STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) programs are designed to equip students with critical skills and knowledge needed to excel in these fields. They foster innovation, problem-solving and analytical thinking, preparing students for a rapidly evolving job market. By emphasizing hands-on learning and interdisciplinary approaches, STEM programs encourage collaboration and creativity, helping to cultivate the next generation of leaders and thinkers who can address complex global challenges.
Grace Christian Academy is one school offering a highly defined STEM program to all students in grades K-8 with the goal to prepare students for real-world challenges through holistic learning.
All students in kindergarten through fifth grade attend STEM weekly, allowing students to build upon prior knowledge each year so students beginning in sixth grade can choose STEM as a nine-week elective each year through their eighth grade year.
In the STEM program, students are exposed to real-world problems or challenges and are equipped to solve them through the engineering process. This process equips students to ask questions, gather information, share ideas, communicate clearly, develop a solution, test their theories and evaluate their work.
Some activities students have experienced this school year include:
Third graders Bailey Schuler, Kaiden Rivers and Reese Price work together to design and construct an apple basket using only a handful of recycled materials.
The art of animation: 4th – 8th graders explored the history of animation and had hands-on practice developing their own storyboard and digital animation.
Simple machines: Kindergarten – 3rd graders explored simple machines such as pulleys, wheels and levers. These grades worked in small groups to explore ways in which each simple machine can help solve real-world problems and designed a simple machine to meet a challenge.
Renewable energy sources: 4th – 6th graders explored sources such as solar and wind power as they engineered solar bots and windmills.
Engineering fields: Middle schoolers explored various researching current careers and designing city models as a civil engineer and arcade games as an electrical engineer.
Exposure to STEM allows students to see that when things do not work out the first time, it is an opportunity to grow and become even better. We are excited to continue to grow the STEM program at GCA offering more exploration during the school day and through focused summer camps.
Lindsay McNeely, Grace Christian Academy’s director for the K-8 STEM program, says, “Our STEM program strives to build students up to their full potential in Christ by allowing opportunities for collaboration, problem solving and innovation.”
Featured picture: Fifth grader JT Hampton experiences augmented reality using an app on the iPad. To celebrate International Dot Day honoring the book The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds, students designed their very own dot and saw it come to life before their eyes. With the augmented reality app, students were able to manipulate and move their dot as if it were a real ball.
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