On Campus STAFF PROFILE:
Mrs. Randi Terry
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BY MICKIE ROBERTS, LOWER AND MIDDLE SCHOOL REGISTRAR
STEAM:
Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math. You know the acronym but may not know that MPCS has made a commitment to offer more courses and extra-curricular opportunities in these related fields. The increasing popularity of STEAM curriculum is being carried out not only in our high school, but in our lower and middle school as well by faculty member Randi Terry. With a B.A. in English/Technical writing with Spanish minor and an M.S. in Instructional Design and Technology underway, Randi has been teaching technology at MPCS to preschool, lower school, and middle school students for the past six years. Next year, Randi will instruct grades 3-8 in STEAM.
S H E I S PA S S I O N AT E A B O U T “ H E L P I N G S T U D E N T S L E A R N T O T H I N K I N A W AY T H AT W I L L H E L P T H E M B E C O M E S E L F - M O T I VAT E D P R O B L E M - S O LV E R S A S WELL AS LIFELONG LEARNERS FILLED WITH CURIOSITY ABOUT THE WORLD AROUND THEM.” STEAM classes allow multiple opportunities for this open-ended learning and innovation. Lower school students begin by playing simple coding games and working their way into Hour of Code games which teach coding concepts in a way that is fun and easily accessible. They then progress to simple coding on their own through the Scratch program and by grades 4 and 5, they are coding their own interactive cards, stories, and games. By the time these students reach middle school, many choose to apply for membership to the middle school Robotics Team which Randi coaches along with assistant coach Tina Baker. Randi has led the middle school team in the FIRST LEGO® League which is a worldwide program for competition in robotics. Middle school teams have had great success at both the Super-Regional and State competitions. Rising ninth grader Mitchell Bunn, a founding member of middle school Robotics stated, “My favorite part was the Core Values part of the competition. It helped our team learn to work together. It wasn’t about winning or losing; it was about having fun and working together.” High School science teacher, STEAM coordinator, and Eagle Robotics Coach Brad Smith looks forward to the future of the MPCS program because of the great work Randi is doing with the lower and middle school program: “Randi is a STEAM dynamo. She brings excitement, momentum, and a ‘can-do’ attitude to anything related to STEAM. She is fiercely unafraid to try something new, unapologetic in advancing into the evolving world of STEAM methodology, and is a champion of her students’ opportunities to understand, create, develop, utilize, and modify technology.” W
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WINGSPAN | Summer 2017