CHALLENGING THE STATUS QUO continued
PARTNERSHIPS OF ALL KIND ARE IMPORTANT At the STEM2 Hub, partnerships of all kinds are important and are driven by an adherance to mutual respect and commitment. And that starts at the top, Schofield said. “Our board members roll up their sleeves and bring their expertise to the table. There are so many examples of this depth of involvement. For example, Jason Raymond, CIO of Florida Blue, works with us on the development of cybersecurity pathways, helping us bring relevancy and currency into the programs. With Lisa Cochran, Head of Global Consumer Technology at Citi, we have worked together on events, such as Bring Your Child to TECH Day, Hour of Code with preschool children, and numerous community events. Our board member, LEGO Education, has pulled together teams of global experts to collaborate,” she said.
At the training, the capstone project was for teachers to work together and hack a problem utilizing a solution found in nature. This year, as science classes across the disciplines infuse biomimicry into the curriculum, students will be challenged to solve a problem that is of interest to them in a way that they take their learning from nature. To do this, ecosystems, symbiosis and anomalies from the natural world are studied, igniting interest for studies from life and environmental sciences to biomedical and environmental engineering. Schofield said, “All of this is happening while students are learning what is required in the standards, but in a more engaging way, through a problem-solving, collaborative environment.” The agrisciences are another area of study, linked and aligned to standards and to social justice through the study of food equity and school-based microfarms. In partnership with board member, Bethesda Farm, school-based microfarms have been located at a few schools in the region. Schofield sketched plans for a new program: “After learning about the Farm Beats program during our visit to Microsoft, we will be partnering with Microsoft and learning more so that we can infuse technology into the Microfarm project so that we can teach about increasing production through the use of technology to monitor, diagnose and treat conditions in plants that can lead to greater yield through IoT applications. As we develop this partnership, we plan to expand to develop more Microfarms, especially in the urban core of Jacksonville, where there are still many areas that are considered to be food deserts. Building empathy, and working to solve social problems, while learning science and technology applied in agriculture offers great promise for children to develop interest in helping solve the projected problems with having enough food to feed the world! Eventually, we plan to develop a place at Bethesda Farm for field trips and summer camps for students to be immersed in these kinds of learning experiences.
“Everyone is learning together to create a better learning experience for children,” she said.
CONSTANT ITERATION Schofield said STEM2 Hub has to understand the need to constantly iterate and seek feedback and input from diverse partners. Schofield believes in casting a wide net for that feedback and support and has been successful with developing media partnerships, including one with a Florida television station that is producing 30-second public service announcements being aired with a STEM student of the week. Schofield said the weekly spots increase the public’s awareness of the Jacksonville-based ecosystem and help improve the community’s overall awareness of STEM. Schofield said the partnership with the television station began when she met some TV staffers at a school where she and one of her STEM2 Hub leaders were cooking eggs for volunteers working at a school.
AT THE STEM2 HUB, PARTNERSHIPS OF ALL KINDS ARE IMPORTANT AND ARE DRIVEN BY A ADHERANCE TO MUTUAL RESPECT AND COMMITMENT.
CHALLENGING THE STATUS QUO
11
Made with FlippingBook Proposal Creator