Philip Simmons Elementary and Middle Schools to get STEAMed

Take what you know about traditional education - and kick it up a notch.

In today’s world, first graders could learn about geometrical shapes through dance and bubble-making. Students in grades 4 -6 might build a functioning “arcade” game using just cardboard, tape, and paper clips for a lesson in engineering and math. Middle school students could study chemistry though art by painting a fireworks image with watercolors, adding salt to create a reaction and then noting their observations. In each case, kids are encouraged to talk things out and problem-solve, followed by a real world application.

All are examples of an educational platform known as STEAM - or Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics. The curriculum is expected to be integrated into two new schools coming to serve the Cainhoy Peninsula in August 2016 - Philip Simmons Elementary School (PSES) and Philip Simmons Middle School (PSMS). The facilities will share the same campus, but they will have separate entrances and administrations. Although several Berkeley County campuses currently use various STEAM components, PSES and PSMS will be the first to utilize the full program throughout the entire instructional day.

In the early planning stages for the schools, community members expressed an interest in making the facilities STEAM-centered. On September 29, Berkeley County Schools Chief Academic Officer Kevin O’Gorman and Director of Curriculum and Instruction Priscilla Calcutt gave members of the schools’ newly formed Parent Teacher Association a taste of what students can expect.

“Students are to experience science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics as they would in a career setting,” explained O’Gorman, at a presentation at St. Paul’s Baptist Church. “It’s career-oriented…and it adds authentic experiences, creative expressions and problem-solving situations. It’s like being out in the real world and giving kids a challenge for which there are not obvious answers.”

STEAM is more about a method of teaching, as opposed to a project or activity that might take place in a lab in traditional settings, O’Gorman added. South Carolina educational standards drive the content, but STEAM ramps it up.

“At the end of the day, they’re all going to learn the same standards and concepts, it’s just the avenue that they are going to learn them,” said O’Gorman. “…You won’t walk into a classroom and see a teacher just standing up front lecturing. You will see something very different…It’s about integrating 21st century learning skills.”

“Every unit of instruction that falls within the curriculum has the same components,” added Calcutt. “We have a pre-test, a post-test, and we have what we call an engaging learning experience…Another way to think about project-based learning is problem-based learning, because it’s really about having a scenario or an idea or a problem in mind and determining how do you go about solving that?”

All STEAM schools have a primary focus or concentration and both PSES and PSMS will have to decide what that will be in each facility, whether it’s visual art, literary art, music or some other theme. Those answers will come later, said O’Gorman, after the administrators and staff are in place and the community has a chance to offer input.

“One of the things that we’ve got to be careful about at the district is that we don’t define exactly what STEAM will look like at these schools,” said O’Gorman. “But rather we’d like to say, here’s your box and you work inside that box to make it your own.”

According to O’Gorman, teachers hired to work in the two new schools will receive specialized training in STEAM teaching next summer. To assist in preparing teachers and other staff in the implementation of the curriculum, the district is exploring a possible partnership with Clemson University, where two professors have successfully helped start a STEAM school in Greenville, S.C. Since January of 2015, the district has been looking at research-based practices and models across the country. This month, they plan to visit STEAM sites in South Carolina. In November and December, once principals are hired for the schools, they hope to develop a common vision and goals.

“January through August it will be full speed into getting all of this in place,” said O’Gorman.

Shawna Berden, Parent Teacher Association President for the new PSES and PSMS, gave the district’s presentation on STEAM practices high marks and is looking forward to what the curriculum style will offer to students at both schools.

“The Berkeley County School District’s implementation of STEAM is even better than I anticipated,” she said. “I am excited that we, the parents and the community, will have input in the arts that are infused into the curriculum. The PTA is looking forward to meeting with the new principals and collaborating to make Philip Simmons one of the best schools in the nation.”

Daniel Island School and Cainhoy Elementary Middle School are also taking steps to integrate STEAM practices into their curriculums. All three middle schools serving Daniel Island and Cainhoy will ultimately feed into the new Philip Simmons High School, which is slated to open in August 2017.
“It just makes sense that since all of these kids are going to the same high school, they really should have the same elementary and middle school experience,” added O’Gorman. “So that’s where we’re headed.”