Premiering Monday, June 3, 2024, at 6:00 PM EST, A Decade of Discovery is a glimpse into a school culture. The PBL and STEAM program introduced to Northside Elementary at the beginning of the 2014-15 school year transformed a neighborhood K-5 into a preK-8 learning laboratory. This amateur documentary is a small glimpse into the first ten years of A2 STEAM.
Ann Arbor STEAM is a part of the Ann Arbor Public Schools. Learn more about enrolling at AAPS here: https://www.a2schools.org/enroll.
The short film below contains a section of the full film: "Transformation". This sequence outlines the first year of A2 STEAM and the seeds that were planted in its early development.
This project was a labor of love. Many nights and weekends were sacrificed to make this film. I felt very compelled to finish this project and to help tell this story. I appreciate all the teachers, parents, and A2 STEAM alumni who took the time to sit for an interview. I asked three questions of each community member:
What was your first year at A2 STEAM like?
What is your favorite memory of A2 STEAM?
What is your hope for the future of A2 STEAM?
I captured so many narratives and experiences. They were organized into three major sections:
Historical Legacy
Transformation
What is PBL?
A Culture of Collaboration
Hope for the Future
I missed so much as well. While so many projects were captured in this documentary, dozens were not. While many teachers discussed their relationship with A2 STEAM and the joy of their practice, scores do not appear. Hundreds of families contribute to thousands of endeavors and make millions of memories. They are all essential to the story of our school. We hope this film communicates the values of our community and the ongoing project that is this school, its program, and the culture that sustains it. Here's to ten years - may there be many more!