Hoover Delivers a One-Two Punch at Iowa STEM Conference
Both Hoover teachers and students spoke about their work at the recent Iowa STEM Conference.
First things first: STEM = science, technology, engineering and math …
Educators from far and wide gathered Friday for the Iowa Statewide STEM Conference III at the Community Choice Convention Center in downtown Des Moines, and Hoover High School delivered a powerful one-two punch on behalf of DMPS.
Chemistry teacher Eric Hall and STEM Academy Coordinator Maureen Griffin were presenters in a breakout session about redesigning classrooms for effective STEM instruction and three freshmen academy students, Lal “Zuali” Zual, Quayvon Gowdy and Savannah Carter-Dixon, were part of a panel discussion where students shared their personal STEM experiences and ambitions.
The room where Hall and Griffin presented was standing-room-only. They detailed Hoover’s use of one of the first grants bestowed by the Governor’s STEM Advisory Council. Blackboards and erasers are long gone. It hasn’t been your parents’ classroom for quite a while now. But it may not even be your eldest child’s anymore. It certainly won’t be much longer.
Whiteboards won’t just be mounted on the walls. They’ll top the large tables around which small groups will gather on collaborative projects and some of them will be interactive. All of the furniture may be wheeled to allow for rapid conversion from one arrangement and purpose to another. Wireless technology is a given. Students will videoconference with counterparts around the globe. Tinker zones will be incorporated. But, Griffin emphasized, the redesign must extend beyond facilities and equipment and “soft seating” if it is to be meaningful and lasting.
“One of the principles driving our plans is ‘don’t design for the current teacher,’” she said. “’Design to fit the vision and direction’ of the overall plan.”
Griffin told the story of taking her academy staff of eleven teachers to visit a school in another state that had recently opened a multi-million dollar STEM wing. The instructional methods and content didn’t rise to the level of the facilities, which was not her expectation in making the trip.
“But the unintended learning that happened was magical,” she said. “Teachers must be part of the redesign.”
When Hoover’s STEM Academy was established in 2012 there were 102 students involved. Next fall, according to Hall, “we will have 160 in grades 9-11.” And counting.
Tailoring learning environments for STEM purposes won’t come cheap. Hoover’s $50,000 grant wasn’t even sufficient by itself to overhaul one classroom space. But it was more than enough to serve as a catalyst. “The grant was a sparkplug,” Griffin said, for Hoover’s Innovative Thinking Center. When potential community partners get wind of what’s happening, “collaboration becomes infectious, viral” she enthused. Hall said he can envision naming rights selling a classroom at a time as corporate stakeholders begin to directly invest in training their future workforce. Speaking of which…
After the morning breakouts the conference attendees went to lunch in the grand ballroom. After they ate they were treated to a lively dessert served up by six engaging teens whose curiosity might only be exceeded by their determination. With all due respect to their fellow panelists, the Hoover kids won the crowd with their stories. Zuali is a Burmese refugee only three years in this country. She plans to become a medical researcher. Savannah told about recruiting a friend into the academy because she saw her as gifted in science and math. And Quayvon talked proudly about his visits to Iowa State and how, even as a lowly 9th grader, he’s already a STEM student. Just so you know this isn’t blatant cheerleading, the panel moderator, a senior from West Des Moines Valley, remarked that she was “jealous of these Hoover freshmen. They’re doing some really cool things there.”
Are you getting the feeling that we ain’t seen nothin’ yet?
