(Disney's "Steamboat Willie" full STEAM ahead!!)
One of the multitude of services that CIJE (www.thecije.org) provides to our schools is assistance in designing effective educational network infrastructure. It is a highly specialized field that requires people who understand the unique needs of education. For example, one of my smaller high schools (60 students) has an average of 160 devices attached to their WiFi (AppleTV's, Cell Phones, Laptops, Tablets, etc.) with 40+ Gigabytes of data being moved every single day! And that's one of my smallest schools!! Imagine a school of 200 students, or even 500!!
Recently, in my CIJE Network Analyst's role, I found myself at the Pressman Academy (http://www.tbala.org/page.cfm?p=1870) helping install a new WiFi access point in their STEAM lab. Now, normally, I don't install AP's for schools, but Pressman is one of our newer members and I have been working with their Tech Director, Erica Huls, on upgrading their network. In this case, the STEAM lab was getting so much use, that they needed an emergency upgrade right away!
No... not this kind of STEAM....
THIS KIND... STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math).
Now, just as much as I am a Sci-Fi Techno Geek, I am an absolute lover of STEM/STEAM education!! I have been working with this concept for over 20 years now so, you can imagine my giddiness upon walking into Krystal Meisel's STEAM lab to hear that she was building a geodesic dome with her first grade class. Yes, you read correctly - I said FIRST GRADE!! Yes, there is a teacher there who guides, but the collaboration, participation and creation is done exclusively by the students!
This was the first time Krystal was doing this exercise with such a young group. The students had to prepare the paper tubes that would make their dome, assemble them, and coordinate the whole project - by themselves!! The only problem is, that according to the national standards, first grade students should not have been able to do this. Good thing that nobody told them that!!
As I finished my work and left the room, the dome was about 90% finished. You see, that is beauty of STEM/STEAM. Give the challenge and watch our kids step up and perform!!
It also helps to have a great teacher/mentor/guide like Krystal.
Great job Pressman!! Very, very, very impressive!!
So my readers, what success do you have with your STEM/STEAM programs? Please share on the blog site!
Regards...
Yossie
Yossie Frankel
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