[Sagamore] [stem] Re: STEM Certification Work at Sagamore

[MELANIE MILLER]

Hello there!
I am sorry that I am a little bit late getting back to you all.  We just
finished up an AWESOME STEM day, and I am positive that all of the kids
had a wonderful time!  

The information that Dave pulled is perfect in describing the "why".  I
want to provide you with a little more information as well.  The
Sagamore's STEM certification will be whole-school.  There is an option to
just get certain programs in a school certified, but that is usually
geared more towards high schools.  I encourage you all to go to
stemgeorgia.org and you can see the rubric and application for elementary
schools.  The rubric even contains examples of things that they will be
looking for when they come out to visit Sagamore for certification.  In
terms of instruction, STEM is a school-wide initiative.  Classroom
teachers have been getting professional development training on exactly
how to implement STEM in the classroom on a regular basis.  We will be
using Engineering is Elementary (EIE) kits this year school-wide.  These
EIE kits are wonderful in taking STEM and making sure that it is utilized
throughout the curriculum.  Our professional development trainer, Hannah,
also has other units that she is sharing with all of us to implement in
the classroom that were developed based on a strong STEM foundation.  We
are also going to be adding some new voluntary clubs based largely around
STEM.  Be on the lookout for more information about these clubs soon!

I hope that this answers your questions!  If not, please feel free to
email me at any point!  Have a great weekend!  

Melanie Miller
Discovery-Grades 2, 3, and 5
Sagamore Hills Elementary School
Melanie_Miller at fc.dekalb.k12.ga.us
http://millerdiscovery.weebly.com