McCORDSVILLE — When Nathan Gronowski heads to Purdue University this fall to begin studying for a career in information technology and computer science, he’ll have a head start in the world of computer programming over many of his peers in high schools across the state.
Thanks to a new emphasis on science, technology, engineering and math — commonly referred to as STEM — at Mt. Vernon Community Schools, Gronowski and his peers district-wide have increased access to technology and education focused in these four areas.
That recent push has been rewarded by the Indiana Department of Education, which recently certified all five of Mt. Vernon’s schools as STEM schools — a remarkable distinction considering only 60 schools in the state have the certification, superintendent Shane Robbins said.
The certifications are awarded by the state after a rigorous application and review process to make sure the schools are committed to teaching STEM disciplines in addition to other academic standards set by the state. The certifications are good for five years.
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Only one other Hancock County school has achieved STEM certification. Doe Creek Middle School in New Palestine earned the honor last year.
At Mt. Vernon, students from kindergarten to 12th grade are learning the core tenants of STEM. Their curriculum stresses questioning, building things with their hands, thinking critically and working together, officials say.
“For us to get all five schools, it really shows the commitment and work that all our teachers and principals have put in,” Robbins said.
Inside the high school’s brand-new Makerspace, a laser cutter hums, a 3-D printer waits for instructions and a group of students huddle around one of the many workspaces housed inside this brand new classroom.
The Makerspace, as Robbins explains it, is a workspace that any class can utilize as the school district continues to put a strong emphasis on classes and curriculum that incorporate STEM.
“This is open to any class that wants to use it,” Robbins said. “It’s a space that is all about evaluating and making. We had a biology class come in and created cancer cell replicas using the 3-D printer.”
Gronowski is working with a Raspberry Pi, a tiny computer designed to help people who are learning programming, in order to enhance the technology in the Makerspace. When he’s done, students will be able to send designs to the laser cutter wirelessly, as opposed to putting them on a flash drive and plugging the flash drive into the cutter.
But its not just the high school’s students who are being encouraged to pursue new fields of study.
At Fortville Elementary, STEM teacher Kathy Tingwald’s sole job is helping classes learn new STEM skills, and her classroom is covered in different student projects. In one corner carefully built robots sit; in another Petri dishes containing tiny plant sprouts sit under a heat lamp. Tingwald said she sees every class in the elementary school once a week, and each one has focused on a different project.
On Thursday, she hosted a class of third-graders who were studying plants, including learning about genomes, habitat and characteristics. Pairing up in groups, the students had to research a plant, discuss the various features and then create a 3-D model of their plant. For Tingwald, who has been with Mt. Vernon for 10 years, its gratifying to see the whole corporation embrace STEM and be rewarded for it.
“It really helps get the community on board when we can say we’re certified,” she said. “But its not just me, all the teachers employ STEM best practices on a daily basis and the kids love it.”
Tingwald said getting elementary students involved in STEM opens up a whole world of possibilities down the road, especially for girls who aren’t usually pushed towards careers involving science or math.
“Women don’t have to be teachers or secretaries anymore,” Tingwald said. “We can be anything we want to be.”
In an eighth grade robotics class, Mt. Vernon Middle School student Julia Stadler pilots a robot that can move, pick up blocks and stack them on top of each other. The 2017-18 school year is the first year the middle school has had a robotics class and it was added as part of the STEM push.
Stadler built the robot by hand with her classmates over the course of a week.
“This isn’t really something I would have thought I’d be interested in,” she said. “My brothers grew up playing with blocks and Legos, but I never did.”
Brenda Schoenlein is the robotics teacher and said in addition to the technical skills the students are learning, they are also gaining life lessons.
“My motto for these kids is ‘no quitting,'” she said. “It’s about participation. It’s OK to fail as long as you’re learning from it.”
Over the course of the year, the students have built a litany of things from robots to cars to a table made out of paper. For one project, Schoenlein gave the students various household items like strings and wheels and told them to build a catapult.
“We’re teaching these kids how to collaborate, we’re teaching them how to work with their hands, how to think critically about something,” Schoenlein said. “These are skills they’re going to need to have when they join the work force.”
