By Sarah Campbell
scampbell@salisburypost.com
SALISBURY — Knox Middle School will become the Rowan-Salisbury School System’s first STEM middle school.
Lisa Wear, director of Horizons Unlimited, said the school will be fused with rigorous and relevant science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education.
Wear said STEM can also be described as “Strategies That Engage Minds.”
Knox has been tapped to act as a STEM school for a few reasons, Wear said.
The school is close to Horizons Unlimited resources and laboratory facilities. It is also a feeder school for Salisbury High, the site of the district’s Math and Science Academy, which provides more rigorous math and science courses for students who intend to major in a STEM field in college.
The district has applied for a grant through the National Science Foundation to advance STEM education at Knox.
Wear said although initial brainstorming to transition Knox to a STEM school has begun, more extensive planning will begin when Dr. James Davis takes over as principal at the end of this school year.
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Wear said the district will expand a number of other STEM initiatives and launch several new ones next school year.
“The Rowan-Salisbury School System is dedicated to strengthening STEM education at all grade levels, ensuring students’ success and a work force aligned to richer economic opportunities for the region,” she said. “The goal is to increase the desire and number of students who study and participate in the STEM-intensive work force for the future.”
The district plans to add a second STEM pilot high school, which has yet to be selected.
“The STEM High School Program was developed by Horizons Unlimited to bridge biotechnology education into the high schools as a way to continue to support students in their training for the future work force,” Wear said.
East Rowan served as the pilot STEM high school last year with professional development for teachers provided by Horizons Unlimited and the Blanche & Julian Robertson Family Foundation covering equipment and material costs.
“Teachers at East Rowan were interested in participating, developing an effective model and acting as facilitators and mentors for other teachers in the district,” Wear said.
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The school system will add another career academy, with a focus on bio-manufacturing, for eighth-grade students.
Wear said students will learn how to operate and monitor a bioreactor, which is used to produce vaccines for humans and animals and biopharmaceuticals.
All seventh-grade students currently participate in the biotechnology career academy, which was established in 2009.
Wear said that academy raises awareness about career opportunities in biotechnology.
“Students develop skills in laboratory bio-safety and aspectic technique,” she said.
Wear said the academies are hosted at Horizons Unlimited and students study each topic six to eight weeks before their visit.
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Select North, West, Corriher-Lipe and Erwin middle schoolers will join a new project based at the N.C. Research Campus, combining exercise science with the science behind NASCAR.
The $300,000 project, funded by a grant from the Golden Leaf Foundation, will focus on under-represented students from the Rowan-Salisbury, Kannapolis City, Cabarrus and Richmond County school systems.
Wear said students will work with scientists at the Appalachian State Human Performance Laboratory and with STEM faculty at the Motorsports and Automotive Research Center at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
“Students will be evaluated at the Human Performance Laboratory and will complete eight modules related to nutrition, kinesiology and the engineering design process,” she said.
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The school system also joined the N.C. Stem Community Collaborative this year.
“Through the N.C. Stem Community Collaborative, leaders from education, business, government and economic development are working together to design and implement an education innovation plan that will prepare students for the work force of the future,” Wear said.
The community collaborative includes leaders from Rowan and Cabarrus counties.
“That is what makes it unique,” Wear said. “A lot of times educators meet with educators, but in this case it’s an integrated effort and a lot of common planning and communication to ensure students are being provided the skill they need.”
STEM event today at North
The Rowan-Salisbury School System is hosting a STEM event today to showcase its technology initiatives. “Technology Matters: What’s Right in Public Education” will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at North Rowan High School. Students and teachers with all 35 schools in the district will be on hand to demonstrate technology they are using in the classroom.
Contact reporter Sarah Campbell at 704-797-7683.