STEM Community Engagement

Woodland Forrest is fortunate that our origins in program building are derived from a history of being a Discovering Alabama Model School with strong links to Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative (AMSTI) and the University of Alabama. We have been able to expand these relationships into true STEM partnerships and a model of educational reciprocity. Our partners have helped us strengthen and legitimize our instructional practices by providing professional development for our teachers, resources, tools, materials for our classrooms, and exposing students to professionals in STEM fields. In turn, we’ve been the incubator space for these partners. We provide them with an environment in which they can run pilot programs, train interns, and test the viability of new programs and ideas.

Current partnerships that help us support and sustain our STEM program and initiatives include the Director of STEM Education for the Alabama Afterschool Community Network, who has helped us develop a solid teacher training program, host major STEM events, and launch an after school STEM program. Schoolyard Roots, another long-term partner, conducts weekly science, health, and environmental lessons through our onsite school garden. We also realize that our parents play a key role in sustaining a community of support for STEM learning. We value their partnership in their child’s education, involve them in all parts of the process, and they have fully embraced our STEM mission. Our parents are active participants. Not only do they attend interactive STEM events, but they help us extend learning at home through take-home challenges and activities. Additionally, we bring in parents who are involved in STEM related careers and have specific areas of knowledge and expertise to enhance classroom instruction. While we feel very strongly supported in our STEM endeavors, finding additional opportunities for stakeholder involvement is crucial. We are always on the lookout for local businesses, professionals, and educational institutions to help sustain and support our STEM mission.

Schoolyard Roots

We are very proud of our ongoing partnership with Schoolyard Roots, a program that truly impacts our culture and our curriculum. This partnership helps cultivate curiosity and connections through an onsite learning garden. Weekly science lessons engage our students with food and nature in a hands-on approach, bringing classroom concepts to life. Students plant seeds, harvest vegetables and cook their own meals. The learning is immediate, impactful and has real-world applications. In addition to science activities, teachers from Schoolyard Roots have collaborated with us to connect disciplines such as math, writing and art to the natural world. The garden is also a great place to have community events, and Schoolyard Roots has worked with WFES on a number of occasions to host nutritional education “parties” for our parents and other school partners.

STEM Events

One of our favorite ways to showcase our community partnerships is by hosting STEM events, the biggest of which is our yearly “STEM Night”. For this event, all of our school partners, from those involved on a large-scale basis, to others that fulfill a smaller, particular role, help us present the connections between our student work and STEM careers. With an emphasis on hands-on, interactive activities and experiments, STEM Night is an engaging and fun collaborative experience for students, parents and partners. Our partnership with the University of Alabama is typically at the forefront of these events, with members of their engineering, science and math departments running exhibitions each year. Local businesses that routinely support our program, such as Nucor Steel, BF Goodrich and Thompson Tractor are also invited to provide learning experiences for our students and exposure to career professionals in STEM-related fields. STEM Night has increased in attendance every year, both in terms of partnerships and community engagement. At this year’s event we brought in new groups from Auburn University and the Alabama Afterschool Network, and now both have agreed to work with us on future endeavors.

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