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Listen to interview with Texarkana ISD officials on Education Talk Radio (March 21, 2012)
By Tom Farmer, Editor
tfarmer@pitsco.com
Photo by Melissa Karsten, Graphic Artist
mkarsten@pitsco.com
TEXARKANA, Texas – High school football
is king in Texas. What could ever rival the
gridiron for students’ attention? . . . Maybe the
benefits of science, technology, engineering,
and math (STEM) – particularly the engineering
portion of the equation.
“Everybody wants to play football of
course,” says Texas High School Principal
Brad Bailey. “Now STEM is getting to that
point where students say, ‘That’s what I want
to do.’ Students see the excitement. It is a
step above, and it’s going to be on the same
playing field as the extracurriculars the kids
want to be a part of. It’s exciting.”
If football is king, then STEM is the fast-rising
prince, the heir apparent, particularly for
students and parents who are looking ahead
to 21st-century careers such as engineering.
The numbers tell the story. The Ross
Perot STEM Academy at Texas High
School is bursting at the seams with 375
students, several more than it is designed
to handle, but school officials this year
didn’t want to turn away students who
have their sights set on careers such as
mechanical, chemical, electrical, and
civil engineering; architecture; robotics;
and much more.
Another 250 STEM-track eighth graders
at Texas Middle School have Bailey and
STEM Coordinator Cathy Klopper scrambling
at the high school in this bustling northeast
Texas community, trying to make
accommodations for the expected influx
this fall of students who would rather learn
the intimate details of oscilloscopes and
drafting than offense and defense.
“If the demand is there, and it’s working
for the kids, we’ll double the size of the ninth-grade
STEM team next year,” said Director
of STEM Education Ronda Jameson. Strong
interest in STEM is not a bad problem to
have, according to Texarkana educators
from the superintendent to elementary
school teachers.
“If you walk down that STEM hallway in
the morning,” Bailey says, “you’ve got kids
lined up to get into that teacher’s classroom
before school even starts. They want to
work on that project. The teachers want
that, and they encourage that.”
Getting the STEM ball rolling
Jameson works tirelessly to ensure
Texarkana remains a front-runner in STEM, not
just in Texas but nationally. The community
has hosted two U.S. Congressional Hearings
on STEM and technology education in the
past few years, so they’re obviously doing
something correctly. Not only are K-12 school
officials doing the right things, but strong
community support and partnerships with
local businesses and higher education help
Texarkana stay at the forefront of the
STEM initiative.
Pitsco Education Modules (middle
level), Suites (high school), and robotics
have been a major part of the efforts
to emphasize engineering and STEM for
the past several years. “One reason we
chose Pitsco Suites and Modules: when
we initiated our engineering endeavor, we
found in our research locally that one area
engineers tend to lack in was leadership and
articulation. We decided those would be two
of our hallmarks,” Jameson said.
A commitment of local funds for STEM
was substantial but still not enough, so
grants through the Texas High School
Project were secured to help with setting up
the engineering-focused Morriss Elementary
School where K-5 students experience
engineering concepts daily. Next was the
purchase of Pitsco labs and other STEM
curriculum at the middle school several
years ago, followed quickly by a Suites
Engineering lab at the high school, which
is a required course for all students in The
Ross Perot STEM Academy.
Engineering Design
& Presentation
Called by some the cornerstone of
the district’s engineering curriculum, the
Engineering Design & Presentation Suites
course at the high school is required for all
students in The Ross Perot STEM Academy.
Most take it as freshmen. In his third year
teaching the course, Brandon Burnett
taps into his chemistry and engineering
experience gained while working for the
local Alcoa plant before it shut down when
aluminum prices plummeted.
“Once I got the lab set up, and I knew
where everything was and what the students
would be doing next, I thought it would be
really good and it would work,” Burnett said.
“The kids just latched onto it. Instead of
fighting it, they just went right with it.”
In the Suites lab, students work in teams
of six and in pairs at individual workstations
studying and exploring in a hands-on manner
topics such as digital manufacturing,
intelligent systems (robotics), engineering,
and aerospace rocketry. Bailey says students
can’t seem to get enough.
“They’re at an advanced level in that class.
They’re doing math. They’re doing science.
They’re doing English. They’re crossing the
curriculum in that course,” Bailey explained. “I
see kids working together to solve a problem.
I see kids that are interacting. You don’t see
any downtime.”
Modules lay the groundwork
Helping prepare students for the high
school program are three courses of Pitsco
middle-level curriculum. The sixth- and
seventh-grade labs are required for students
enrolled in the STEM program. “We received
a STEM grant, and that’s what helped start
the program here at Texas Middle School four
years ago,” said Principal Donna McDaniel.
With the program growing each year,
McDaniel, Associate Principal Karen Brown,
and STEM Curriculum Coach Terri McMaster
keep a close eye on progress to ensure
effectiveness. “We do data walks, a walk
through the classrooms every week. We
document what we see,” McDaniel said.
“We’re starting to see higher-level thinking
skills in those rooms. The students can tell
you what they’re learning and what they’re
doing. I’m amazed at what they say about
the Modules they’re going through. It’s a
proud moment when we tour people through
that classroom.”
Module Facilitator Stacy Bius says that
beyond real-world career exposure and skill
development, students are also learning to
work cooperatively, a critical life skill. “I tell
them, ‘If you come out of here with nothing
else, you’re gonna learn how to work with
different people,’ because they have to work
with everybody in here. That’s a big part of
this lab, learning how to work together.”
One of her students, Houston, confirmed
just that sentiment a few minutes later.
“We can help each other out,” he said while
demonstrating to his partner at the Physics
Module what he had missed when absent
the day before. “If something goes wrong,
he can tell me what to do or I can tell him,
and we’ll know better next time.”
On top of their game
What helps Texarkana students reach
their goals in STEM education is not just a
personal desire to excel but a similar effort
on the part of administrators and teachers.
It’s clear that the pace set by Superintendent
Paul Norton (see Administrators' Corner,
page 20) is maintained at all levels in the
education system.
All STEM teachers are required to
attend special training during the summer,
receiving at least 80 hours of instruction
for which they earn credit for two graduate-level
courses from nearby Texas A&M
University–Texarkana.
“One of our mantras is we don’t want
to be cosmetic,” Jameson said. “We don’t
want to say we’re something and not be it.
We know that it’s easy to do that, especially
when you get a good reputation. The critical
thing is to get the right people in the right
positions. We never stop pushing to get
better and better and better. We don’t want
to be average; we want to create something
that didn’t exist before.”