Struthers to intensify STEM education at elementary school

By EMMALEE C. TORISK

etorisk@vindy.com

STRUTHERS

Beginning this fall, science, technology, engineering and mathematics no longer will be limited to their respective courses for the district’s students in kindergarten through fourth grade.

Instead, thanks in part to new curriculum materials, the purchase of which was approved at Tuesday’s regular meeting of the Struthers Board of Education, all classes across the disciplines will be infused with STEM.

“If we don’t [make this change], our kids lose, and they will leave this place,” said Joseph Nohra, superintendent of Struthers City Schools, addressing the school board.

Nohra explained the district’s purchase of materials from the Pittsburgh-based ASSET STEM Education is necessary. The investigative, hands-on approach it touts is “more in line with the new Common Core” standards than traditional teaching methods.

Problem-based learning also allows the teacher to function more as a guide than as an authority in the classroom, and it gives students the chance to work collaboratively in groups.

This curriculum change at the elementary-school level is part of a districtwide shift toward intensive STEM education, which officials hope will better prepare students for tomorrow’s jobs.

Nohra added he is positive that by the time those students first exposed to the new curriculum reach middle school, or fifth grade, the district will notice a marked improvement in their science and mathematics test scores. Right now, Nohra said, they’re stagnant.

The cost for the materials — which consist primarily of 12-week lessons, or modules, for each of the grade levels — is about $20,000. Teacher training in STEM-intensive education also is included in that price. The district will pay about 10 percent of that one-time cost each year to replenish its supply of materials.

Nohra noted this amount is significantly less than what it would cost to upgrade the curriculum through the purchase of new textbooks, for example. Such an endeavor would be “way over $100,000.”

The school board is looking into upgrades to the district’s mathematics curriculum as well, though it made no final decisions during the meeting. It did, however, hire three new teachers for the 2014-15 school year, which begins Sept. 2.

Both Megan Grunenwald and Jaclyn Hanna, who were hired to teach fifth-grade science and kindergarten, respectively, will make $31,724 annually. Samantha Ditman, who was hired as a fourth-grade teacher, will make $33,627 annually.