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- News Archives: 2010-2017
Teachers Connect with Local Science, Math Companies
A small crowd gathered around eighth-grade science teacher Tarsha Reid as she pointed a laser through clear gelatin in an impressive explanation of how fiber optics work. The eyebrows on nearly every face, mostly local professionals and educators, lifted in understanding in a shared eureka moment. Reid hopes she'll see that look from her students this school year, thanks in part to what she learned as a Guilford Education Alliance STEM Fellow.
Reid and 10 other Guilford County Schools (GCS) middle and high school teachers spent three weeks getting firsthand experience with local companies working in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) industries. Reid, who teaches at Penn-Griffin School of the Arts, worked with TE Connectivity, a global manufacturer of electronic components. Other teachers worked with Moses Cone Hospitals, Lincoln Financial, computer manufacturer Lenovo, biotechnology research company Syngenta, and TIMCO Aviation, a commercial aviation service company.
During the three-week program the teachers worked alongside some of the top professionals in their respective industries and were able to see how those professionals apply the basic principals they teach in their classes each day.
"We really got personal with the engineers, getting an understanding of what students coming from middle school and high school need to know in a corporate world," Reid said.
Along with the need for a mastery of core basics in science and math, the teachers also saw the need for every student to master skills in teamwork, communication and problem solving. At a wrap-up event hosted by Syngenta, each teacher presented their findings and general ideas on how to relate what they learned to the students.
"The thing that struck me the most in the time I spent at TIMCO Aviation was that there were teams that had to produce a product together but they do so individually or in small teams. The sum of those parts then has to become a product at the end of the day," said Andrews High teacher Kathy Melious. "So there's going to have to be a lot of communication skills between those people and a lot of collaboration to make sure those parts fit together in the end."
Guilford Education Alliance created the externship program in 2012 as an effort to expand training for GCS teachers. Guilford Education Alliance is a non-profit organization that advocates for public education. Funding for this year's program was provided by the Duke Energy Foundation, Piedmont Natural Gas Foundation and the Syngenta Foundation.
STEM education has become a major national focus in education. Over the next 10 years, job growth in STEM industries is expected to be around 17 percent, nearly 7 percent higher than expected job creation for non-STEM businesses, according to a U.S. Commerce Department report released in 2011. High-skill computer careers, such as programing and data management, are projected to grow 45 percent between 2008 and 2018. Attractive salaries are available for these positions. STEM professionals earn 26 percent more than those in non-STEM occupations.
U.S. students are currently behind the curve. The National Math + Science Initiative found in 2011 that only 45 percent of high school graduates were prepared for college-level math and only 30 percent were ready for college-level science. The achievement gap between student demographics is also a concern in STEM education. Nine percent of Hispanic students and 10 percent of African-American students took advanced algebra or calculus in 2008, compared to 22 percent of white students and 43 percent of Asian students.
"If our students are going to compete in the globally economy then our teachers have to know what that looks like what employers need," said Nathan Duggins, chairman of Guilford Education Alliance. "With the STEM Fellows program we're able to provide insight to a few teachers who will take that back to their colleagues. That type of community support is how we can build a future for our children through public education."
Plans for next year's STEM Fellows are already underway, officials said, with a goal of expanding both the number of fellowships offered and the number of participating companies.