Kristina O’Connor wants to see her children thrive.
That’s why she is an advocate of a STEM curriculum at St. Vincent de Paul Parish School, where her three children recently completed kindergarten, third and sixth grades.
“I want them to have the tools they need to succeed,” O’Connor said. “If they don’t start learning the science, technology, engineering and math skills at an early age, they’re going to be behind.”
On Monday, the K-8 school received a STEM designation from the Ohio Department of Education, making it one of the first Catholic schools in Ohio and in the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland to receive the designation. It joins the NIHF STEM Middle School and the NIHF STEM High School — both in the Akron Public Schools District — as the only state-designated STEM schools in Summit County.
St. Vincent Principal Maria Meeker said the school, which already offers a STEM-focused curriculum, submitted an application in March for the second time in as many years. She said the school community has embraced the idea of providing students with a STEM education that focuses on stewardship, science, technology, engineering, math and medicine.
“We implement project-based learning throughout our curriculum. Everything is about problem solving and critical thinking,” Meeker said. “Our learners (students) are taught how to apply what they learn to real-world problems in order to better the world around them. In keeping with our Catholic faith, we work to empower our learners to be good stewards of their gifts, talent and knowledge.”
Meeker, who has served as principal for two years, said the STEM designation confirms that the parish school provides a solid, well-rounded educational curriculum. She said as students move from elementary to middle school at St. Vincent, their awareness of STEM fields will be broadened.
As part of the school’s transition to the STEM curriculum, John Milam — who served as director of the Center for Mathematics and Science Education, Teaching and Technology at John Carroll University — was hired this past school year to provide integrated engineering instruction. In addition, Elizabeth Waller, a teacher at the school, has been promoted to STEM instructional coach beginning this fall.
“The STEM curriculum allows the learners to become engaged in their own time frame. Each learner can explore and take different paths to find answers and they discover that not every answer is the only answer,” said Waller, who has been an elementary school teacher for 16 years at St. Vincent and in Akron Public Schools. “It’s great to see them thrive and to see them get so excited about learning. We encourage kids to think outside the box and put their faith first and include it in their problem–based learning experience.”
STEM schools use teaching techniques that are designed to capture students’ attention by solving real-world problems and exploring conceptual learning, rather than relying on memorization. Their mission is to foster intellectual, entrepreneurial and technical talent that aligns the education system with the state’s economic development efforts, according to ODE spokeswoman Brittany Halpin.
“The STEM curriculum has allowed my children to use their creativity in a hands-on way,” O’Connor said. “They are learning things like coding computer games and coding computers — I don’t even know what that means, but it’s very relevant to them. They’ve done Lego robotics and built soap box derby cars. And my sixth grader has worked on a marketing team. They’re getting real life experiences.”
For more information about St. Vincent School, go to http://www.stvincentelementary.com.
Colette Jenkins can be reached at 330-996-3731 or cjenkins@thebeaconjournal.com. She can be followed at www.twitter.com/ColetteMJenkins.