Partnerships

Graham Creek Elementary School's STEM initiative is developed and carried out by our administrators, teachers, students, parent volunteers, and community partners. Through our combined efforts, GCE is able to provide its students with a quality STEM education that will prepare our students to be successful in their future careers. With consistent feedback and revisions, GCE is able to continuously change and adapt instructional support to ensure optimal learning.

It is through our community partnerships that GCE is able to sustain our goal of providing real-life learning opportunities for our students. Following our sustainability plan, our current and future community partners will ensure the continuation of GCE's STEM culture and curriculum implementation success.

4.1 Community Partner Feedback

Community partners, established by GCE, are comprised of individuals throughout our local community. These community partners are asked for their feedback and revisions to the GCE STEM initiative can be seen in an attached summary.

4.2 STEM Career Exploration

The EIE and Picture Perfect Stem curriculum maps show at least 50% of the STEM units provide examples of possible career exploration opportunities. Once a month our students also participate in school-wide Club Days and our local Boys and Girls Club, housed at GCE, also provides opportunities to spark career interests and career explorations.

4.3 Community Engagement

GCE is thankful to have many community partners. Though small in size, our local community has provided support to Graham Creek's initiatives to ensure a quality STEM education with real-world experiences. Our community partners are passionate about education and are happy to share expertise in their field with others.

4.4 Extended Learning

Being in a rural area, transportation has always hindered a large portion of our student's participation in after-school activities. To solve this problem, Graham Creek has started a monthly "Club Day" initiative. Currently, there are a total of 18 different clubs in which 100% of GCE's students participate. Each student attends the same club for 3 monthly sessions, then is switched to a different club. All students will participate in at least three different clubs per year. Depending on the club, some students will participate in up to six different clubs throughout the year. Some examples of clubs include robotics, makerspace, baking, construction, Legos, art, and fitness.

4.5 Access and Opportunity to STEM Experiences

GCE has made great strides in creating access and opportunity to STEM experiences for all students. We value and appreciate the differences that are brought to our school by all teachers, staff, students, and community members who walk through our doors. GCE has embraced inclusivity of all learners and has identified underrepresented groups in order to provide better access and opportunities through our curricula, including STEM integration, in and out of the classroom. Evidence will show some examples of opportunities already in place to inspire and inform underrepresented groups. In addition, the GCE Action Plan provides insight of how GCE will continue increasing access and opportunities, especially in STEM experiences for underrepresented groups of students at GCE.

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