Our STREAM Journey

In June of 2012, Blessed Sacrament School staff was challenged to identify the niche of the school. After a year of self-reflection and analysis, the leadership team and staff agreed that traditional curriculum and dedication to the sciences were key components of our mission, as well as commitment to our Catholic teaching. We used the acronym STREAM (Science, Technology, Religion, Engineering, Art, Math) to communicate our mission. The goal is to inspire and “ignite” an appreciation of the STEM disciplines in our students and community, while fostering innovative thinking and strong relationships with community leaders and stakeholders. These strategies highlight our focus on enhancing our academic programs and producing 21^st century learners. We are providing our students with the core knowledge and skill-sets necessary to explore professional opportunities in STEM related fields. We used the LabLearner curriculum as a springboard to further enhance our school programming and further develop our STREAM program.

In August of 2012, our faculty and staff began the process of implementing our plan by attending a series of professional development courses and conferences that helped us unify the focus of our STREAM program. In the fall, the middle school team collaborated and developed an interdisciplinary project. It was called "'STREAM'ing in Cedarock Park". The middle school students went to a historic park in Alamance County where the students spent the day outside working and recording their findings in their “field guide” booklet. This project was submitted to Today’s Catholic Teacher magazine and won an Innovations in Catholic Education award in Curriculum and Instruction for that year.

In March of 2013, we submitted our application to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and North Carolina Science, Math, Technology Education Center for STEM recognition. In November of 2014, our middle school was recognized as a STEM School of Distinction at the Prepared level, making us only one of the twelve schools recognized at the prepared level, as well as the only private school in the state given this designation at the time of awarding.

In 2015, our NC STEM Certification was expanded to incorporate kindergarten through fourth grade and we were recognized as a STEM School of Distinction at the Model Level which is the highest level possible for a STEM public or private school.

Our STREAM journey continued in 2015 with the introduction of our after-school club First LEGO League (FLL), which challenged students with the opportunity to solve real-world engineering challenges and develop important lifelong skills. With the integration of this club, fourth graders were introduced to robotics while the middle school students competed with other students throughout North Carolina. In 2015, the middle school Tech Knights Team won first place in the Presentation and Research category at the North Carolina First LEGO League Competition, and in 2016, the team won first place for the Strategies and Innovations category. As recently as November 2018, our team was a Regional Qualifier in the NC FLL competition. In February 2019, the Tech Knights qualified for the FLL Regional and State Finals.

The culmination of our school-wide project occurred in April 2015. Blessed Sacrament School partnered with the Alamance Makers Guild and participated at the inaugural Burlington Maker Faire. Our high-altitude balloon launch was a featured event at the faire.

In order to prepare for the launch, the students studied the daily wind currents so they could predict the landing of the balloon. Paul Lowell of NC Near Space Research spoke to the students about the launch and showed some instruments that were going to be used for the balloon launch. Students engineered payloads to FAA regulations. Payloads included camera, data trackers, GPS trackers, and our “Flat Knights” designed by all grade levels. As a result of this project, Blessed Sacrament School was awarded 3rd Place in the category of "Most Educational Initiative" in the 2015 Global Space Balloon Challenge. At the time, this Global Balloon Challenge was the largest, international event in history with more than 125 teams flying from 27 countries.

As we started the 2016 school year, we reflected on the growth of our STREAM program. One highlight was the STREAM Speaker Series. This started as an elective with 14 students for only 8 weeks and evolved to a scheduled class every Friday where speakers share how their educational journeys led them to their STEM careers. Through this initiative, students experienced how professionals in our own community use STEM every day. Our students were able to see the sky is the limit when it comes to their future; from space flight, to prosthetic design, to teenage Minecraft programmers, and local makers- STREAM partners of all kinds visited BSS. We were very excited to welcome Nobel Prize winner Dr. Oliver Smithies to present to our students on Sept. 23, 2016.

More noteworthy accomplishments include:

1. The STREAM team presented to other teachers locally and alongside NASA Education Specialists about the integration of NASA resources into STEM school programs. We held teacher and administrator sessions throughout the Diocese of Raleigh. Our STREAM journey was shared nationally with thousands of other education professionals in both Orlando and San Diego at the National Catholic Education Association Conference.

