Change the Equation: Vital Signs Forum

The South Dakota Innovation Labs Project sent a team to Washington DC for the Change the Equation: Vital Signs Forum. The team, Dan Guericki, Tiffany Sanderson, Jill Weimer and Annalies Corbin spent the better part of two days learning a lot about STEM around the country. We met lots of people with similar ideas and initiatives in their own states. We are looking forward to watching as Change the Equation moves forward.

Great Lakes Field Station at Kelleys Island

Just experienced an amazing day trip to Kelleys Island with Annalies, Sheli, Nick, Beth, and Megan. My name is Rich Rosen, a board member with PAST Foundation, and a guest blogger for this post on STEM on the Road.

Over the course of the next few years, this small school in the middle of an island on Lake Erie is seeking to transform itself into a field station using the Great Lakes as the learning laboratory for students to explore as part of their high school education. To get started, 3 summer bridge programs are being designed by PAST in conjunction with the Kelleys Island Schools District (KISD), and will be offered to about 60 students across Ohio in June/2012.

Sheli, Megan, Nick plan the locations
 on the Island for Entomology Program.

The Board of KISD has taken a bold step with the upcoming summer bridge programs they are planning with the support of PAST. With what is learned about the island as a field school this summer, the long range plan is to establish a year-round Field School. This offers the potential to add more robust learning environments at the local school for the teachers and students who are year-round residents, as well as a magnet to attract students from other STEM schools in Ohio and elsewhere who would attend the field school for extended periods of time. No other resource like this is available to students or teachers in Ohio or in the US.

Beth (middle) is coordinating the sessions, and she's joined here by graduate students Megan and Nick from The Ohio State University sitting on the banks of the quarry.

Here's Nick at the quarry, one of the sites for
Entomology - Miniature Masters of Human Fate

Geology will be seen close-up as students
see Glacial Grooves and Geological
Mysteries of the last Ice Age

All that remains from an abandoned winery is this beautiful stone wall.
A site that holds some mysteries for the students to explore.

The school is located in the middle of the island. Kelleys Island is off the north coast of Ohio and students will reach the island on a ferry leaving from Marblehead, Ohio.  

I can just imagine the problem based learning (PBL) opportunity that exist in this island community. Stay tuned to see what the students create.


Oh, and a final discovery that Annalies and I found during our drive home! For those who drive up from Columbus to Kelleys this summer, we highly recommend stopping in Norwalk at Sheri's Coffee House - 27 Whittlesay Avenue - for a nice mocha. We met the owner, and the cafe was filled with local after-schoolers hanging out. Maybe some of them are future summer bridge program students at Kelleys in 2012 and beyond. You never know?

STEM and GEM!

Exciting work has been going on at PAST and all of our buildings as we explore what 2012 has to offer. In December we were generously awarded a grant from the Women's Fund of Central Ohio (check out their site and see all of the 2012 projects they support: http://www.womensfundcentralohio.org/) to fund our Girls Empowerment Mural(GEM) Program. This program will have students design and manage a community based mural program within the Linden Area. To kick off our introduction to murals and community based art The Ohio State University Art Education Department generously offered to invite Mural Artist and Educator Olivia Gude to help share her expertise and experience with our teachers and community partners. We came together at the newly renovated Linden McKinley STEM Academy on Saturday February 3, 2012 to explore the space as well as begin possible mural ideas to share with our schools and the Linden community. This was a phenomenal experience as we heard Gude speak to the notion "Teachers who instruct...through collaborative public art projects understand that, while it is true that people are shaped by their environments, it is also true that people have the capacity to alter and change environments, and thus to be reshaped themselves." It was a wonderful day and a great catalyst in brainstorming ways to share with our students that they can be agents of change in their communities through thoughtful creation of space!

Teachers and community members came together to brainstorm and share ideas on beginning our collaborative mural program.

Roller Coasters!!!

Roller Coaster Challenge 2012 was a huge success and an amazing opportunity to see students from Columbus and China come together in the spirit of friendly competition. Teams from Linden McKinley STEM Academy, METRO School, and New Bridge International School from Beijing, China joined us at COSI to pit their designs and ideas against one another! Lisa, Walker, Maria, Laura, and I were the PAST folks that got to watch all of the excitement and see all of the students hard work come to life in their model roller coasters, marketing presentations, and scientific posters. The artist in me has to appreciate that 9th grade teachers that gave their students spray paint to decorate their final creations! Also, major points to the team with a zombie themed coaster titled "House of the Dead". The students got to have center stage on February 1st, 2012 as we were generously given the Atrium in COSI to house the coaster competition. It was a huge win for everyone involved and a wonderful day, that our students aren't going to forget anytime soon!

