All First Year students took the Logic Pre-Test on their first day in the program and had a mean score of 29%. First Year students took the Logic Post-Test during the seventh, and last week of the program and received a mean score of 49.5%. The average improvement of 20.5% points on the Logic Tests indicates that the students analytical skills and knowledge had improved during the program.

Second Year students took the Physics Pre-Test on their first day in the program with a mean score of 59.5%. The Post-Test had a mean score of 70.5%, which showed an 11% increase in aptitude.

Third Year students took the Pre-Test in Statistics on their first day in the program with a mean score of 50%. They took the Post-Test during the seventh, and last, week of the program and received a mean score of 80%, which showed a 30% increase in aptitude.

Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) preparatory seminars were conducted for the Third Year students. Students took daily quizzes, worked on vocabulary words and practiced reading comprehension. Several timed SAT exams were administered. All students felt this was very useful. They also felt more confident about taking the SAT in the near future.

During the last week of the program, all students tested their engineering projects. In each engineering class, students worked in groups of 3-5 students.

First Year students designed containers capable of protecting an egg for an egg-drop contest. They also learned how to use drafting tables to design houses. For all projects, every group/team was required to submit a report on their project and present it to their classmates.

Second Year engineering students built mousetrap cars. The mousetrap cars were tested for the amount of distance traveled. Students also built a roller coaster and a tower using popsicle sticks.

Third Year students took the assignment of designing and constructing houses using popsicle sticks and/or Styrofoam cardboard. Faculty members judged the projects. The wining team was awarded certificates at the closing ceremony. Students also constructed Native-Indian crafts using safety pins, beads and feathers.

July 13, 1998 Houston PREP had it’s First Engineering Day. This event was lead by Mrs. Sangeeta Gad (PREP Coordinator) and Mrs. Debra Toliver, PREP Engineering Instructor. The event was a great success due to the contribution of 12 engineers from various prestigious Houston companies. The companies present were M.W. Kellogg Co.; NASA Johnson Space Center; Dresser Kellogg; Shell Exploration & Production Co.; Bechtel Corporation; Quixote Enterprises; and Anadarko Petroleum Corporation. The Guest Speakers enlightened the students with presentations on engineering projects. The students also had the opportunity to work in a two-day workshop entitled "The Cargo Transport Game" conducted by M.W. Kellogg.

July 22, 1998 Houston PREP celebrated it’s 10th Year Anniversary. This special event was in the Whilemina Cullen Auditorium. Approximately 350 students and guests attended, including former PREP students, program assistants and faculty members. Dr. Richard A. Aló (PREP Director) presented the welcome remarks and Mrs. Sangeeta Gad (PREP Coordinator) presented the ten year summary report. Dr. Berriozábal (Founder of TexPREP) was also present and enlightened the audience with a brief statement. Dr. Aló on behalf of the Center for Computational Science and Advanced Distributed Simulation awarded 20 scholarships totaling over $20,000. Dr. Aló also awarded former and present PREP staff with a 10th Year Anniversary mug. A reception and dance followed the general assembly. On behalf of CCSDS, Former PREP students Mr. James White and Mr. Abram Foster received scholarships to attend the University of Houston-Downtown for Fall ’98, the awards were for $1,500 and $1,000 respectively.

July 23, 1998 The last week was filled with fun activities to relax the hard working participants. For example, there was a pizza party and free games in the UHD Game Room.

July 24, 1998 Houston PREP 1998 Closing Ceremonies were on Friday, in the Whilemina Cullen Auditorium at UHD. The event started at 9:30 a.m. and approximately 350 parents, faculty members and graduating participants attended. Dr. Max Castillo, UHD President, was also present and enlightened the audience with a brief statement. Each faculty member chose the best overall student from each of his/her class. Each Program Assistant chose the best students for the citizenship award. Mrs. Sangeeta Gad, Houston PREP Coordinator, choosed the overall best student from each class. The award recipients are the following:

OVERALL OUTSTANDING AWARDS CITIZENSHIP AWARDS Group Name Groups Name IA Tiesha Street IA Chris Smith IB Alisha Jiwani IB Ricky DeVoe IC Krystle Iles IC Donyale Jones ID Sophia Daniel ID Elisa Rodriguez IIA Brian Hill ID David Brown IIB Jamila Glass IIA Annis Reed IIC Anjoli Avionn IIB Jennifer Needham III Ahmed Abdullah IIC Rebecca Mauldin IV Idalia Ovalle IIIA Treva Murphy IIIA Christina Rodriguez IIIB Claudia Martine IV Idalia Ovalle OUTSTANDING SUBJECT-WISE AWARDS Class Name Class Name IA. Computer Science Tiesha Street IA.Logic Timothy Yuen IB. Computer Science Jenna Moore IB.Logic Simeon Woodson IC. Computer Science Abdulah Siddiqi IC.Logic Simone Boone ID. Computer Science Joseph Down ID.Logic Sophia Daniel IIA. Computer Science Justin Lewis IIA.Physics Annis Reed IIB. Computer Science Elaine Cheng IIB.Physics Efrain Chavez IIC. Computer Science Anjoli Avionn IIC.Physics Arjun Karkhanis III. Computer Science Ahmed Abdullah IV.Physics Idalia Ovalle IV. Computer Science Idalia Ovalle IA.Problem Solving Maria Voung IV. Computer Science William Caro IB.Problem Solving Neville Watson IA. Engineering Michael Hernandez IC.Problem Solving Joseph Stewart IB. Engineering Kathleen Santos ID.Problem Solving Sophia Daniel IC. Engineering Chinelo Nwobu IV.Precalculus Idalia Ovalle ID. Engineering Angeline Beltran III.SAT Linda Xie IIA. Engineering Brian Hill IIIA. Statistics Linda Xie IIB. Engineering Jennifer Needham IIIB.Statistics Claudia Martinez IIC. Engineering William Ragin IIA. Linear Algebra Brian Hill IIB.Linear Algebra Elaine Cheng IIC.Linear Algebra Rebecca Mauldin

Each student that was recognized received a special award. All students that completed the program were awarded a certificate of completion and a Houston PREP T-shirt. Fourth year students received a sports bag. The ceremony was then followed by a brief reception.

Houston Works, a Summer Youth Employment & Training Program, recognized Houston PREP as a job site this year. This allowed PREP participants the opportunity to earn money while advancing their education through PREP. However, due to the lateness of the negotiations with Houston Works, only six students were eligible and able to meet the deadline. These students also stayed a week after the completion of PREP and performed many of the programmatic duties that follow PREP.

The Hispanic Engineer and Information Technology Magazine published an article featuring CCSDS’s "Focus of Student Success." CCSDS’s grants, affiliates, programs, and activities, recent graduates, and Executive Director were covered within the article. As Dr. Richard A. Aló quoted, "Our goal is to be the center of excellence for mathematical and computer science instruction among urban, minority-based institutions of higher learning." This article was published within the February/March 1998 Issue (pages 20, 22, 59).