Garrett Junior High School was one of nine schools around the state accepted to the Nevada STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) Leader’s Academy, which was a two-year program, run by the state to work with a few schools and help them create a STEM Strategic Plan for their school.
According to Garret Principal Melanie Teemant, the Governor’s Office of Science, Innovation, and Technology selects a limited number of schools around the state to focus on building a STEM program that navigates the Nevada STEM Framework. At the same time, it identifies high-quality STEM resources to eventually create a STEM Strategic Plan to implement once the academy concludes.
“Throughout this process, the members of the team evaluate and analyze their current systems and processes over a two-year period,” she said. “There were informational sessions, an intense independent team study, workshops as a team, staff training on our STEM initiatives, and facilitatory meetings to support developing our vision for STEM education at Garrett.”
The Garret team consisted of seven members with a diversity in what they taught. They included Benjamin Franke (band), Mark Olson (history), Michelle Kazel (science), Shalee Pusko (math), Ryan Pusko (math), Josh Brimhall (English), and Teemant.
The team ended the academy by creating a three-year STEM strategic plan as they shift their vision in becoming a Governor’s Designated STEM Academy. This, according to Teemant, will allow them to have the resources in becoming a full academy of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. After this year, they will add the fine arts and be a STEM school moving forward.
“This $20,000 grant was written by the members of the SLA team, and is focused on professional development and training in order to grow our staff in becoming the experts,” she said.
Part of the strategic plan was to fund a full-time STEM teacher.
“We are so excited that Mr. Franke, the former band teacher, has stepped up and be our STEM teacher,” she said. “He will be teaching design modeling to all sixth-grade students, robotics, and advanced STEM. Sixth graders will also be taking flight and space this year. Our seventh and eighth-grade students will be taking beginning or advanced robotics, beginning or advanced STEM, or STEM explorations.
This is the second grant Garrett has received from the Governor’s Office of Science, Innovation, and Technology. They received a $25,000 grant to purchase 3D printers, coding robots, and other tools and professional development to start their STEM program.
“When I first joined the Garrett Junior High community, I saw so many great opportunities to bring STEM-focused learning to the classroom and build capacity in our teachers, to create a culture of innovation and creativity, as we planned for our future,” Teemant said.
“I purposely asked several teachers who taught in content areas outside of the typical STEM fields to help the staff make those connections to teaching STEM in any content and focus on the creative process as we prepare students for their future.”