STEM K12 14: Students develop STEM skills and cross-cutting competencies that support workforce readiness.

Impact Narrative:

Students at KME have the opportunity to develop STEM skills that will equip them for the future. Students problem-solve through school-wide competitions, use the Forsyth County Schools' Learner Profile daily, and refer to our school tenets, Colts Who Care, Wisdom Seekers, Difference Makers, World Changers, and Family, to engage in STEM learning. One way our Colts use this framework is to cultivate empathy through identifying the needs of others. We create initiatives for students to help others in our Forsyth community, such as sponsoring and coordinating coat drives, collecting items for hurricane victim relief, donating food, toys, and blankets for the Humane Society, and collecting canned goods for the local food pantry. Our daily Helping Hands program is just one example of a method we use to collect unused, unopened food items for families in need. Data is collected and used to determine how much food is given to local families instead of landfills. This program has also created student leaders within our building.

Kelly Mill Elementary additionally provides STEM programming that promotes students' successes toward a future in college or the workforce. We have implemented our Forsyth County Schools' Learner Profile to ensure growing leaders for success from kindergarten to 12th grade. Our cross-competence skills include the 4Cs (Critical Thinking, Collaboration, Communication, & Creativity) and Problem Solving.

Students collaborate and work together in teams when solving problems. We encourage teamwork because we know students will need this skill in college and career opportunities. Our teachers act as facilitators to allow student ownership and evaluation of their learning. Students learn to speak respectively and listen intentionally. Students communicate throughout the Kelly Mill Engineering Design Process in every classroom. They brainstorm ideas, explain their reasons, follow success criteria and rubrics, and offer both teacher and peer feedback. Students also communicate their processes and how their ideas will create change.

Students engage in authentic and real-world STEM competitions to solve problems within their school or community. The Georgia Tech Inventure competition and the Siemens Change the World competitions address issues, including recycling in our school. Students use problem-solving skills and won a nationwide competition through Siemens. During Georgia Tech’s experiences, students create, design, and develop a prototype to showcase and pitch to community members in the workforce. We see that students learn to think critically by following our school-wide engineering design process. They collaborate, share their ideas, create prototypes, explain their process, and make revisions.

We plan to continue offering real-world STEM experiences to all learners at Kelly Mill Elementary as we advance. Students will use success criteria and work through the KME Engineering Design Process to ensure students are workforce ready and able to be competitive in an ever-changing world. We will use our school tenets and the learner profile to cultivate empathy and problem-solve ways to help those in need. Finally, we look to engage students in outside partnerships and competitions to continue working as we grow.

Initiatives/Actions/Artifacts:

• Kelly Mill Elementary Service Projects

• Helping Hands Program

• School-wide STEM competitions with outside companies judging

• Forsyth Learner Profile  

• GA TECH Inventure Competition 

• Trees Rock Competition 

• Groups of Teachers PD and presenting at statewide conferences.