STEM Community Engagement
Standard 3
School/program engages diverse STEM community in order to support and sustain STEM programs and initiatives
Response: The Stone Mountain Middle School STEM Team has been fortunate over the years of the STEM initiative to have partners that collaborate with STEM faculty to advance student achievement. One partnership is with NASA. The partnership began with reachingout to the Museum of Aviation - (NASA) with a phone call and a correspondence letter in 2018.
This was then followed by a standard formal letter of solicitation used for all partnerships we work with each year where the only modification is centered around what we are currently doing and have done in the past within the program.
It was a pleasure speaking with you today, Clare, and Patty.
Thank you for agreeing to partner with us at Stone Mountain Middle School. I know that this partnership will be rewarding and enriching our students. Attached you will find the letter of intent for continued relationship with NASA. I have tagged in this correspondence the names of our Administrative Team. Please feel free to contact any of us if you have any questions or concerns.
Sent with Kindest Regards,
Sophia H. Saxon
STEM Coordinator
Stone Mountain Middle School
Ongoing correspondence...
CSO PowerPoint Student Discussion About Projects and STEM Goals
Which led to a GOT Science event for not only our STEM students but the entire 6th grade. This effort is known as a "STEM Across the Board Initiative. The STEM Across the Board Initiative is a model for bringing STEM into the General Education classroom.
Meet the facilitator
A GOT SCIENCE EVENT
Hosted by Georgia State
View the Student Surveys about the event. Our students spoke in their own voice songs sung by sound of the underrepresented.
Students participated in virtual workshops from Georgia Space Grant Consortium ambassadors. They learned about water usage in GA, sustainability, and the solar system.
Career Day(s)
Each year, the counselors get together and assemble Career Day, where people from all walks of life come in and speak with our students. It begins with the application process and a flyer.
Followed by a script for inviting professionals.
Good Afternoon Staff,
When inviting professionals to career day, you may use the following script if you would like! Just copy & paste into your email. Thanks.
Good Morning/Afternoon,
We are having Career Day at Stone Mountain Middle School and would love for you to participate! We are eager for our students to hear about the many career fields that are available to them. Hearing firsthand accounts about professionals in various career fields will help motivate them to do their best as they matriculate through middle and high school to prepare for careers in the 21st century. If you would like to participate please open the link (listed below) and fill out the form to register. I have also attached a copy of the flyer to spread the word to fellow colleagues and professionals.
If you have any questions please contact Jessica Scott, 8th Grade School Counselor, at ...@dekalbschoolsga.org or (678) 676-..
Thank you in advance for your support and we look forward to having you!
Professionally,
J. S.
And a script for parent and guardian professionals
Greetings SMMS Parents & Guardians,
Career Day is March 20, 2020 and we would for you to come and speak about your wonderful profession. We want our students to experience firsthand, the many professions that are available to them! To sign up please visit our school's website to click the link for registration. If you have any questions please contact Mrs. Cooper, the 8th grade counselor. Thank you and we look forward to having you."
Thanks!
Mrs. C.
Culminating with the event where all students are exposed to STEM careers such as business entreprenaurship, engineering, civil service engineering,
Coding
Meet the facilitator
Coding was a short program introduced to our students through a partnership with Zakiya Davidson a private business owner whose specialty is graphic and web designs, analytics, marketing, and business development. Coding was a way to introduce our students to yet another STEM field that teaches skills including organizing and analyzing data. A sample of the course outline is below:
Coding is the language of maths, therefore this component is one that will be explored and reintroduced to our students in the next school year.
Our partnership with Coca Cola is still in its infancy stage. The partnership was geared toward 8th grade students as Brandon was a chemist working in the lab and his credentials best matched with 8th grade standards. Partnering with Science ATL’s STEM Professional School Partnership (SPSP) program has built and strengthened the STEM program. This program matched our school with this new partner.
CSO PowerPoint Student Discussion About Projects and STEM Goals
To give our students exposure, and practice presenting, we often offer and involve our students in programs such as these - Chief Science Officer.
Georgia Chief Science Officers (CSO) is a STEM leadership development program for middle and high school students across the state, enhancing students’ leadership, communication, and project management skills. Two of our students were elected to become our school’s CSOs and are empowered to lead STEM/STEAM initiatives at our schools and in their communities. Our CSOs have met with school board members, and policymakers to lend their voices to conversations about Water Filters and conducting a STEMonstration based on a real-world problem. Their goal was to create a water filter to clean the water and make that water useful for drinking. They targeted their study to one of our feeder schools and to Grade 5 students within that school. This practice has led to them building a prototype of their ideas. CSOs have presented their ideas and in doing so, our CSOs have begun to build relationships with STEM industry mentors and connect with companies and careers in their region.
​
Strengths
Exposure to STEM fields is critical to exposing students, particularly those underrepresented. Through the program, the immersive capstone projects included in the SMMS STEM program have allowed the program to develop critical relationships with partners across several different fields. Our partners have played an important role for the program, from developing initiatives leading to professional learning opportunities to meeting with students in an open forum. SMMS STEM relies on their expertise to provide real-world connections with our students as well as our educators. SMMS STEM program have allowed the program to develop critical relationships with partners across several different fields. SMMS STEM relies on their expertise to provide real-world connections with our students as well as our educators. Each year, the counselors get together and assemble Career Day, where people from all walks of life come in and speak with our students.
Sustainability:
Recommended: Collaborate weekly to establish a 10% increase in STEM programs for middle school students (i.e. Coding, Drones, SeaPerch, eCyber, etc.)
​
Recommended: At least one student from Stone Mountain Middle School will be funded for a summer STEM camp or program annually.
​
Build: A list of possible STEM presenters/partners. Make available to principals and teachers and continuously updated
​
Increase afterschool programs (in-person/virtually) in the STEM fields at Stone Mountain Middle School to include Lego challenges, 3-D printer, maker space, and science experiment workshops. Seek an increase of 10%
​
Recommended:
STEM Board members create a list of activities and resources related to STEM. These will be categorized, researched, and vetted for inclusion in the school.
​
