Partnerships

The leadership team has worked closely with the EWAT (Educational Workforce Advisory Team) to receive feedback throughout the process. During the planning process, members of the leadership team and EWAT, as well as other school staff, visited various models to determine which would be the best response to the identified needs. Throughout this process, the EWAT partnership resulted in increased support from the community. Recently, the leadership team shared the overall proposal with the EWAT. The members responded with questions and comments focused on how they could help support the program and its implementation. The district is looking forward to the continued partnerships with EWAT members and other industry partners. Increased responsivity to industry needs is a component that is outlined throughout the implementation plan and is part of the evaluation. To ensure this ongoing review, the district has quarterly Leadership Team meetings and bi-annual EWAT Team meetings to reevaluate the grant and the effectiveness of the implementation.

4.1 Community Partner Feedback

Community partners are asked to reflect on their engangement with our teachers and students after each engagement. This is done informally when closing up the projects with our community parthers. At the end of each school year, community partners are asked to complete a survey to express their thoughts on the school's progress.

Based off of feedback from surveys, each year we create next steps to allow us to keep working forward to meet our community's changing needs that are expressed on the surveys.

Next Steps

  • 2019-20 - see top image to right

  • 2020-21 - see middle image to right

  • 2021-22 - see bottom image to right

EWAT Team / Community Members:

  • Amy Fellers, Branch Manager @ Crane Federal Credit Union

  • Barb Strahley, Human Resources @ NSWC Crane

  • Brent Courter, Financial Strategist @ Edward Jones

  • Chad Wade, Insurance Agent @ Farm Bureau Insurance

  • Noel Harty, City of Loogootee Mayor

  • Phillip Smith, Supervisory Engineer @ NSWC Crane

  • Pam Loughmiller, Loughmiller Tool and Design

  • Travis Summers, Mechanical Engineer @ NSWC Crane

  • Brooke Hawkins, Chiropractor @ Hawkins Health


4.2 STEM Career Exploration

LMS is incorporating career pathway exploration into their curriculum. The Design Team for the corporation is currently working to create a calendar for the exploration of our four pathways. One pathway will be focused on each term to show students careers in each pathway. Students will be exposed to the following STEM career pathways throughout the school year:

  • Life & Biomedical Sciences

  • Business & Humanities

  • Applied Engineering & Advanced Manufacturing

  • Computer Science & Cybersecurity

In our facility, we have incorporated a makerspace area for students to explore STEM careers and activities. Pathway Guiding Documents have been completed. These documents serve as a foundation for activities that are used in all classrooms of a grade level and lists the community partners for various activities.

Students in all grade levels are given a career interest survey. LMS students take the Holland Code (RIASEC) Test. RIASEC stands for 6 characteristics: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional. The RIASEC test asks students questions about their aspirations, activities, skills, and interests in different jobs to help them discover careers and fields of study that are likely to satisfy them. Data is used to assess student strengths, and pinpoint what classes would be the best fit for a student and for direct career exploration by students. Students are also required to chose 3 careers based on their own interests for which they are interested in gaining more knowledge. Their Holland Code also seves as a map and is directional on which graduation pathway students should follow based on their strengths. LMS students work individually or in group settings with Stephanie Gilbert, the corporation graduation and career coach.

LMS students explore future careers during the Career and College Go Week yearly.

All seventh grade students use 220 Leadership software in their mandatory Exploring Pathways class to set goals for their futures.

All students in grade 8 take our Preparing for College and Careers course. Students use Naviance software to explore careers and take career interest inventories. Guest speakers come in on a regular basis to speak with students about possible careers in their fields.

The LCSC Design Team met in January of 2021 to take a look at our STEM priorities and decided to focus on Pathway Communication for all grades in the corporation. Marketing and student-to-student / teacher-to-student / industry-to-student communications will be the focus for the corporation and a plan is being established to explore a certain pathway each nine weeks in relation to which PLTW modules are used at each grade level. PLTW modules will be used in a certain order next year so all students in all grade levels focus on exploring one career cluster at a time.

