Southmoore High School junior and Moore Norman Technology Center Pre-Engineering student Lilia Valerio Weekley was recognized during the South Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce annual Excellence in Education awards banquet. Nominated educators and students across the South Oklahoma City community were awarded for their accomplishments this year. Weekley received recognition as the Moore Norman Technology Center Student of the Year.

Weekley maintains a 4.68 GPA with a rigorous course load at Southmoore and MNTC. She is currently in her third year of Pre-Engineering where she has completed four engineering courses and physics at MNTC. 

Weekley developed an early interest in Engineering and Robotics while participating in Botball Robotics in 5^th and 6^th grade at Briarwood Elementary School. She continued with robotics in junior high where her team competed in state, U.S. Open and world tournaments. In addition to junior high robotics, Weekley was a National Junior Honor Society officer and part of the academic team.

In high school, she continued to follow her passion for engineering and leadership. At Southmoore she is a member of Youth and Government, Student Council, Social Justice and Equity Club, Secretary of the Hispanic Club, current Vice President for National Honor Society (NHS) and will become President of NHS next year.

Currently at MNTC Weekley is enrolled in Civil Engineering and Architecture and Physics and continuing to be a leader in and out of the classroom as a SkillsUSA officer and National Technical Honor Society member. MNTC’s Career Student Organization coordinator Mrs. Traci Hopper stated, “Lilia is incredibly dependable, always volunteers to assist whenever needed." 

MNTC Pre-Engineering instructor Brandon Dickerson said, “Ms. Weekley proves on a regular basis that she is responsible, hard-working and able to handle an intense academic workload.

Her experiences in the pre-engineering program include mechanical drawing, computer programming, 3-D architectural modeling using Autodesk Revit, technical writing using Microsoft Office Suite and working with other students in group presentations and projects. Ms. Weekley has also demonstrated the use and mastery of physics concepts, algebra, geometry and spatial reasoning during class assignments and projects.

During a physics lab, students were required to use a force table to prove their resultant calculation was correct for a system of forces. Weekley's group was one of the first groups finished. Weekley began helping other students and explain in detail what other groups were missing or doing incorrectly. Her instructor was impressed with the level of explanation that she provided to the other students. She was not doing the work for others, she was teaching them how to complete the lab assignment correctly.

Weekley has had a positive impact on all her pre-engineering classes by participating in brainstorming activities, design projects and group presentations with other students. "I consider Lilia Weekley to be an extremely gifted student that is dedicated to her academic career," stated Dickerson.

Learn more about MNTC’s Pre-Engineering programs. To learn more about other full or part-time career options, visit MNTC's Career Program page, or call 405-801-5000.