Inclusion/Equity
School/program provides equitable opportunities for students to engage in high quality STEM learning.
Concept 1 - School/program has adopted an inclusive model of STEM education that is representative of community served by the institution.
Concept 2 - School/program engages in proactive strategies to recruit and support engagement from students traditionally underrepresented in STEM fields of work and learning.
Fairhope West Elementary School is a kindergarten through sixth grade school with a pre-k program located in the heart of Fairhope, AL. Fairhope is a city in Baldwin County, located on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay. Our STEAM mission is to use innovative, 21st century teaching to empower happy, successful, and self-directed lifelong learners in a safe, challenging, and engaging environment. Fairhope West Elementary School prides itself that all students have access to STEAM-driven educational experiences. As a kindergarten through third grade school, these experiences took place daily in the general education classroom, weekly through the enrichment schedule, monthly during third grade club meetings, and one visit each semester to the Pelican’s Nest Science Lab. As a kindergarten through sixth grade school in 2020-2021, the STEAM lab is a weekly enrichment for kindergarten and first grade. Our students receiving special education services, female students, English language learners, and students of poverty represent groups of non-traditional students who receive STEAM education at our school on a regular basis. During STEAM instruction, teachers focus on the content standards of the Alabama Course of Study which emphasize creativity, communication, collaboration, critical thinking, rigor, and equity.
MyStream_0.mp4WOMEN IN STEAM BOOK REVIEWS
In 19-20, the FWE Women in STEAM focus offered STEAM Club for 3rd grade girls and two girl’s teams collaborating together to compete in a robotics competition. Our STEAM coach and librarian recorded book talks with girls who have read from the Women in Science section of the media center. In 20-21, Girls in STEAM is offered to all third and fourth grade girls to visit with a female in the STEAM field.
LEADERSHIP DAY
Students at Fairhope West Elementary School all have access to be “leaders of their learning” through the Leader In Me program that is being implemented here. This is so important for students to participate in as they also extend their own learning, evaluation, and improvement of their learning in the engineering design process. This schoolwide implementation has given students the ability to share their voice and find their “genius”. Students were able to showcase their learning in a “Leadership Day”.
FEEF Summer Camp
During the summer, students from Rotary Youth Club attended a summer STEAM camp. Students studied acoustical engineering that included robots and musical instruments.
Pelican's Nest
STEAM Connections.mp4All students have access to two field trips during each school year to the Pelican’s Nest Science Lab. These involved STEAM lessons are tailored to each grade level’s standards. Teachers use Google classrooms to share information with one another and with the students prior to the field trip and as a follow-up to the field trip.
Copy of IMG_8672.MOVEnrichment Opportunities
All students are able to attend enrichment classes each week. Students have an alternating enrichment schedule, so they attend our STEAM lab once a month. During the STEAM lab time students use the Engineering Design Process to explore many different tools depending on the grade level and relevancy to age. The lab houses many Makerspace materials to use during their class, but also provides materials on a cart for teachers to use when needed in their classroom. Teachers are also able to check out many other different technology tools that are kept in the STEAM lab. Other resources include: Lego WeDo, Ozobots, Beebots, Cue Robots, and many others.
Students also attend art and music on a rotation each week where the teachers there also incorporate the Engineering Design Process in their standards-based lessons. The students benefit from cross-curricular learning that also ties in their creativity and collaboration.
All third grade students at Fairhope West Elementary School participate in a club. These clubs are taught by third grade teachers, enrichment teachers, reading coaches, and STEAM coaches. Students were able to complete a Google form to select clubs that interest them and they were placed in one of their top three choices. Many clubs are STEAM-focused, but others incorporate different steps of the Engineering Design Process.
With the addition of grades four through six, the STEAM lab offers enrichment and coaching opportunities. Kindergarten and first grade come weekly for Tech Academy and Tinker Academy. Clubs also include students in grade four through six.
Sustaining Current Practice
In order to sustain our current practice, we will continue to work with FEEF and the community to ensure sponsorship of the Pelican’s Nest and the equitable STEAM learning it provides for all students in the Mobile Bay area. There are many foundations that support STEAM learning; however, it takes continued effort to coordinate sustainable funding and ongoing participation. The faculty, administration, and STEAM PLT will continue to coordinate ongoing professional development opportunities so teachers will continue to implement and grow in the areas of the STEAM model, Engineering Design Process model, and the 4 C’s (critical thinking, communication, creativity, and collaboration) in classroom instruction. Teachers will provide opportunities for students to continue using models and be able to discuss their learning. During the Leader in Me Leadership Day, we continue to focus on students showcasing their leadership skills for community members. This process allows students to practice communication skills of making eye contact, shaking hands, and speaking clearly for an audience.
Next Steps
As our school continues school wide STEAM implementation, we have several goals for improvement. Next school year, we would like to have more STEAM clubs for girls.
We are currently using rubrics so students can evaluate their learning and reflect on their design process. We would like for students to use rubrics and reflection tools that help relate learning to future STEAM careers. We would also like to cultivate relationships with STEAM professionals to help students envision a future career (with special emphasis on our currently underserved African American and female population at our school).
This spring we will host a STEAM Night that allows students to showcase the Engineering Design Process to their parents and other community stakeholders.