Stem Community

Standard 1

School provides equitable opportunities for students to engage in high quality STEM learning

Narrative

Florence B. Mathis Elementary School is formerly known as Foley Intermediate school. We have a proud history that stems from a one-room schoolhouse that has evolved into a diverse population of 730 students. Our school was once a k-12 school named Aaronville School that served an all-black community. Our student body now is 18% African American, 40% Hispanic, 41% Caucasion, and 1% Asian. We are a Title I school with 84% of our students qualifying for free or reduced lunch. Because our needs are so great, we depend on our business partners to share in STEAM education. Throughout the year, our students engage in high-quality STEAM learning through a variety of experiences. We have special guest speakers, and at the end of the year, we have a Career Day where all of our partners share their STEAM career interests with students.

Standard 1, Concept 1: School has adopted an inclusive model of STEM education that is representative of community served by the institution.

Our Broadcast: Community and STEAM Language

As our edifice has undergone many transformations, so has our community. We celebrate Black History month by including a segment of black history in our broadcast. Our middle school also travels to our school to perform African American themed dances, skits, and a slide show presentation of successful African Americans in history. The STEAM opportunities we offer reach all our Florence B. Mathis Elementary students.

BlackHistory Ending.mp4

Black History

During Black History month in our morning broadcast, we spotlight successful African Americans in history. With the conclusion of Black History month, we highlighted our own school's history with pictures from the past and pictures of the present. We are prideful of how many obstacles we have overcome and the positive direction we are going in STEAM.

April 20.mp4

STEAM Language and Highlights

Our morning Broadcast Team works every afternoon to record, edit, and deliver Florence B. Mathis' important news and information every morning of the school year. We use this moment to reach every student, so we connect our school community with a common language for STEAM education.

International Connections "ICon" Club

Our ICon Club connects families and our community.

Standard 1, Concept 2: School engages in proactive strategies to recruit and support engagement from students traditionally underrepresented in STEAM fields of work and learning.

Professional Development

Our school is a high-poverty school with over 84% of our students qualifying for free or reduced lunch. Our focus is to provide a STEAM education to ALL students, k-6, plus underrepresented students who are economically disadvantaged, special needs, girls, and cultural diversity.

Ongoing professional development teaches our teachers to attract underrepresented groups of students in STEAM. Two of our teachers participated in Tech Trek teacher camp whose mission is to bring awareness to educators of girls in STEM careers and provide knowledge of how social and environmental factors shape girls' achievement and interest in math and science. Our educators have adopted a growth mindset, so they teach girls to embrace challenges in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.

Our professional development is focused on engagement, so every year we engage in a book study during our Professional Learning Communities. We have studied The Daggett System for Effective Instruction: Alignment for Student Achievement, Teach Like a Pirate, and The Wild Card: Seven Steps to an Educator's Creative Breakthrough.

The University of Alabama Tech Trek Teacher Camp

Teachers attended Tech Trek summer camp hosted by The University of Alabama in Huntsville to help support and recruit women and girls into STEM careers.

Kagan Cooperative Learning for ELLs

Foley Intermediate teachers and ELL teachers from around the county engage in Kagan Structures to engage ELL students in STEAM learning.

Mission 100

Mission 100 is a partnership between the Southeastern Center of Robotics Education at Auburn University and the REC Foundation. Mission 100 provided over $1400 work of equipment, supplies, and training for two teachers. Its mission is to recruit diverse groups of students from underprivileged areas to participate in robotics competitions.