Rick:
Building STEM through CTE and Science
We're here tonight to talk about building STEM throughout Montgomery Cty Schools.
Strongest effort is through the Gov's STEM Academy

Patty
We know there are many ways to look at STEM.
Here are a few that have worked for us.
There are recognized STEM courses



You can see from these acronyms that STEM is inclusive of many career areas and the courses that support them.


MCPS has support from ICAT, JA, RU, WIB to build STEM PK-12

Rick
Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources
Architecture & Construction
Arts, A/V Technology & Communications
Business Management & Administration
Education & Training
Finance
Government & Public Administration
Health Science
Hospitality & Tourism
Human Services
Information Technology
Law, Public Safety, Corrections & Security
Manufacturing
Marketing
Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics
Transportation, Distribution & Logistics

Referring to your handout (above), there are 16 career clusters identified by a Nat'l Consortium as an organizational tool for exploring all existing careers.

We are using the STEM Academy as a model for utilizing career clusters with teachers and students to develop individual career plans.

Rick
ACPs are a tool that allow students to plan how to reach their career goals. The process is flexible and ongoing.

We have purchased software and are testing it with STEM academy students in the hope that this tool will be used by both parents and students.

We hope this will increase the level of collaboration between students, parents, and teachers.

Patty

Design, drafting, engineering
Computer programming
Computer information systems (software & data mgmt)
Computer systems technology (hardware mgmt)
Materials and processes (electronics, plastics, wood)
Manufacturing (machining, robotics, welding)

Referring to your handout, you'll see that there are a variety of program areas related to Advanced Manufacturing.

We selected this because
- Research tells us that there are numerous employment opportunities in the region and beyond.
- We have strong industrial support in Mont Co. (not only because of local factories, but also because of the skills that are relevant to many hi-tech business that are growing in our area)
- We had programs in place to support this academy.

Rick
Over 300 students have signed up to work toward Academy requirements.


Students must complete a sequence of designated CTE courses.

Must successfully pass a certification test related to their CTE sequence.

Must have at least 3 DE or AP courses.

Maintain "B" avg in STEM Academy courses.

Rick

Work-based experiences: a variety of approaches
Job shadowing
business presentations in schools
career fairs
internships

Co Curricular: examples
Robotics team - students with a wide variety of skill sets form a team to design and build a robot.
Cyber-patriot - a team of students attempting to find technology security risks.
Team work, challenging tasks

Plan of study:
The enrollment process requires a student to complete a plan of study leading to a career in advanced manufacting that also addresses all the Academy requirements.

Elementary schools are experimenting with different design-build experiences.

Several schools participated in the cardboard challenge where they created models around the theme of "transportation". We had everything from rockets to hot air balloons.

We are developing a co-curricular through the STEM Academy for elementary students to create cardboard cars and our high school students will come to their school and set up a high-tech raceway for them to compete on.

Other schools are designating "maker spaces" where students can plan and create using a variety of materials.

In the science curriculum we have added a new course that will support STEM Academy students through a 2-year hands-on approach to physics. We believe that physics is a very relevant area of science for STEM careers and we want to encourage more students to choose this course.

The new 3rd grade assessment will replace the science SOL and allows students to experiment with "eggs" to see which ones might be better suited for terrestrial or aquatic environments.

We are continuing our emphasis on safety and have purchased new software for science teachers to track their chemical inventories and have information at their fingertips for handing spills and leaks. Our safety plan conforms with the new Globally Harmonized System for chemical storage.