One of the purposes of having a designated STEM Coordinator at WFES is to ensure that the planning phase of lessons and activities are done in concert with the STEM learning framework. Our teachers design units of study that offer low-floor, high-ceiling learning opportunities and encourage creative and diverse expression of ideas. The intent is to offer students multiple pathways to access content and a wide array of methods in which they can show mastery of a concept. At the heart of this approach is an emphasis on student collaboration and cooperative learning. We know that students learn from and with others and, therefore, encourage them to think in both collaborative and divergent ways. Often, peers are intentionally partnered to work with individuals who share similar interests and learning styles. An example of this is when our fifth-grade students participated in the Governor’s App Challenge. Students were paired based on their interests so that they could collaborate on an idea for their app and then build their coding skills. At other times, teachers create student teams that can provide peer support for our at-risk population, such as English language learners and special education students. This was the case when our students designed basketball shoes inspired by Duke’s Zion Williamson’s shoe falling apart. Students were grouped in a way that someone had knowledge of the sport and others were able to support the engineering design process. The majority of our STEM projects and lessons culminate with a group presentation or a student showcase wherein peers explain their learning process to each other. As a faculty, we have become adept at designing thematic units that are inquiry-based in nature and focus on both “real-world” and “their world” problems and challenges. We want students to understand the connection between the foundational math, science and reading skills they are learning and how the application of those skills impacts the world around them. Within each unit of study, and at the core of each STEM task, learners are required to think critically and creatively as they work towards possible solutions and to ask questions related to the issues they explore. As with any collaborative projects in the real world, team dynamics play a large role in success, and that is also true with our elementary students. We face the challenge of being the first to instill the importance of teamwork in our students and the idea that everyone on the team has something to contribute to make the project better. Working to establish this philosophy in our students will benefit their future selves as well as their future colleagues and employers.