We have awarded our educational technology grant for the month of April to Creighton Helms of the Gervais School District. Creighton serves as the principal of the Gervais Elementary School in Gervais, OR and has really worked to create STEAM opportunities for the students he supports. Using STEM and STEAM as a vehicle to develop 'forever learners,' Creighton and his colleagues aim to empower their students to learn the skills that will best help them serve themselves and others in the 21st century. To keep their STEAM initiatives evolving, Creighton is also in the initial stages of designing a makerspace for his students. And, we're happy to help get them some new STEAM tools to use within it!
Creighton hopes to have the makerspace open for the start of the next school year in September. Regardless, students have still been able to take part in some MakerEd experiences in the spaces they currently have. They've used different design and learning stations to explore various STEAM experiences. No matter how low-tech they are, Creighton knows these experiences can still be very beneficial for students. With the versatility of MakerEd tools, students are able to explore hands-on opportunities and, later, take what they learn back into the classroom with them—truly one of the biggest benefits of maker education.
Maker Education with Strawbees.
For this month's grant award, we will be sending Creighton and his students some Strawbees kits. Perfect for their MakerEd mission, the various Strawbees kits involve students utilizing straw-like components to design and engineer different structures. There's also a coding side to Strawbees, allowing students to incorporate the micro:bit. They can then design block or text programs using Strawbees' unique coding interface. Since he wants to advance creative design and innovative thinking as much as possible, the Strawbees kits will definitely help. Creighton plans on adding some more purposeful makerspace learning to the school's offerings.
The Strawbees kits will also allow Creighton to expand opportunities for collaboration—something he knows is very important. Throughout the design and engineering process, students will be able to think critically, learn from mistakes, and improve design approaches. This type of tactile learning is certainly valuable for today's students. With these experiences, Creighton wants to show that creative problem solving is valuable much beyond their days in the classroom. Likewise, in using the Strawbees kits, he hopes to reignite some of the inspiration he's seen from students and allow them to showcase their skills in creative ways.
Creating 21st Century Opportunities.
As one of the main reasons we launched our grant program, we know that access to innovative learning opportunities, generally, is the first piece of the puzzle. By adding these hands-on and highly interactive kits to their makerspace, Creighton will be able to expand student access to developing 21st century skills. Ultimately, he believes the opportunities they have in their makerspace will help students discover new levels of motivation, new passions, and experience personal growth along the way. Especially working in a Title I school, Creighton knows it can be tough to manifest these opportunities. We're happy to be able to play a role in that!
Many of the students at Gervais Elementary come from socioeconomically disadvantaged situations. As such, 100 percent of them qualify for free or reduced school lunch. There is also a large population of ELL students within the school. Unfortunately, they don't always all have access to the most meaningful learning opportunities. With this grant award, we'll certainly be able to help decrease that gap—even if only a little bit—and provide these students with well-deserved opportunities to learn relevant skills.
How to Apply.
Creighton truly believes in the power of STEAM learning in helping build a community of 'forever learners.' In his opinion, there aren't many schools in their area of Oregon where this kind of mindset is practiced. Despite his passion for advancing STEAM learning, Creighton has discovered limitations in making it a reality—particularly with funding. With perseverance and a commitment to acquiring high-quality teaching tools, he's certainly on the right track, however. We congratulate Creighton on being selected as this month's grant recipient and encourage others to apply for next month's award. The application is open now through May 20. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for more!