At the United Independent School District, middle schools are a launching pad for preparing students for high school, college and future careers. With STEM now available at every UISD middle school, students are getting earlier opportunities to develop skills in engineering, technology, collaboration and problem-solving.

At Juan Roberto Ramirez Middle School, that districtwide commitment recently received a boost when STEM teacher Amanda Torres took the initiative to apply for a competitive grant that brought the Texas Education Agency’s Texas Mobile STEM Laboratory directly to campus.

Torres, a 17-year UISD educator who taught math before becoming a STEM teacher, learned about the opportunity through TEA and asked Principal Juan Herrera if she should pursue it. After completing an extensive application in April, she learned during the summer that Ramirez had been selected.

“The most important thing for me as a STEM teacher is that I always try to bring in different opportunities,” Torres said. “I want to expose them to different careers. I want them to think about all the possibilities that are out there beyond what they know locally.”

That initiative fits into a STEM culture that Herrera said has grown quickly at Ramirez, a campus now in its third year. More than 150 students participate in its STEM program, progressing through a sequence of courses that begins in sixth grade and includes areas such as flight, design and app development.

The program also helps prepare students for their next step. Ramirez feeds into United High School, where students can apply to its engineering magnet program.

“At the middle school level, we believe that the future is now,” Herrera said. “This isn’t something that is just for high school students. We’re preparing our students to be people who work collaboratively, critical thinkers, students that are leaders.”

The emphasis on early STEM education extends throughout UISD. Associate Superintendent Rebecca Morales has seen that effort evolve over nearly a decade, from the district’s first STEM initiatives to expanded opportunities across its middle schools.

“We’ve come a long way as it pertains to STEM,” Morales said. “The success that we have in our STEM programs has a lot to do with the buy-in that we have from the campuses and the teachers — the excitement that the teachers have, believing in the program and the benefits of STEM.”

The mobile laboratory brought those goals to life through hands-on engineering challenges. Approximately 100 Ramirez sixth- and seventh-graders participated in five sessions, with each class spending about an hour inside the lab. Students worked collaboratively to understand a problem, select materials, design a solution, test it and make adjustments.

The experience extended to educators as well. Teachers observed the TEKS-aligned lessons and engineering design process, providing professional development and ideas they can take back to their classrooms.

The Texas Mobile STEM Laboratory is operated by Learning Undefeated in partnership with TEA. Eight mobile labs travel across different regions of Texas, with each visiting approximately 30 schools. Together, the labs are expected to reach about 240 campuses this year.

Christina Peña, an education outreach coordinator with Learning Undefeated, said Ramirez holds a special distinction on this year’s route.

“This is our only school this year in Laredo, so I’m glad we were able to come down here,” Peña said.

Learning Undefeated Program Manager Adi Garza said the mobile lab is also designed to challenge students’ perceptions about who belongs in STEM. Students do not have to see themselves as the strongest math or science student to begin thinking like an engineer, she said. Curiosity, persistence and a desire to solve problems matter, too.

“We want to introduce the fact that there are so many different types of engineering, and that all it really takes is that ambition or curiosity to solve problems,” Garza said.

For sixth-grader Edgar Garza, the experience meant putting those skills into practice. During his session, his group tackled a bottle-rocket challenge. Students worked within a budget to select materials, build a prototype and test the ratios needed to propel their rocket toward its destination.

For Edgar, who hopes to study engineering, having the mobile laboratory at his school made the experience even more meaningful.

“There are a lot of cities and a lot of schools in the state of Texas,” Edgar said. “And for our school to be the only school in Laredo to be with this STEM lab, it is a privilege, really.”

The visit represents more than one day of experiments for Ramirez students. The projects give teachers ideas they can replicate, while the experience gives students another connection between what they learn in class and what they might one day pursue beyond it.

For UISD, that connection is part of a larger investment in the middle school years — giving students access to STEM early enough to discover their interests, strengthen their skills and arrive at high school ready to take advantage of more advanced opportunities.

(L-R) UISD Associate Superintendent Rebecca Morales, STEM Teacher Christina Vela, STEM Teacher Amanda Torres, Ramirez MS Principal Juan Herrera