WHY STEM? Consider these facts: • According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, STEM jobs have doubled in proportion to all jobs since the industrial revolution, and those who have STEM degrees have higher incomes, even in non-STEM careers. • Occupations with the fastest growth and highest needs such as biomedical engineers, network systems administrators, data communications analysts, and medical scientists, all call for degrees in STEM fields. • The Obama Administration felt strongly enough to make STEM education a priority with the president’s “Educate to Innovate” campaign. • Our current administration recently called for a boost of $200 million a year to make STEM a greater priority for the Department of Education.
WHAT IS STEM? STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. You may see it referred to more recently as STEAM, the “A” added to represent art. The goal of STEM education in schools across the globe is to equip young people with the necessary skills and backgrounds to succeed in the future workforce. STEM education is a cross-curricular approach to learning in which students apply science, technology, engineering, and math concepts to real-world problems or situations and design potential solutions. For example, NASA plans to set foot on Mars in the next 20 years, and driverless cars are already being tested on the road. We’ve had the warmest decade on record worldwide and the Baby Boomer generation is aging. According to the Smithsonian Science Education center, China’s energy consumption grew by 134 percent over the last decade and will continue to grow, placing more demand on global energy. The next generation will be responsible for making informed decisions about these issues and more, making STEM education critical for success.
ADVANCING STEM AT WESTMINSTER We are off to a solid start to advance STEM initiatives in our curriculum with the launching of the 1:World program in the Middle School, which we featured in an article in the fall 2017 issue of Windows. Launched in August 2017, the 1:World program provides each student in grades six through eight with a MacBook Air to be used at home and school to enhance their learning experience. Teachers received training before the school year to effectively integrate the use of this new tool into their classes. The program was very successful and will not only continue in our Middle School, but will be expanded to grades nine and 10 in the fall and to grades 11 and 12 in the 2019-20 school year. With our Strategic Plan and the Vision for Technology Use Statement as guides, the 1:World program is designed to help students develop the 21st century skills they will need to be successful in the future. The laptops are great tools for the STEM initiatives we have planned in the Middle and Upper School because the devices equip students with a way to nurture their curiosity
through research and allow them to engage with experts around the world. It also fosters efficient collaboration and idea sharing with the outside world through digital media. In that same issue of Windows, we also mentioned a partnership with the National Integrated Cyber Education Research Center (NICERC) to begin integrating more STEM and computer science units seamlessly across the curriculum. Teachers in all three divisions participated in training with NICERC in the fall and many have utilized parts of the NICERC curriculum for special project-based learning activities throughout this past school year. In June, several of our teachers participated in the annual Education Discovery Forum for K-12 teachers that was held in Augusta. Sponsored by NICERC, the three-day conference focused on the 21st century learning environment and the importance of introducing the concept of “cyber” into all disciplines. In a recent article in The Augusta Chronicle, Nancy Limauro, Homeland Security’s deputy branch chief of cyber education and awareness said, “Experts predict 1.8 million cybersecurity jobs by 2020. Many of those jobs will be in ‘critical systems’ such as water utilities, which are increasingly becoming a target. To help secure these systems, we need to get the advantage to the defenders.” CSRA officials are projecting over 8,500 people will move to this area by 2020 as a result of the Army relocating its Cyber Command at Fort Gordon. Cyber will continue to be an extremely important industry in our immediate community and in the nation at-large for years to come. Although we are confident that some of our graduates will go on to excel in the world of cyber and cybersecurity, the aim of a Westminster education has not changed. We remain committed to preparing our students to live extraordinary lives for Christ in whatever field they choose to pursue. The world will need creative problem solvers who are armed with a biblical worldview to help navigate ethical and legal frameworks for issues not only related to cyber, but in all fields. And, we believe that STEM education is one way that we can prepare our students to succeed wherever God calls them. STEM education is already intertwined into our curriculum throughout all three divisions. Here are some examples: During the 2017-18 school year, each teacher in the Lower School developed a STEAM/STEM unit to ensure that students in every grade level were exposed to STEM learning. In December, students in the Lower School participated in STEM Day during which all grade levels participated in ageappropriate STEM activities. Toymakers, architects, engineers, and snow-makers filled every classroom and were engaged in various activities including making toys out of regular household objects and building bridges out of gum drops and toothpicks that could withstand a maximum weight load. One class designed catapults to see who could launch cotton balls and marshmallows the farthest. Another made three dimensional snowflakes out of copy paper using just scissors and glue sticks. If a student’s first design was unsuccessful, they were given the opportunity to take what they learned and try again with a new design and additional materials to help shape and modify their design.
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