POTTSTOWN >> By now, anyone who pays attention to trends in education has heard of STEM education – which stands for stressing Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics.
Aimed at stressing the skills that are believed to necessary for the jobs of the future, the acronym sometimes includes the “Arts” as well, making it STEAM.
But St. Aloysius Catholic School on North Hanover Street also adds an R for “Religion,” thus making STREAM; and it is on those topics that a $27,000 grant the school received this year will focus, said Sarah Kerins, the school’s principal.
It is all part of Project Lead the Way, a not-for-profit organization/curriculum that provides “a transformative learning experience for K-12 students and teachers across the U.S.,” according to the organization’s website.
“We are the only school in the Philadelphia Archdiocese to receive this grant,” Kerins said.
The grant, a joint award from the Atlas Foundation and Phoenix Services LLC, will not only pay for the materials to move the curriculum forward, but also, and perhaps more importantly, training teachers to teach it.
“There is a lot of professional development for teachers in this curriculum, which matches the national science standards,” said Kerins. “Its all hands-on teaching.”
And its not just science and technology in the curriculum, Kerins said.
“The K-5 curriculum has a literary component, where the kids read a story and it has a problem they have to solve, and three activities. They end up doing a project to try to solve real world problems,” said Kerins.
For grades 6, 7 and 8, the curriculum includes robotics kits, and the entire curriculum will be “rolled out” over the course of two years, she said.
“We have to recognize that many of the jobs in STEM fields that our kids will be applying for out of college don’t exist yet,” said Kerins. “We need to teach them the principles and skills, as well as fire their imaginations, so they will be ready. This is not just a swing of the education pendulum.”
Which is why the program also focuses on the arts.
“We have a dance company too. We’re trying to broaden what we teach and reach the whole child; body mind and spirit,” Kerins said. “We are on the cutting edge of STREAM education and we are going to be a leader in the Philadelphia Archdiocese.”
