Spurring Imaginations

Grant provides STEM equipment at North elementary schools

Jack Powell, 11, right, places another plank on a tower built with fellow fifth grader Dakota Glasson that set a record for the day, measuring 43 inches before collapsing.
Jack Powell, 11, right, places another plank on a tower built with fellow fifth grader Dakota Glasson that set a record for the day, measuring 43 inches before collapsing.
Nick Wilson/Journal Review
Posted

When North Montgomery saw a need for additional STEM equipment at its elementary schools, the Montgomery County Community Foundation answered the call.

Awarding the corporation a grant for $24,580 in 2019, the funds allowed North’s three elementary schools to purchase several educational tools and Makerspace Kits — which include building tools, electronic circuitry kits and 3-D printers, to name a few — designed to stimulate concepts of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) in today’s youth.

“Teachers across all (curriculum) may use the Makerspace supplies and equipment and there are blocks of time students may use them on their own,” MCCF Executive Director Kelly Taylor said, noting a recent visit to Pleasant Hill Elementary. “What a delight it was to watch inquisitive fourth-grade students as they tested their engineering and construction skills with a variety of STEM supplies and equipment.”

The acronym STEM is defined (in part) by the National Science Foundation to include the fields of chemistry, informational technology, engineering, geosciences, life sciences, mathematical sciences, physics and astronomy.

Already seeing results from the purchases, Pleasant Hill Media Aide Carri Wilhite said these concepts can spur the imagination and hone critical-thinking skills.

“They have to think about it,” she
emphasized. “There is some instruction we have to do with it, but once I give them some basic instructions and a task, they can do it on their own.”

Students who come through the library and art room at Pleasant Hill have welcomed the kits, Wilhite added. Resembling toys, she said the students “don’t even realize they’re learning” while using them.

“One of my favorite parts about the students using these is that they are having fun and don’t even realize they’re learning anything,” she said, “but they are. They learn balance, they learn engineering and they learn problem-solving, which is what I love.”

Sugar Creek and Sommer elementary schools now have similar spaces, as well. The widespread use of Makerspace Kits at North’s elementary schools is part of an overall goal to prepare today’s youth for the future.

“Besides STEM education, collaborative and social skills are being honed too, preparing the workforce of tomorrow,” Taylor said.

In addition to the Makerspace Kits, scores of equipment was purchased. There are so many boxes yet to be opened, in fact, that Wilhite is having trouble getting to it all.

“There’s a lot of electronic things that I’m trying to use my space wisely for -- we’ve got a ton of stuff,” she said, noting she is happy to have such a “problem.”

“Snap Circuits is a huge hit. I have enough that they can all do them at once,” she explained. “They’re huge kits and they’re so much fun. I can team them the basics like how to place them and they can take the book and do all the different activities in it. The fun thing is that sometimes it doesn’t work and they have to find out why. I love that.”

Other items purchased with the grant from MCCF include: IQ Builder, creative construction toys; Keva, a Jenga-like plank set designed for engineering; K’nex, another creative building set using unique connectors; Legos with challenge cards; stop-motion kits for small video projects; and 3-D printers that print customized, three-dimensional objects created on a computer.

“They also have these sturdy-straw connectors that you can do so much with,” Wilhite added. “Right before Christmas Break, it was crazy in here. One of the groups made a straw that went all the way around the middle of our pod and outside into the hallway, and they made me videotape it.”

To learn more about the Makerspace Kits and other equipment being utilized by Pleasant Hill, Sugar Creek and Sommer elementary schools, contact the corporation’s administration office at 765-359-2112.


X