Salem Middle School News

        The new safe room at Salem Middle School has been a hot spot of activity the first few weeks of school. STEAM Lab Director Jessica Morgan has been busy hosting classes and is getting ready for the first Robotics Club meeting, which will include both middle school and high school students. 

Eighth-grade science teacher Angela Snelling has already utilized the space and has plans to do more activities with Morgan. “In science we will use the STEAM lab for our units to do an activity that goes along with what we are learning and help us understand the concept better,” she said. “We just did a chemistry activity there and it is leading us into our first chemistry chapter. It is also nice as a teacher to have a co-teacher to help reinforce what I have been doing and teaching all along. The students enjoy a different point of view on what they are learning as well. My first experience there was very nice and we had a wonderful day.”

Kristen Bailey, who teaches Preparing for College and Careers, said she has enjoyed the hands-on activities the lab provides for her students. She said having an opportunity for them to learn in a way that is not just sitting in a classroom and listening to lectures is a great alternative.

Morgan said in the Project Based Learning class, students designed masks using the 3D Doodle Pens.

“It has been a lot of fun collaborating with other teachers and getting the students into the lab!” she said. “Seeing our vision over the last two years come to life has been very rewarding.”

She added that as far as equipment and furniture goes, the last shipment should arrive at the end of the month. This will include additional 3D printers and a laser cutter, which are being provided by the STEM Integration Grant.  

“It has taken me several months but most items are organized and put away in areas that will be the most efficient,” she said.

In addition to classroom use, the STEAM lab is also the safe room, which will provide shelter during inclement weather. The school practices drills for tornadoes and fires monthly. 

Morgan said the school already held its first tornado drill and everything went smoothly.

“We were able to get all the students and staff into the safe room in about two minutes,” she said. 

When school is not in session, the safe room will be open to the public to take shelter during storms if needed.

For the past two years, Jessica Morgan has been waiting for this moment. The new STEAM Lab at SMS will be ready for students when they return to school in August. 

Morgan was named as the Salem Community Schools STEAM Director in August 2021. She has spent the last two years training, going to conferences and visiting different school corporations with STEAM programs already in place. She’s now ready to put all that knowledge to use.

One of Morgan’s main concerns over the past two years has been sustainability of the lab. Once they have everything in place, they will need to keep supplies available for students and their learning opportunities.

In April, Superintendent Dr. Richard Rutherford alerted her to a state grant that would be a perfect opportunity to help with plans for the lab. The STEM Integration Grant, which is provided by the Indiana Department of Education, is available to assist schools in incorporating STEAM into their curriculum.

“When Dr. Rutherford brought the grant to me, we sat down and talked about goals,” she said. “He said, we have a new STEAM lab, let’s make it shine!” The grant had a very short application window and the two quickly got to work.

On June 7, Morgan got an email letting her know that Salem received the grant, worth $50,000. “I was so excited and relieved!”

She said the focus of the grant was to show that Salem is committed to STEAM. There are currently three STEAM teachers in the corporation: Morgan, as well as Emily Johnson and Crystal Mikels, who are at Bradie Shrum Elementary.

“We have shown that we are in it for the long-haul!” said Morgan. “We just need to sustain it. Every year, we want to add something new.”

The grant was written to include not only the SMS lab, but also to improve equipment for the programs already established at BSE. 

A portion of the $50,000 will be used for staff development. Brent Minton, from the Wilson Center, helped develop a staff training program for STEAM at SCS. Ten teachers, five from SMS and five from BSE, will be trained to integrate STEAM into their classroom curriculum. 

At BSE, part of the grant money will be used to add five more Project Lead the Way programs at their building. They will also get more 3-D printers and filament. Filament is the substance used to create the 3-D items.

SMS will use funds for more robotics equipment, as well as laptops for the 3-D printer and laser cutter. They will also add four to five more printers, as well as filament for the machines.

“Left over funds will be used for consumable supplies that will go with the laser cutter,” said Morgan.

Part of the grant requirements included two letters of support from community members. Morgan said she is appreciative of Minton who wrote a letter guaranteeing support through staff training. The other letter came from Karen Barry through Ivy Tech, who showed support for their partnership in working with SMS to get kids ready for future careers.

Morgan said she is looking forward to what this grant will help her accomplish in the STEAM lab and she can’t wait to get the kids in the room and start doing activities. 

“I think just knowing how much the staff has done and the work that went into getting the equipment for the lab will excite the kids,” she said. “We have put a lot of work into getting this ready for them!”