Educational leaders in Warsaw say students find their passion earlier than many would expect — often in elementary school when they are first exposed to the basic building blocks of a subject area.
A recent $300,000 grant from the state’s orthopedic initiative, OrthoWorx, aims to spark young students’ interest in areas critical to continuing Warsaw’s legacy as “Orthopedic Capital of the World.” Community leaders say the importance of the grant — focused on science, technology, engineering and math (S.T.E.M. )— goes beyond simply generating a pipeline for the orthopedic sector.
“It’s also important for recruiting and retaining employees who are being brought to the area,” stated OrthoWorx Executive Director Brad Bishop. “If the employee has children, one of the first considerations is school quality.”
The funding extends what started on a much smaller scale; a state grant launched a S.T.E.M. academy at Washington Elementary last school year. The school corporation will use the additional money – nearly three times the state grant and OrthoWorx’ largest yet to Warsaw Community Schools Corporation – to extend the S.T.E.M. focus to the seven other elementary schools beginning in the 2014-2015 school year.
“With that shift in learning [in the S.T.E.M. program started at Washington Elementary], it’s fun to hear parents talk about the excitement their children come home with toward science education,” said Warsaw Community Schools Chief Academic Officer David Hoffert. “I don’t think we can ever start too soon. [Elementary] students are already talking about what their dreams are, and this is that very first taste of what S.T.E.M. is. This is really setting them up for success and showing them some of the opportunities that are out there inside our own community.”
In addition to the $300,000, the school will provide $185,000 from its own budget, and each additional dollar raised will be eligible for the Lilly Endowment Match Opportunity up to $3.5 million.
Hoffert said the grant will be deployed using a four-part strategy: retraining elementary teachers to incorporate S.T.E.M. into existing curriculum, filling S.T.E.M. “gaps” in the elementary curriculum, utilizing a Mobile Learning Laboratory and having a biomedical expert from the local industry on staff.
“[This person] will help us to see what’s really happening in the real world workplace, not what we assume is happening,” said Hoffert, “and how can we shift our education to match what some of those needs are going to be.”
School leaders believe the Mobile Learning Lab — a “souped up” truck pulling a S.T.E.M.-focused trailer — will be the greatest tool in capturing students’ attention. Hoffert stated the lab, able to accommodate about 30 elementary students, will be extremely “wired,” with interior and exterior television monitors, work stations and computers.
“We really want this to be something that when students walk on, they get that initial ‘wow’ factor,” explained Hoffert. “We’re working with other people who have had S.T.E.M. labs to make sure it is developed for the best student learning environment we can possibly create. We want to have the real-world technology that’s going into the orthopedic, biomedical and S.T.E.M. industries right now.”
OrthoWorx and school leaders say the grant also puts both organizations closer to the shared long-term goal of extending STEM learning into the community’s middle schools and high school.
“We have a vision for a high school S.T.E.M. academy, so we’re hoping these building blocks we’re putting in place give students from elementary all the way through high school the opportunity for S.T.E.M. focused education,” said Bishop. “The Warsaw economy is built on S.T.E.M., particularly at the orthopedic companies, as well as agriculture and other areas that require that sort of life sciences concentration.”
With the Oct. 15 matching deadline quickly approaching, Warsaw leaders are hopeful the community will rally around the effort to educate the next generation of workers for the orthopedic industry or other career path of their choice.
“We realize not every student will stay in Warsaw,” stated Hoffert, “but we want them to be the best and the brightest and fully ready for college or their career.”
Source: Inside INdiana Business