Representatives with the Santa Rosa County School District and Discovery Education invited families to see how the newly initiated Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math, education initiative is being applied in the classroom.
W.H. Rhodes Elementary School in Milton hosted a STEAM family night in which students and parents used their innovative skills on several hands on challenges from computer programming to industrial design and more.
In partnership with Discovery Education, the school district is currently in the first year of the STEAM Innovate professional development program which develops teachers and administrators to incorporate STEAM concepts into the classroom.
In addition to saying the STEAM curriculum is essential for today’s students, School Superintendent Tim Wyrosdick said the initiative is changing how teachers are being utilized in the classroom.
“Really we are transforming the classroom, we are changing the way we teach,” Wyrosdick said. “The student will become the student learner and the student teacher.”
In the program’s first year, Wyrosdick said the school district trained about 40 teachers, which he called “innovators” and will apply the STEAM changes not only in their classroom but share what they learn with educators throughout the county.
One of those STEAM changes is exposing elementary school children to the world of computer programming. Audrey Moore, who teaches fifth grade at the school, said her students have already excelled when writing computer code.
“Their skills have really developed and I have seen an improvement in their math,” Moore said. “They learn through working it out step by step.”
Whether it is programming or industrial design, Moore said the education initiative can present students with a bright future.
“This is an essential skill and it opens so many doors for employment later down the line,” she said.
Samantha Golden joined her 10-year-old nephew, Donavin Owens, as among many attendees to take on the challenge of building the tallest structure using only aluminum foil while making sure the structure maintains upright without falling over.
The task was part of the ‘Building Inspector’ challenge which gives children a perspective when working in the construction field. Each challenge provided a potential career field fact sheet explaining what each profession consists of along with what students need in order to be successful in the particular career field.
Golden noticed how education is beginning to stray farther from the traditional methods used when she was in school.
“I know when I was going to school there was only so much I learned from a book,” Golden said.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Parents get taste of 'STEAM' education at Rhodes Elementary