2. Our community worked together to publish Fancy Frog's X-STREAM Adventure, a children's book which also outlines the process for integrating STREAM into a K-4 curriculum. BSS faculty wrote the book, while two of our students illustrated it. We also began work on a sequel.

3. We represented Blessed Sacrament School at many events in our town, including The Burlington Maker Faire and Maker’s Roundtables. We traveled to Washington, D.C. to showcase our students' work at the National Maker Faire sponsored by the White House.

4. Due to our Mission to Mars yearlong project, the 2015 8th grade class was able to tour NASA Langley and hold conversations and eat lunch with actual rocket scientists who were more than impressed with our students' research.

Our journey since 2016 was worth every minute.

As we moved into 2017, we continued expanding the program. This expansion included the completion of Fancy Frog Goes to Mars; as well as having Mrs. Gomez, our principal, as a presenter with LabLearner at the National Catholic Education Association Convention in Cincinnati, Ohio; STEM Night; and our STREAM speakers, such as a worker from Honda Aero, and a nuclear engineer.

The 2018 school year started with this message from Mrs. Gomez to parents:

STREAM continues to be an active part of our school life. There are great projects that involve critical and creative skills that can be used in everyday life. STREAM continues to be an integral facet of our teaching at our school. Remember, "The sky is not the limit at BSS!"

Older students continued to work with their younger STREAM buddies creating projects such as flying spiders, LEGO towers with a balanced apple, and “thing a ma jigs." Middle school students were presenters at the NCTIES. They presented their Food Trucks projects during a session at the convention where they discussed how they created and designed a food truck and shared one food item from their menu that they had prepared.

As we entered 2019, TED and STREAM Speaker Fridays continued. One of the best STREAM Buddy projects was when the 7th and Kindergarten buddies made trumpets in honor of Louis Armstrong during Black History Month in 2020. Then COVID hit and for the 2020 school year, activities and projects were very limited, but we were still able to make the most out of our year with a variety of events to help our students experience something as close to "normal" as possible, including our Annual "May the Fourth Be With You" Egg Drop. Check out our End of Year video below to see just how much fun we had!

As we emerge from COVID during this 2021-2022 school year, we are reflecting upon our best practices and weaknesses. We are reassessing our program to ensure that our STREAM program is relevant with the current Science trends. The first step in our 2021 journey was revisiting and rewriting our STREAM vision and mission. Today, our vision and mission statement reads:

Our mission is to prepare all students for high school and beyond using activities that stimulate curiosity, discovery, critical thinking, cooperation, and collaboration, with the goal of supporting their cognitive, social, emotional, moral, and physical development. Students will graduate with a strong foundation in academics and life skills with the desire and motivation to be lifelong learners who strive to make meaningful contributions to their communities.

Furthermore, we have established new goals by assessing our strengths and shortcomings. These new goals are:

1. Rebuild our community partnerships that were paused due to COVID by having each teacher in charge of reaching out and continuing conversations with one of our community partners.

2. Establish a designated bi-monthly time for STREAM leadership to meet, schedule, and plan at least 1 STREAM-related Professional Development session each year for all teachers.

3. Continue to develop our MakerCare space to adapt to the changes in technology as well as the needs and interests of our students and teachers.

4. Increase opportunities for reflections by having students and teachers complete 2 written reflections per school year and having parents and community members complete an annual survey to gain feedback on our program.

Blessed Sacrament School’s STREAM has come leaps and bounds since our first written strategic plan in 2012.

Our plans for 2021 and beyond are in full force. We are developing plans for a schoolwide re-launch of our STREAM program, including an update to our existing structures and programs over the next 3 years. These plans include:

• Revamping our middle school elective choices to include a wider variety of STREAM-related activities and topics, including being a "maker," core computer skills and building (e.g. CompTIA A+ based curriculum), robotics, among others.

• Expanding our network of partners to include more local and regional organizations, as well as nationally-recognized STREAM-focused groups.

• Establish a STREAM Team student organization, which will design and organize regular, schoolwide STREAM Challenges.

• Begin participating in the Alamance County and NC Elementary Science Olympiad Tournaments for grades 3rd through 5th.

• and much more!

We are excited to see where the future of STREAM takes us. There is no limit to our students’ imagination and creativity!