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Student of the Week: Accelerated reader has his sights set on MIT

Austin Jackson Hughes 5th

To recognize the outstanding students at the Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District, the Public Relations/Community Engagement Department will begin a Student of the Week section in HCISD’s Valley Morning Star page and district website. Each Monday, a new student from our campuses will be showcased. Each of our 29 schools will be showcased. Austin Elementary School kicks-off SOW with our first selection this year!

It’s the seventh week of school, and Jackson Hughes, a fifth-grade student at Austin Elementary has already completed all of the 100 Accelerated Reader points required to earn him a spot in end of the year field trip.

Jackson enjoys reading about math and science. His favorite book so far is “Perfectly Perilous Math” by Sean Connolly. The book presents youngsters with fantastical scenarios in which they have to use math in order to survive.

His love for reading began a few years ago in first grade. “It was in Ms. Jidestig’s class that I started reading like crazy,” he said.

What he is most proud of is that in second grade he earned a total of 214 points. His goal this year is to surpass that amount with 250 points.

With his enthusiasm for science and experiments, Jackson wants to grow up to be a robotics engineer. He’s already had a taste of it at the annual HESTEC week (Hispanic, Engineering, Science, and Technology).

“Last year the college kids made robots that mimicked animal behaviors,” said Jackson. “There was a frog that had a pneumatic cylinder in its tongue, and there were also a couple of animal models that moved like real animals. They were made of everyday stuff like toothbrushes and a vacuum cleaner hose.”

Though he has yet to enter middle school, Jackson already knows exactly which university he wants to attend, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Until then, he will continue to work toward his reading goal, do his chores, and dream about building hovercrafts and meeting famous inventors.

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