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Teaching the Roots of STEM

Middle and high school science programs on display for Manufacturing Day

By Molly Priddy
Eighth-graders work on a gear train during robotics class on Oct. 1, 2015. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon

As children grow and learn, the skills and curiosities they develop early on tend to stay with them, coloring their future choices.

Kalispell’s schools are taking this sentiment to the science classrooms at the middle and high school levels, with a new science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) program connecting the students’ learning from sixth grade to graduation with a consistency.

The schools had their relatively new programs on display last week in coordination with the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce’s focus on manufacturing businesses, as parents and local business leaders toured the middle and high school STEM classes.

Kalispell School District 5 Superintendent Mark Flatau introduced the school’s STEM curriculum, Project Lead the Way, as a meaningful and relevant way to teach science.

“We realized that as kids become more proficient in their skills and knowledge, we need to drive these courses to a younger group,” Flatau told the tour group. “What is introduced at the middle school is built on in high school.”

At Kalispell Middle School, seventh and eighth graders can sign up for STEM electives involving hands-on projects, with classes such as automation and robots; design and modeling; introduction to computer science; and medical detectives.

All of the classes are part of Project Lead the Way, and flow into the Flathead High School Biomedical Academy and Glacier High School’s Engineering Academy. And now both high schools are also focusing on computer science classes as well.

At the middle school, computer science is already rolling. The introductory class is the same as the high school version to give the students a head start, and it has been full for both of the years it has been available.

Students learn how to build apps, and doing so, they learn the introductory elements of text-based programming. Coding classes start in eighth grade.

The medical detectives class teaches the students through labs, and the students eventually test DNA and use crime scene analysis to solve medical mysteries.

In the automation and robots class, the students learn the basics of engineering, eventually working their way up to building machines that respond to commands from computer programs the students also write.

Seventh grader Mackenzie Baker said she started the course because she wants to be an engineer like her father.

“I figured this would be a step to take,” she said about the automation and design and modeling classes.

Teacher Rich Evans said the STEM classes are still predominantly male, but female students are beginning to catch on.

“The girls definitely excel at it,” Evans said.

Middle school principal Tryg Johnson said the school is also working to connect the STEM classes with other integral courses, like art and reading, making the acronym grow to STREAM.

Focusing on these areas allows students to have an idea about which direction they may want to take in the job force, but also gives them a realistic view of the difficulty in these high-paying jobs.

“We’re trying to create that enthusiasm with the understanding that they are hard positions,” Johnson said.