4.3 Community Engagement

LMS Community Partners

  • Hawkins Health Care

    • Works with Lion Manufacturing business students

    • Guest speaker for Medical Detectives course

  • Loughmiller's Tool and Design

    • Works with Lion Manufacturing students

    • Representatives from business come in to school weekly

  • Greg Bateman

    • Works with publicity class on ways to improve school presence in social media weekly

  • Jolene's Decorating

    • Students work with Jolene to enhance areas around town

  • Loogootee Recycling Center

    • Students work with recycling center to find ways to reach public to increase recycling in our area

  • Noel Harty, Mayor of Loogootee

    • Noel tries to enhance the Loogootee SummerFest yearly. Students work with Noel to find ways to get more members of our community to show up and take part in the festival

    • Mayor Noel has a large presence in our community and volunteers to help students with various projects that are undertaken

  • Martin County Community Foundation

    • Curt Johnson, Director of MCCF, works with teachers and students to fund projects developed by both

  • NWSC Crane

    • Crane employees serve on our Lion Manufacturing Advisory Council which meets with students quarterly

    • Crane employees come in as guest speakers for a variety of classes including careers, math, computer science, and science

  • RTC Communications - see image on lower right

    • RTC sends representatives to school to inform students about government funding and communication strategies that are needed in our rural community

  • Courtney Hugett, Owner / Publisher Martin County Journal - see image below

    • Courtney serves as a guest speaker

  • Riley Children's Hospital - see first picture to the right

    • Representatives work with our students for fundraising purposes

    • Students develop plans to raise money for worthy recipients

  • Jessica Potts, Loogootee Beautification Committee

    • Asks for students to help implment asthetic changes in the City of Loogootee

  • Dr. Dr Michael Alvarez and Samantha Alvarez, Optomistrist and Wife

    • Guest Speaker for Career Pathways Course on what it takes to be an optometrist - see bottom image on right

We are conducting PBL projects with community partners in every classroom each year. These projects have our students solving real-world problems for businesses and organizations within their own community. These are again found in our Pathway Guiding Documents and in the PBL activities we have created.

The Martin County Community Foundation provides grants to teachers for STEM initiatives.

Community partners and activites are found in our guiding documents


  • TJ McAtee, NSWC Crane Program Analyst Team Manager

  • Dan Christmas, NSWC Crane Lead Engineer

  • Pete Smith, Dairy Master Owner

  • Brooke Hawkins, Owner / Chiropractor Hawkins Health Center

  • Pam Loughmiller, Owner Loughmiller Tool & Design

  • Loogootee Beautification Board PBL - see second picture to the right

  • PBL meeting with Martin County Nursing Home resident - see fourth image on right


4.4 Extended Learning

LMS has a robotics team and a math bowl teram that meet weekly after school to practice and prepare for robotics and math competitions. Although all students are accepted, students must apply to be on the robotics team and are interviewed by staff members to enhance their knowledge and comfort level to apply for a job in the future. They compete in 2 robotics competitions a year in our area. The math bowl is comprised of any student that would like to participate on the team.

Our robotics and math bowl team are comprised of almost 50% females to 50% males. Our school demographic is comparable. in composition. Ninety-five percent of our population is caucausian. We do have one African American student on the robotics team, so the team is comprised of a higher percentage of racially diverse students than is our entire student body.

For the 2022-23 school year, plans are being made to also offer an after school robotics camp for a week after school in the spring for any student wishing to attend.

During the 2022-23 school year, a Science Olympiad team has been formed will compete in two competitions in the spring semester.

Arrangements are made so that students that lack transportation can be picked up and dropped off by the bus or sponsor if it is needed for the student to participate.

4.5 Access and Opportunity to STEM Experiences

Underrepresented STEM student groups:

  • Females

  • Economically disadvantaged

Action Plan

  1. Designate females in the role of teaching Science, Math, App Creators to inspire female students to pursue STEM fields

  • 7th / 8th Grade Science / PLTW Medical Detectives - Brandy Tippery

  • PLTW Green Architecture, Magic of Electrons / Lion Manufactuirng Jr - Megan Jones

  • 7th / 8th Grade Math - Ashton Kahle

  • PLTW App Creators - Tracie McAtee

  1. Invite female guest speakers in the STEM fields to speak to students to inspire female students to pursue STEM fields and allow male students to see that females can succeed in the STEM fields

      • Becca Hollaway (RTC Communications) - see top image to right

      • Emily Bateman Duvall (Mechanical Engineer) - see bottom image to right

  2. To give EVERYONE (females / economically disadvantaged) equal opportunities to experience STEM initiatives, we require that ALL teachers use PBL in their classrooms with ALL of their students (integrated into teacher evaluation) and we also require ALL students to take PLTW courses at all grade levels in grades K-8. For LMS, students take the following courses:

      • PLTW Gateway Green Architecture - Grade 5

      • PLTW Gateway Magic of Electrons - Grade 6

      • PLTW App Creators - Grade 7

      • PLTW Medical Detectives - Grade 8

Other Opportunities