City Park Elementary Using STEM To Prepare Students For Jobs

City Park Elementary is one of the schools using STEM to Better Prepare Students for Future Jobs.
STEM stands for education involving Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.
The school recently opened up its new STEM lab.
Students in grades K-5 get to use the STEM lab four days every five weeks.
STEM lab teacher Lisa Cushman said they spent the first lesson teaching students what STEM actually means.
Later, the students built ramps to test different levels of speed.
"The focus was on the engineering design process and learning to work together, while tying in science and math standards," said Cushman.
Each grade was then given a challenge to complete-K-2 had to design and build houses to protect the three little pigs from the Big, Bad Wolf.
Third-4th grades learned about why rocks and minerals are important when building a home and studied erosion. The 5th graders did a climate project.
They chose a certain climate and had to build a home to withstand the elements of that climate.
The second project for the students was to build a birdhouse with help from the school’s partner Home Depot.
"I hope that the students will see the relevance of the science, math, social studies, reading and writing standards that they learn in the classroom and apply it to their real life," Cushman said of the lab.
Ten-year-old Natalie Brewster said she was excited to make the birdhouses.
"I’ve never made a birdhouse before," said the 5th grader. "It’s all us. We get to do it."
Brewster said even though she’s only been in the lab twice, she likes it.
"I love it. It’s awesome," she said of coming to the lab. "We get to do new stuff."
And the innovation with the lab doesn’t stop there-not only are the students getting a hands-on experience with STEM, they will also be introduced to STEAM (which includes art into the subjects).
"Art and design can aide students in expressing their designs to solve a problem.
They can learn how to be innovative and get the ideas onto paper so others can see their vision," said Cushman.
Once the 5th graders complete their birdhouses, they will take the finished product to art class and paint the house to blend in to a natural environment.
Brewster said she is looking forward to studying the art part of STEAM.
"I love our art teacher, and I love to draw and paint," she said.
With the addition of arts to the mix, Cushman said there’s something for every student, no matter how they think.
"I think that adding the arts into the integration of all of the subjects is a way to get the kids to use the other part of their brain," she said. "It is a way to reach all of our children, no matter how they are ‘wired’."
Cushman said all of the partners of their STEM lab have been a huge asset in getting the project going.
"The Home Depot has been wonderful," Cushman said. "They donated over 125 birdhouses, and they send volunteers each week to help the students use the tools to construct their houses. They also donated all of the paint for our other partner, First Methodist Church, to paint the STEM Lab."
Other partners include Dalton State College, Georgia Tech, and possibly the Atlanta chapter of The American Institute of Architects, through their Discover Architecture program.
Cushman hopes that the lab will get more partners in the future, and they’ll hopefully get guest speakers to come speak to the students as well.
City Park is looking to do more with STEM as well as with STEAM. There will be a technology session where students will be coding and maybe even making their own apps.
"As of now, we (the specials teachers) are working on some ideas to take the City Park kids from STEM to STEAM," Cushman said.
She said she hopes to move more towards the STEAM aspect both this year and next year.
Said Cushman: "I hope they learn that math and science are not scary and that the more they know, the better prepared they will be for college or post-secondary education and for the STEM jobs that we need people to fill."