Felix Chiota
GROWING up in the dusty streets of Highfield in Harare more than 40 years ago, Felix Chiota would gaze in awe at the sky each time an airplane flew over his neighbourhood.
At a young age, Chiota always got fascinated by the mere sight of a plane hovering in the sky.
Coming from a very humble background, Chiota’s dream was to become a pilot. When his step father, the sole breadwinner, passed on in the early 1990s, Chiota thought his world had crumbled down like a deck of cards and his dream was shattered. However, in that bad situation, there was a silver lining as his mother managed to raise enough money for Chiota to book an air ticket and fly to the United States, marking the beginning of his journey in pursuit of a career in aviation.
Wed, 02/10/2021 - 5:00am
Jackie Ray Barrett was born on November 1, 1934, in Titus County, Texas to Jimmy W. and Pearl Sloan Barrett.
He graduated from MPHS in 1953. After graduating from East Texas State Technical College with a degree in Agriculture, he joined the Marine Corps, and got his commission after going through OTC in Quantico, VA, where he met his bride-to-be, Inga Kuun. He swept her off her feet with his East Texas charm and after they married in 1960 in San Diego, they moved to Mt. Pleasant to start their life together. Jackie began his teaching and coaching career at
Jackie began his teaching and coaching career at MPHS in 1961. He was Vice Principal for a few years, but his true love was teaching. He taught biology to so many Mt. Pleasant kids and their kids as well. For over 25 years he taught, counseled, mentored, and paddled many students, as he was sometimes reminded when running into former students around town. An avid outdoorsman, Jackie spent
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Lacey Watson, of Coleman, is now able to show her father some of the latest welding techniques.
Watson, a Welding Technology student at Texas State Technical College, is working toward a certificate in the program, but she is most pleased with showing what she has learned to her father, a longtime welder.
“My dad is really happy with what I am learning,” she said. “When I show him some of the things we are learning, he tells me, ‘We didn’t do that way back in the day.’ I know he is proud of me.”
Instructor Daniel Aguirre is also proud of Watson’s progress.
[Source: EOS]
A new scholarship program from EOS North America is set to even the playing field for historically underserved students pursuing STEM education.
The lack of diversity permeating STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) areas, in both academia and the workforce, is no new problem. Opportunities have always been more easily accessible for non-minority individuals of a certain socioeconomic standing and gender (read: white men). The lack of access, opportunity, and perceived interest in these areas for minority groups is a systemic issue. It stands to reason, then, that any actual, realizable action to be taken to address this must also be deep-rooted.