Board of Education hears presentation on STEM program

Headline, News — By admin on January 29, 2010 5:00 pm

By Dan Malsom, Editor-in-Chief

WHS hosted a special STEM presentation for the District 214 school board on Thursday evening. Láz Lopez, principal, led visitors on a tour of the school’s new photo lab, engineering and drafting labs and health career classroom.

Administrators and teachers involved with STEM then gave a presentation outlining science and technology plans that WHS has implemented, along with STEM programs that WHS plans to carry out in the future.

“We want to be a national model for helping to teach all students and prepare them for this new economy,” Principal Lopez said.

In his presentation, Principal Lopez cited points in President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech, which addressed a demand for more technology and science workers, and , which reported that the 15 highest-earning degrees all came in science and engineering occupations.

Brian Lichtenberger, assistant principal, showcased the new digital photo lab located in the art hallway. According to Mr. Lichtenberger, the new lab became a priority when he heard that Kodak plans to stop production of the photography paper that students took pictures with in the old photography classes.

“Digital photography is the way of the future, our feeling is,” Mr. Lichtenberger said. “It’s something that marries the different arts together.”

Jeff Bott and Mike Geist, technology teachers, showcased the engineering and drafting labs, including one lab that features a metal-cutting machine that WHS students used to create new grates for drains in the school swimming pool.

“(Students) were able to find it, create it (on a computer), make it, and they are the grates we use now in our swimming pool,” Principal Lopez said.

Julie Levene and Tim Meyer, science teachers, presented about the new Health Careers classes that WHS began offering this year. Students complete classwork entirely online; according to Ms. Levene, the only paper she had to print was the class syllabus for students on the first day of school.

Class presentations incorporate online document sharing, video production and podcasting.

“Ms. Levene is pretty much amazing, because we didn’t have this building all summer (because of renovations), so she’s been putting a lot of this stuff together this year,” Nancy Heintz, math and science division head, said. “She has been her own tech support.”

According to Principal Lopez, with enrollment declining and the number of at-risk freshmen entering high school increasing, the STEM program is helping the school in “recognizing our challenges and building on our strengths.”

“If there is a certification out there, I want to offer it,” Principal Lopez said. “If there is a class that gets students college credit, then I want to offer those classes.”

Share on Facebook

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Tags: Barack Obama, Board of Education, Brian Lichtenberger, digital photo lab, District 214, drafting, drainss, engineering, health careers, Jeff Bott, Julie Levene, Kodak, Laz Lopez, Lopez, Mike Geist, Nancy Heintz, photo lab, photography, podcast, science, state of the union, STEM, swimming pool, technology, Time Meyer, video, Wheeling High School, whs