Ideas Launch at McKinley STEM School

”Learning Centers around the prototype…students hand make a model and test it out. That’s where they thrive, while they are getting their hands dirty with the materials.”

-Dr. Shayna Wydra, Director, STEM and Career and Technical Education, Steubenville City Schools

“Every single student’s entire school day revolves around the engineering and design process, from start to finish,” explains Dr. Shayna Wydra, Director of STEM and Career and Technical Education, Steubenville City Schools, describing the day-to-day academic experience at the district’s new McKinley Elementary STEM Academy. Evidence of that appears wherever you look: Tables in the hallway display prototypes of students’ latest inventions.  Design sketches decorate the hallways. Messages encouraging students to explore their ideas and “do great things” greet them at their classroom doors. And, most noticeably, a bustle of activity emanates from the Idea Lab where students research, design, build, and test inventions they create to solve problems.

The McKinley STEM Academy grew from a need to accommodate Steubenville’s growing student population and a desire to extend the district’s commitment to STEM learning (already embedded within the middle school and high school) to the elementary level. Administrators envisioned a dedicated school that would offer young learners a curriculum infused with project-based learning, focusing on grade level standards, in all subjects.  

As the district had maxed out available space within its three elementary buildings, a decision was made to transform a building used for board offices into a space that could house classrooms, an Idea Lab, and a Makerspace for 150 PreK-fourth grade students. After undergoing extensive renovations, the McKinley Elementary STEM Academy opened in fall, 2019. The previous spring, administrators accepted applications for both students and teachers to fill the empty classrooms not knowing what response they would get. By June, all positions were filled.

“Their minds have shifted from being told specifically what to do to having to think for themselves. And it is just fascinating to watch.”

-Dr. Shayna Wydra

With a grant from the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation, the district developed the STEM Connect & Innovation program, which utilizes Project Lead The Way (PLTW) Launch modules, to infuse STEM core principles and curriculum across all grade bands at the new school. The program provides the tools and the space for exploration and innovation while fostering a culture of collaborative inquiry among teachers and students. It aims to “connect” students to high-interest 21st century skills that speak to the technology and innovation woven through their everyday lives. Professional development for a Lead Teacher and ten classroom teachers is built into the program.

PLTW’s Launch provides an excellent established program to support a STEM learning approach at the elementary level, explains McKinley’s Principal Deanna Beall. Lead teacher Heather Hoover, who was trained in PLTW Launch in the summer of 2019, uses the modules to instruct a group of students in the school’s Idea Lab each afternoon. Each module begins with an age appropriate, child-friendly “story” and challenges students to use the engineering design process to help the characters solve a problem. Ms. Hoover says the modules present real-world scenarios and concrete objectives that allow students to become risk takers and problem solvers. The first step involves computer research, which is completed before any hands-on design work begins.

Throughout the year, students have tackled a variety of topics and associated challenges such as: Matter and Buoyancy (students constructed an object and tested its ability to sink or float); Animal Adaptations (students assembled traveling gear one may need to survive in the wild); and Erosion (students created land forms and a structure and tested each against the forces of nature)

As students progress through the modules they are excited and completely engaged. “I am always encouraging my students to be innovators and show their creative side,” Ms. Hoover remarks. “I think the students are making connections to real life situations and are getting a better value out of the curriculum than they would with just a textbook, paper, and pencil. It’s a way to expose children to other ways of thinking and pushes them towards skills they need to be lifelong learners and successful in life.”

Ms. Beall adds that the Idea Lab also fosters co-teaching. Classroom teachers accompany their students to the lab where Ms. Hoover models PLTW instructional techniques. Teachers are excited about the modules because they often relate to classroom content, enabling students to build upon presented material and background knowledge. Ms. Hoover will provide classroom teachers with more formal professional development after completing further PLTW training herself this summer.

In addition to the Idea Lab, all students at McKinley spend time each week in the Makerspace, which they refer to as the “Invention Factory.” Instruction in this lab is more experimental.  Students still follow the engineering design process – they design, test, refine, and retest “products” they could be helpful to their families or community. In some instances, the students can work to copyright and market their inventions.

“When school first started, when I gave them a design challenge the students would just sit there; they weren’t sure what to do because I didn’t give a specific set of instructions,” says Dr. Wydra, who works with students in the Makerspace. “But fast forward eight weeks and they can’t wait to get their design challenge, get their materials, and design a prototype.  Their minds have shifted from being told specifically what to do, to having to think for themselves. And it is just fascinating to watch.

“In both labs, learning centers around the prototype,” she continues. “Students hand make a model and test it out. That’s where I think they really thrive, while they are getting their hands dirty with the materials.”

“This is such a beneficial experience, not only for the students but also for the staff,” Principal Beall adds. “Education is changing so much; to be able to offer these opportunities is wonderful; it’s a learning experience for everyone.”

Student prototypes are displayed in the hallway outside of the Idea Lab.