Wilson Middle School

Overview: How can we provide our students with the advocacy to communicate their own needs and feelings in such a way that they are empowered to succeed in the academic environment and beyond? Students need the skills to cope with stress and anxiety, to persevere and thrive, and to experience happiness in the academic setting. Meeting these imperatives inherently involves individual confidence and the voice to express needs in the academic setting. Such skills can be valuable to students in career and in life. Thus, this project has a broad focus on mental health and providing support for student well being.

Project Initiation: CCTE launched the project asking, “How can technology make our lives better?” Students engaged in design process as preparation for creating mental health brochures and STEM inspired pinball games as learning tools exploring ways to improve well-being. The Art launch was an identity map for students to explore who/what they feel most connected to, and discussion of how trees/plants communicate, comparing how we as people communicate different ideas, messages, and emotions. Science launched with Cornell Lab of Ornithology, “Beast Box - DJ animal sounds.” Students explored animal communication, and considered the ways ecological habitat affects types of communication needed for survival.

Project Exploration and Development: While engaging in the design process, developing their orthopedic prototypes, reflecting and making decision matrices, CCTE students addressed multiple CCTE standards including those for valid and reliable research standards, understanding the environmental, social, and economic impacts of decisions, and employing the design process to solve analysis and design problems. Throughout the Art projects, students learned to analyze art beyond what they see and notice, and use art specific vocabulary and their personal experiences, to describe their understanding of others' art or explain the meaning of or give meaning to, their own. Science focused on NGSS standards for Natural Selection and Adaptation, using Cornell Lab Macaulay Library, IUCN Red Data List, and National Geographic Photo Ark to profile species.

Project Revision and Exhibition: Reflection was an integral part of immersion in the design process for CCTE students and they considered questions such as, “What worked well? What challenges did you have? How would you improve it for next time? What other thoughts do you have on this process?” After every project in their series of work, Art students wrote personal reflections/ artist statements. For their story project specifically, some students received feedback from ELA or CTE classes to have an authentic audience in their process, they also gave feedback to each other. In Science, STEAM creation allowed student focus on, “How does communication make life on Earth better for my species (and for me)?”

Teachers and Subjects: Khamphet Pease, CTE; Michelle Calimlim, Art; Barbara Curry Armstrong, Science

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