One of our Chinese teams putting finishing touches on their coaster before the last test cycle! (They won the coveted Golden Ticket and took home 1st Place!)

Linden McKinley teams showcase their winning coasters and posters in their front entrance way! Congrats to all what an amazing day!

Bonesteel, South Dakota. February 1, 2012

Hi, Diana Wolterman here. Since I am currently on my inaugural STEM trip with PAST, I have been asked to record my impressions of today as a "guest blogger".   Early morning found me and Annalies and Sheli heading south and west (barely missing the border of Nebraska) on our way to Bonesteel and the South Central School District.  We spent the morning meeting with teachers in various stages of transforming their teaching methods to problem- based learning. Sheli worked her magic on the slightly reluctant ones and even they could clearly read the look in her eye: "I'm going to win you over and resistance is futile." Others were obviously already converts and gleefully recounted the exciting projects their students have been working on. Annalies and Sheli shared ideas about how next year will be even stronger due to collaboration across the innovation lab schools.

For lunch, we swapped war stories with Sam Shaw from the SD Dept. of Ed. over burgers and onion chips at Bonesteel's renowned "TeePee Cafe".  He seems very pleased with PAST's work in South Dakota.

Afterward we visited some classrooms to see the kids in action. Our favorite of the day was Mrs. Johnson's kindergarten class, where they are currently learning about the rain forest by coloring and hanging tropical animals under an improvised palm tree made from a beach umbrella. We met Baronn, who proudly told us he lives in Fairfax and it is 4 whole miles away! After the class finishes the rain forest they will tackle "Kindergardenville" and they all invited us to come back and see their completed neighborhood.




On our trip home, we saw a sign for a lookout point over the Missouri River at the Ft. Randall Dam and since we haven't refused an opportunity to have an adventure yet, we said "Heck yeah!" we were rewarded with a picturesque vista and got several photos that reflect what a beautiful sunny day it's been in South Dakota. This rookie is having a great time!

by Guest Blogger, Diana Wolterman, 2012

Armour and Platte-Geddes, South Dakota

The fair weather followed us from Ohio to South Dakota, even the native South Dakotians are having a hard time remembering a more mild end to January. This week the team includes Annalies, Sheli, and Diana Wolterman - who has never been to South Dakota. We are staying at the lovely Molly's Manor in Platte where our host Donna is quite wonderful.

Sheli and Diana spent the morning in Armour where they worked with the combined science and English classes - the Schneider's (Mr. And Mrs.) where the primary topic of conversation and instruction was infectious disease. The task at hand was to solve the problem of where most of the communicable diseases present in the high school came from and how they were spread from student to student. One can only image the journey this conversation took. Sheli and Diana took the scenic route between Platte and Armour which gave them the chance to see the new "hot house" enterprise.

In the afternoon, Sheli and Diana returned to Platte-Geddes Elementary School to work with 2nd grade teacher Mary Biehl. The second grade students greeted us warmly and shared with them their recent studies and adventures with their new baby worms in their composter. They are using their own composted
soil in their terrariums and also getting ready for gallery show - "The First 100 Days of School" - for parent teacher night.

Annalies spent the day with the staff of the MidCentral Educational Cooperative in Platte planning for next year. We ended our day at the Yellow Rose a restaurant and tavern where we enjoyed a wonderful - all beef meal followed by the first night of league horse shoe throwing competition - or as the locals say - "pitch night." It was a great time had by all. We always enjoy meeting the local folks who share so much with us about life in South Dakota.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Armour and Platte, South Dakota

Sitting Bull College PD, North Dakota

Standing Rock, North Dakota: Saturday was a gorgeous day in North Dakota as Annalies, Ketal and I arrived at Sitting Bull College for a day of PD with teachers from schools in and around the Bismarck area.  Twenty-one teachers filled the room at the college and we launched into the process of creating projects that resonated with the groups around issues that are pertinent to the communities.  The day flew by punctuated by phenomenal food, provided by the Prairie Dog Cafe.  We saw creative examples of a design cycle including the design cycle die and the design cycle dream catcher.  Together the teams tackled weather, building a greenhouse, engaging community, creating a quilt, exploring health issues, and examining geothermal energy alternatives.  By the close of the day each team presented slide decks of their projects beginning the journey that will bring these projects to life in the classroom. Back in Bismarck we went out for Annalies' birthday celebration at the Alien Bar & Grille treating ourselves to concoctions such as, Moon-Me Margarita, Bahama Alien Mama, and Alienade.  Amazingly we managed to avoid journeying home with Alien t-shirts.  But we have pictures.