Accepting a toolbox made for him by students at Los Alamos Middle School is Sen. Leo Jaramillo, pictured here with Brent Collom, Eliot Work and Eliot Gaunt. Courtesy photo
BY MAIRE O’NEILL
maire@losalamosreporter.com
Sen. Leo Jaramillo visited Brent Collom’s Engineering Design class April 28 at Los Alamos Middle School and received a special wooden toolbox made for him by the students, which he intends to put in his senate office at the Roundhouse.
Collom said he met Sen. Jaramillo at a Chamber of Commerce breakfast where seniors from Los Alamos Early College & Career were guests.
“He was excited to meet the robotics students participating in our early college program so I invited him to visit the middle school to see the good things that are happening in the shop,” Collom said. “He was great with my Engineering Design students, asking them questions about their work and the projects they were working on. I am super proud of what my students are doing and as a former middle school teacher himself, Sen. Jaramillo wanted to watch the program in action.”
Collom said his advanced students made wooden tool boxes and used a CNC router to customize their work.
“When I told my afternoon class that Sen. Jaramillo would be visiting, they wanted to make a keepsake for him even though he would not be visiting during their class. Their gift to the senator says, ‘Los Alamos Middle School’ on one side and ‘Senator Leo Jaramillo’ on the other. He told them, ‘When the Governor sees it, she is going to be jealous’,” Collom said.
Sen. Jaramillo got to meet two of the group of students that made his toolbox. Only Eliot Work and Eliot Gaunt were available.
Collom said Sen. Jaramillo’s encounter with the LAHS seniors had prompted him to earmark funding for robotics competitions.
“Now that he has met several of the middle school students who are learning about engineering and LAECCA, hopefully Sen. Jaramillo will be meeting some of the same students four years from now when they are LAECCA students completing their certifications in robotics or other technical specialties. He has a lot of positive energy and I am happy to see that he is as excited about the projects my students are doing as I am,” Collom said.