Last night, we at CTHEworld Academy got to go to the fund raising dinner for STEM High. Norm Augustine, former CEO of Lockheed Martin and current member of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology was the keynote speaker. He talked about needing science to be taught as an exciting topic; hands-on and taught by highly qualified teachers. He described how other countries have caught on to the idea and how we, the United States, are falling behind globally. We no longer have the global competitive edge we once had. We no longer have passion and excitement for the unknown. There is no Sputnik or Pearl Harbor or 9-11 to inspire us to be better, smarter, and one step ahead. We now only have standardized tests and those tests don't even cover science. And the teachers, who are severely under-paid and over-worked, are told that if their students don't pass those tests, they won't have a job. So why would a teacher who is trying to feed her family, risk her job and teach science when her whole quality of life depends on literacy and math? Why put the extra effort into getting the kids to think creatively when what she needs them to do is answer correctly?
I, Christine, had the opportunity to talk to Mr. Augustine regarding the classes I teach. I talked about getting the kids excited about science, technology and engineering - we blow things up, we instantly freeze things with liquid nitrogen, we program computer games and more. By the time a student leaves the class, they are excited to learn more, to do more, to be more. To instill a sense of passion in a child is to release the greatness they were born with. To not spoon-feed information, but rather get them to ask good, deep questions will help them learn to find their own answers and to prove to themselves what is true. "Because I, the teacher, said so" is NEVER a good answer. We need to find answers for ourselves. And by finding those answers, what we find more often are more questions.
After talking with me, Mr. Augustine said, "The class you teach sounds like exactly what is needed!" Coming from someone that has been in the industry for 60 years, that means a lot. But it means more to me when I see the "A-HA!" moments in a child's eyes when they have just proven their original hypothesis wrong and now know the truth. It means more to me when I have a parent tell me their child can't stop building a computer game (not playing...BUILDING/Creating/Programming!)
STEM education should not look like a student reading a science textbook and filling out a worksheet. It should be more than just making slime from a prescribed recipe. "Technology" should be deeper than learning how to write an essay in Microsoft Word for English class. It should be about instilling creative problems solving skills. To learn how to ask questions (you can't believe how hard this is). It should be about learning to collaborate with a team, not worrying about "cheating" off the person next to you.
Enter CTHEworld Academy...
I, Christine, had the opportunity to talk to Mr. Augustine regarding the classes I teach. I talked about getting the kids excited about science, technology and engineering - we blow things up, we instantly freeze things with liquid nitrogen, we program computer games and more. By the time a student leaves the class, they are excited to learn more, to do more, to be more. To instill a sense of passion in a child is to release the greatness they were born with. To not spoon-feed information, but rather get them to ask good, deep questions will help them learn to find their own answers and to prove to themselves what is true. "Because I, the teacher, said so" is NEVER a good answer. We need to find answers for ourselves. And by finding those answers, what we find more often are more questions.
After talking with me, Mr. Augustine said, "The class you teach sounds like exactly what is needed!" Coming from someone that has been in the industry for 60 years, that means a lot. But it means more to me when I see the "A-HA!" moments in a child's eyes when they have just proven their original hypothesis wrong and now know the truth. It means more to me when I have a parent tell me their child can't stop building a computer game (not playing...BUILDING/Creating/Programming!)
STEM education should not look like a student reading a science textbook and filling out a worksheet. It should be more than just making slime from a prescribed recipe. "Technology" should be deeper than learning how to write an essay in Microsoft Word for English class. It should be about instilling creative problems solving skills. To learn how to ask questions (you can't believe how hard this is). It should be about learning to collaborate with a team, not worrying about "cheating" off the person next to you.
Enter CTHEworld Academy...
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