via the Kiva microlending program. Kiva is a non-profit organization that allows people to lend money to low-income entrepreneurs and students in over 80 countries. Their mission is to “connect people through lending to alleviate poverty.” 

In the spirit of the Thanksgiving season, the club at ESD has recently made the following loans:

• $25 to Minh in Vietnam, to help him get equipment for his toilet (to be repaid in 20 months) 
• $25 to Mao in Cambodia for a water filter (to be repaid in 8 months) 
• $50 to Nozanin in Tajikistan, to help her with Med school tuition (to be repaid in 50 months or less) 
• $50 to Luisa, a farmer in Perú, to help her buy cows so she can sell milk (to be repaid in 20 months) 
• $100 to Zaynab, a Palestinian refugee and mother of five living in Lebanon, to provide raw materials for her business (to be repaid in 14 months) 

Approximately 20+ students are involved in World Affairs Club. 2018-19 Club Officers include:

• Sameer Bhasin ’20, President
• Daniel Kaplan ’20, Vice President
• Kerrm Ahsan ’20, Secretary
• Mary Cowser ’21 and Meera Gangasani ’20, Microlending Coordinators
• Zander Knight ’21, Stall Street Journal Committee Head

Keep up the good work, Eagles!

Over the Thanksgiving break this year, seven ESD students traveled to Costa Rica to build Homes of Hope alongside Middle School science teacher Ellen Neill. Homes for Hope is an international organization dedicated to "bringing hope to thousands of impoverished families." This is the third year that ESD has participated in this service project.

These Eagles helped build a home - and furnish it - in just two days. Arriving on Friday, the group worked all day Saturday and Sunday to complete the project before returning to Dallas on Monday. They also took families to a grocery store, a place many of them have never visited before, to purchase groceries and other household items to accompany the furniture they are also given to complete the build. The entire project is funded completely on donations.

"This is one of the most rewarding things I have ever done in my life," said Ellen Neill. "These families go from living on a dirt floor to having an actual home in the span of a weekend. It makes you think about how blessed we are." 

We are so proud of these Eagles for all their hard work and service both in our community and abroad!

Earlier this month, ESD film and acting students and their advisers, Lauren Redmond '01 and Bobby Weiss, attended the All American High School Film Festival in New York. Film students Grace Boyd '19, Josh Chabria '21, Sam Curtis '21, Sabrina Gies '20, and Preston Moderi '21 and acting students Alexandra Everbach '19, William Hargrave '19, and Gracie Thomas '20 presented their collaborative film, "The Art of the Perfect Brew," a dark comedy about brewing tea. Given a prompt by the Film Festival guidelines in September, these students planned their shoot over the past month but only had a 72-hour timeframe to complete the film - all actual shooting, editing, and finishing touches were completed within that short window while in New York.

The All-American High School Film Festival is the premier destination for talented high school filmmakers and media arts enthusiasts from around the world. Their mission is to provide immersive education with a profound impact, connecting the filmmakers of the future with the rewards, respect, and recognition they deserve. To learn more about AAHSFF, visit their website here.

This is the third year that ESD's film program has been invited to participate in the All American High School Film Festival. Because the time is limited, students often split into several groups to film and edit. This year, the group took three actors from the theater department to better accomplish the quick turnaround for the film. "It is a fun and exciting opportunity, although it can be stressful at times," Bobby Weiss, Film and Fine Arts teacher, said. "It is always great to see a group of students working hard on this collaborative effort to create an amazing product."

At the conclusion of the festival, "The Art of the Perfect Brew" was streamed at the AMC Theater in Times Square. The film will also be screened in Dallas at the ESD Film Festival on January 18, 2019. Congratulations to these Eagles on their hard work and dedication!