By Jon Andreassi
Observer-Reporter
School districts in Washington and Greene counties will be creating programs to get students involved in the fields of science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics, or STEAM.
Through the Allegheny Intermediate Unit’s Center for Creativity, Chevron, the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation and the Grable Foundation awarded $530,000 to 28 school districts, including Bethlehem-Center, Burgettstown, Fort Cherry, McGuffey and West Greene.
With the money, school districts are meant to create programs that serve to advance students in STEAM fields.
Burgettstown Area School District received a $20,000 grant. With it, they are creating a project called “Full ‘STEAM’ Ahead: A Transformation of People, Places and Pedagogy.” The program will aim to create two “make shops” at both the primary and secondary levels. The goal of these shops will be to “embrace students’ natural curiosity, interest in technology and learning.”
According to Mandi Figlioli, the district’s assistant to the superintendent, the project will focus on “a lot of project-based learning.”
“(The grant) will also be used to fund training for teachers and parents,” Figlioli said.
Figlioli believes there is a great deal of pressure put on students in the form of such things as standardized testing, and that this program will provide much more engaging, hands-on learning that will alleviate that.
“We are looking forward to changing the culture of our district,” Figlioli said.
West Greene School District is planning to use its grant money to help students in engineering classes further their skill sets by outfitting their lab with 3D printing and Arduino programming.
According to teacher Eric Armstrong, students have been competing in BotsIQ, a robotics competition in Southwestern Pennsylvania. These new tools will help the students succeed at these competitions.
“In order to be competitive in (BotsIQ), we have to be on top of new technology,” Armstrong said.
The $5,000 grant will help the school district make this possible.
Bethlehem-Center School District will receive $20,000, and is creating a program called “My Global Space.” This project is centered on the elementary students. Third-graders will be presented with a “real-world problem” that will be solved by using STEAM principles.
Students will be given a scenario in which they have moved to a foreign country, and they must design their new room in line with the culture of the country with the materials available to them.
Art teacher Sherrie Silvio describes it as a “hands-on, authentic learning experience.” Silvio says it will help provide reinforcement in mathematics for the students.
“We’re excited to work with the third-grade team and see what the kids come up with,” Silvio said.
Fort Cherry School District will be creating the “Fort Cherry Outdoor Discovery Zone” with the $20,000 grant it received.
The funding from the grant will help the district reconstruct unused space into an “outdoor learning space.” This space will “encompass a physical change of space, enhanced curricular opportunities ... and continuing change in culture.”
Dr. Trisha Craig, the district’s director of curriculum, said the space will be outfitted with equipment such as a weather station and a solar-powered energy station.
“(The goal) is to give students more hands-on, practical, real-world experience,” Craig said.
McGuffey School District is building a program called “Learning Landscapes: Cultivating an Integrated Green Revolution.” The district says student will create both indoor and outdoor garden landscapes that can be sustained through changing seasons. The district said, “This project will combine the STEAM content areas for students in all elementary grades by integrating art design and research projects to solve the 21st century problems of sustainable agriculture.”
Since 2009, there have been more $2.63 million in STEAM grants awarded to school districts in the southwestern part of the state, according to a news release from AIU
“There is no shortage of innovative teaching and learning happening in our local public schools, where students are eagerly acquiring the knowledge and skills they’ll need to navigate futures none of us can yet imagine. That’s why the Pittsburgh region stands at the forefront of remaking learning nationally,” said Gregg Behr, executive director of the Grable Foundation.
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