POMONA, Calif. - TelAve -- Pomona, CA — This year's senior project at IPoly High School challenged students to step beyond the classroom and engage directly with real-world issues affecting their communities, including water quality, transportation, energy use, and air pollution.

As part of the project, students attended local city council meetings, observing civic decision-making firsthand before identifying community needs that could be addressed through engineering-based solutions. The goal was to encourage students to think like socially responsible engineers by connecting technical knowledge with public policy and civic engagement.

Working in teams, students researched and developed proposals directed at local, state, and federal levels of government. Project topics reflected pressing public concerns and included bike lane improvements to support safer transportation, water filtration systems to increase access to clean drinking water, solar energy installations for hospitals, and landscape-based solutions designed to reduce harmful particulate matter in the air.

The senior team also partnered with Teach Democracy, a national, nonpartisan organization dedicated to strengthening civic participation. Through this collaboration, students organized and hosted a Civic Action Expo on December 11 on the Cal Poly Pomona campus, creating a platform to share their work with the broader community.

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The event drew a diverse audience, including city council members from neighboring communities and a delegation of students and educators from San Pedro High School. Students had the opportunity to present their ideas to real stakeholders and receive meaningful feedback.

According to teacher Lorelei Ortega, the senior team hopes the partnership with Teach Democracy will continue to grow. "We're hoping to increase relationships with local city governments," Ortega said, "so that the study of real-world issues can lead to real-world action."

IPoly High School, administered by the Los Angeles County Office of Education and located on the Cal Poly Pomona campus, emphasizes collaborative, project-based learning throughout all four years of study, with students working in semester-long teams and regularly developing presentation and communication skills. The college-preparatory high school offers concurrent college courses beginning in 10th grade, is tuition-free, and open to students from all cities. Applications for admission are currently available at https://www.ipolyhighschool.org.