VOA慢速英语:Education Report-- Unusual High School

An unusual high school in Texas recently welcomed a special visitor.  President Obama visited Manor New Technology High School near the city of Austin. The visit was part of what the White House called a "Middle Class Jobs and Opportunity Tour."
德克萨斯州一所不同寻常的高中最近迎来了一位特殊的来客，总统奥巴马访问了位于奥斯丁附近的庄园新技术高中。这次访问是白宫所谓的“中产阶级就业与机会之旅”的一部分。

Manor New Technology High School seeks to help prepare students to meet the increasing demand for technology workers. The school has gained nationwide recognition for its program. It focuses less on teacher lectures, and more on student projects in so-called "STEM subjects" -- Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
马诺新科技高中希望帮助学生满足社会对技术工人日益增长的需要，其课程为该校赢得了全球认可。该校不怎么注重教师讲课，而关注所谓“STEM学科”的学生项目，包括科学、技术、工程和数学。

Most of the teachers who helped start the school six years ago were graduates of a program called "UTeach" at the University of Texas in Austin. They are still working at the high school today. Lawrence Abraham is one of the directors of the "UTeach" program, he praises the program and the teachers at Manor New Technology High School.
大多数6年前帮助建校的老师都是奥斯汀市德克萨斯大学UTeach项目的毕业生，他们至今仍就职于该高中。 Lawrence Abraham是UTeach项目的董事之一，他赞扬了马诺新科技高中的课程和师资。

"They put together the curriculum, which has elevated this school, among all the new tech schools in the network around the country, to be the premier site, and we think it is the marriage of the UTeach program, which prepares teachers and encourages teachers to teach in a project-based way, with the new tech curriculum model, which is designed to incorporate that."
“他们把全部课程放在一起，这样该校就成为在全国所有新科技学校网络中最好的，我想它是UTeach项目的最好结合，它鼓励教师以项目的方式，利用新的技术课程模式来结合起来。”

Manor New Technology has 332 students, 68 percent are from ethnic or racial minorities, and 52 percent are from poor families. The Texas school sent 97 percent of its graduates to college in 2011 and all of its graduates in 2012. Most schools, however, do not have the financial support that Manor New Technology receives. It gets help from private organizations and state and federal funding. And technology schools are sometimes criticized for not paying enough attention to the arts and social sciences.
马诺新科技高中有332名学生，其中68%是少数民族，同时52%来自贫困家庭。这所德克萨斯州的学校2011年有97%的毕业生进入了大学，2012年所有毕业生都进入了大学。然而，大多数学校不能像庄园新技术高中这样活得财政支持。该校得到私营机构、州和联邦的资金支持。而技术学校有时因不够重视艺术和社会科学而遭受批评。

Last year, Texas governor Rick Scott proposed an end to state financial aid to university programs in subjects like psychology and anthropology. The goal was to put more money into STEM programs that he said that would provide people with jobs. But some educators say that kind of thinking ignores the gains possible with the learning.
去年，德州州长Rick Scott提出中断向心理学和人类学这样的大学项目提供州财政支持。。目的是把更多的钱投入到他所说的能够为人们提供就业岗位的STEM课程。但一些教育工作者表示，这种想法忽略了学习可能的收获。

University of Texas history professor Jeremi Suri says the goal of education goes beyond preparation for employment.
德州大学历史教授Jeremi Suri说，教育的目标不仅仅是准备就业。

"Obviously science and math literacy are crucial, but democratic citizenship requires that people have a sense of our historical background as a society, a sense of how our society functions and an understanding of what democracy looks like in theory and in practice."
“科学和数学显然很重要，但民主公民权要求人们对我们的历史、社会和社会运作、对民主在理论和实践上都有所了解。”

Professor Suri says today more than ever,  workplace success depends on good communication, and ability to work well with others as a team.
Suri教授表示，职场成功需要良好的沟通，以及团队合作能力，这一点今天比以往任何时候都明显。