Published in the Standard Speaker, by Mia Light

September 25, 2013

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett thinks he might have seen America's next Thomas Edison or Steve Jobs when he visited the Hazleton area Tuesday afternoon.

The governor's encounter with the viable innovators took place at the Hazleton Area School District Academy of Sciences, where the chief of state toured classrooms and spoke with the students engaged in the school's science, technology, engineering and mathematics-focused curriculum.

"As I was watching the students in the classrooms, I wondered, which one of them is going to be that next Thomas Edison or Steve Jobs or Bill Gates," Corbett said later.

The governor toured the new science academy as part of a "Governor's Ribbon Cutting Ceremony," hosted by school officials and attended by teachers, student and parents, and local legislative representatives.

Arriving at the Butler Township school campus in a black SUV, Corbett was greeted by district Superintendent Francis X. Antonelli, high school Principal Rocco Petrone, academy Assistant Principal Marie Ernst, school board President Brian Earley and others as select members of the Hazleton Area High School Band played a rousing march outside the main entrance.

Inside the school lobby, the crystalline a capella voices of a high school choral quartet welcomed the governor.

Although the school day was over when the governor arrived, many students stayed at school to demonstrate the projects they are working on.

In the robotics lab, Corbett tried his hand at remotely controlling a motorized robotic vehicle designed and built by students.

In the engineering lab, junior classmen Erin Wilson, 11, of Drums, told the governor about real-world engineering techniques that were used to correct a structural defect in a building in another state, saving the building from collapse. Students at the academy are learning those engineering techniques, Wilson said.

"Did it collapse?" Corbett asked as Wilson explained the structural deficit.

"No. They fixed it," Wilson replied with a confident smile.

The tour concluded in a multi-use open seating area on the second floor of the school, where Antonelli expressed gratitude to Corbett for the state funding that helped bring the science academy to fruition.

"The governor has provided unprecedented funding for our students in the Hazleton Area School District and for that, we thank you," Antonelli said.

Corbett smiled as the audience broke into applause.

Corbett, who taught civics and history at Pine Grove Area High School in Schuylkill County from 1972 to 1973 before going to law school at St. Mary's University, Texas, said the academy and its style of delivering education to today's students is impressive.

"How can you not be impressed by this building? How can you not be impressed by the collaboration of district officials, secondary education and the business community that brought this together? This is a role model for the rest of the state," Corbett said.

"I was a teacher. I can tell you that education has changed quite a bit. The way students learn has changed quite a bit. Just look at the information students have at their fingertips today with smartphones and tablets," he said.

Corbett was confident in the approach the school is taking toward education.

"They may learn differently. They may dress differently. But they are still students and they still want to learn. Academies like these secure a bright future, not just for the next election cycle, but for decades, for generations. That's what we're talking about," Corbett said.

(Mia Light, "Future thinking magnet school draws visit from governor," Standard Speaker, 09/25/2013)