Wilson Middle School

Overview: Students will create brochures, infographics, and PSAs that explore various STE(A)M careers, the disparities within them, & propose solutions to increase interest & involvement in STE(A)M. Moreover, students will reflect on the importance of seeing themselves represented in these fields. 

Project Initiation: Student began by drawing "what a professional in STEAM" looks like followed by an Internet search for "Professionals in _____". Students compared drawings and searches, and discussed who was the majority represented in those images, why that might be, and if this is reflected within their communities. Moreover, students were told that their main client for this project would be their peers, & that additional clients and/or partners in the process could be local professionals in STEM. 

Project Exploration and Development: Individually, students used clear research questions about a STE(A)M career of choice & used various sources, including but not limited to Internet searches and interviews with community professionals, to create brochures that detailed the pathways to those jobs. With that information, students worked in pairs to further researched inconsistencies of race, gender, class, etc within those careers to inform their peers.This included student surveys to see what knowledge or exposure to STE(A)M the students already had. As a culminating project & reflection, students will work in groups to create a PSA that provides a call to action to increase representation in STE(A)M. 

Project Revision and Exhibition: Students looked at completed examples of brochures and infographics, as well as their peers' "in progress" work and discussed what they liked, did not liked, or what caught grabbed their attention, in order to revise their own. When videos are completed or halfway done, students will have an opportunity to reflect on both the creative process & research process. They will have an opportunity to get feedback from peers and adults within the community about the effectiveness of their PSA. 

Teachers and Subjects: Michelle Calimlim- Visual Art, Kamphet Pease- CCTE (Intro to Coding & Gateway to Tech), Lily Brown - Math