By Michael Gagne Herald News
FALL RIVER — As the principal of Resiliency Middle School for the past 15 months, Joyce Paulo is developing a pretty good sense for what might pique her students’ interests.
Students especially enjoy hands-on activities and they like to use technology, Paulo said, during a visit after school last Friday afternoon.
The principal is hopeful that an equipment and supply grant recently awarded to the school by the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center will help students see how the math and science they learn in class can be applied to real life and how it connects with the technology they like to use.
She hopes that exposure engages students in their learning.
“It’s definitely exciting,” Paulo said. “We need it, and we really think it will have a huge impact.”
The $48,000 grant will enable the school acquire the equipment, projectors, computers and software needed to expose students to robotics, computer coding and other life science programs.
The grant provides targets vocational technical schools, high schools and middle schools, particularly in areas serving low-income students.
“One of the goals in program, ensure that young people across the state, regardless of ZIP code, will have the opportunity to access training in life sciences, in part to get them interested in future careers,” said Angus McQuilken, who serves as vice president of communications and marketing for the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center.
Those careers McQuilken referred to are in fields focused on science, technology, engineering and math, a grouping commonly called STEM. It’s a growing sector with growing opportunities for employment. The goal, McQuilken said, is to get students interested in those careers.
Applying for the grant was a competitive process. And RMS’s grant is one of a few grants that were awarded this spring. It is one of two middle schools statewide to get the grant, and, with under 50 students, is the smallest school to get the grant.
B.M.C. Durfee High School, a previous grant recipient, used funds to establish programs like its engineering program, called Project Lead the Way.
RMS, located in the former Kuss Middle School building on Rock Street, will complete its first full year as a school next month. The school opened in February 2014 in the former Cherry & Webb building.
“We’re in a 106-year-old building. We’re trying to make it feel state-of-the-art,” Paulo said.
As an alternative academic setting, RMS has students who might be below grade level academically, or have other “difficult needs,” Paulo explained.
“So reenagement is huge for us,” she said. “If we can make this a better place for them, it’s likely they will remain engaged. I think it starts with having really solid and engaging programs.”
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