Dearborn School’s STEM Certification Will Be A Midwest First
Dearborn, Michigan (PRWEB) March 25, 2014 -- On Wednesday, March 26, 2014 McCollough/Unis School, partnering with STEM.org, will become the first traditional public school in the midwest to become STEM Certified!
The school, located at 7801 Maple Street, Dearborn, 48126, will kick off a day-long celebration that includes a Gold Medal Science Fair, an Atmospheric Science STEM Theater show, a STEM career speech by Meteorologist and MIT graduate, Andrew Humphrey, and will culminate with a presentation of the school’s STEM Certification. The fun begins at 1:00 p.m. and will conclude at 3:00 p.m. A Family Fun Science Night running from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. will keep students, staff, and parents engaged in the STEM activities all day long.
Earning this certification is an important step towards prioritizing STEM education within the regional academic landscape, as there are currently only two Michigan high schools ranked in the top 100 STEM schools nationally, according to U.S. News and World Report.
“We are extremely excited about earning this certification and are looking forward to all of the learning opportunities it will give our students,” commented Heyam Alcodray, Principal at McCollough/Unis.
Ms. Alcodray has been a strong proponent of bringing leading-edge educational methodology into her classrooms as the school works to incorporate new standards and objectives into their curriculum.
STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math and often refers to an approach to teaching that concentrates instruction in those four areas resulting in overall academic success for students. McCollough/Unis is being recognized for their commitment to STEM education as evidenced by their completion of a rigorous STEM focused series of events, programs, and professional development as part of the STEM certification process. This school-wide initiative helped to create an engaging instructional environment utilizing collaborative and experiential learning activities.
STEM.org was established in 2001 with a mission of increasing accessibility to quality education for schools in the greater Detroit area. The organization was recently acknowledged by Senator Carl Levin for impacting the lives of more than 100,000 students and has worked with more than 100 schools, districts, and organizations. STEM.org strives to improve academic achievement at the institutional level with schools and districts to help students envision themselves in STEM careers through interactive summer, after-school, and during-day instruction. Through their professional development, with school teachers and administrators, STEM.org provides expertise in facilitating interdepartmental communication, generating and understanding organizational intelligence, and building a strategic pathway for future success.
“It’s very gratifying to work with a forward-thinking school like McCollough/Unis, and I think that partnerships like these are helping the midwest region to become a powerhouse in the field of STEM education,” commented STEM.org Executive Director, Andrew Raupp.
McCollough/Unis serves students in grades kindergarten through eighth and is one of 33 schools that make up the Dearborn Public School district, the third largest in the state. The school has received state and national recognition for its award winning journalism program called the Living Textbook, http://www.livingtextbook.aaja.org.
The District offers several unique programs for its 19,600 students from the GSRP pre-school program to the award winning Collegiate Academy that provides qualifying students with two years of free college. The Dearborn Public Schools were recently named an Academic State Champion by Bridge Magazine and one of the top 14 districts in the state. Dearborn Public Schools Superintendent, Brian Whiston, was named the 2014 Superintendent of the Year by the Michigan Association of School Administrators.
Sean Sonneveldt, STEM.org, +1 (855) 367-7836 Ext: 3, [email protected]
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