MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Beginning this month some middle school students in West Virginia will have the opportunity to participate in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) immersions. Some of the lessons include work with hydraulic claws, projectile launchers and wiggle bots.
Donna Hoylman Peduto, executive director of the West Virginia Public Education Collaborative and STEAM TAC director, said the program is a collaboration between West Virginia University and the WVPEC and the hub for the program will be at the Mountaineer Middle School in Morgantown.
The program is funded by a CARES Act grant received by WVU from the West Virginia Department of Education.
“It’s for three years at $1.5 million each year and after that we already have people that want to support it in the near future,” Hoylman-Peduto said.
Staff specialists have already conducted demonstrations at schools in Logan, McDowell, Mingo and Wyoming counties and plan to expand quickly.
“Hopefully by the end of this summer we are going to have an “immersion” in each middle school in West Virginia,” Hoylman-Peduto said.
The “immersions will be tailored to grade level and last up to 60 minutes. The sessions will challenge students to solve real world problems with lessons that have direct ties to careers available in West Virginia.
“They have a wide variety of expertise in the STEAM field,” Hoylman-Peduto said. “They’ve designed personalized lesson plans and immersive fun engaging experiences that we hope are going to make students and their teachers fall in love with STEAM.”
The technical requirements for employment in many careers have advanced in a relatively short period of time. A report from the National Association of Manufacturing and Deloitte said there are significant skilled worker shortages at all levels.
Hoylman-Peduto said they hope to learn how to get kids engaged and prepared for the jobs of the future.
“We’re going to be following them long term because we know STEAM occupations have grown so quickly in our state and country,” Hoylman-Peduto said. ” But, there’s a gap and only 20-percent of high school grads are ready for those majors.”
At his early stage in the program administrators are learning about the program by word of mouth, but soon those communication efforts will be come more organized.
“They want their students to have this,” Hoylman-Peduto said. ” But, we’re going to also directly contact them and tell them what it’s all about so they’ll be excited to register.”
The program will also partner with the Columbus, Ohio-based Center of Science and Industry (COSI). COSI has already distributed 2,000 Learning Lunchbox STEAM energy kits. The kits highlight career paths in the energy sector and provides extension learning through COSI’s digital portal, COSI Connects.