El Paso County Colorado District 49

Grant dollars put to good use

Investigating the skeletal system, exploring how a chicken’s wing and a human’s arm function and developing hypotheses about why two things are the same or different: It’s all a process that is part of fifth graders’ work in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) lab. Students at Odyssey Elementary have had the opportunity to work on their Stem skills, in part, through a grant from Colorado Senators for Falcon School District 49’s STEM Program.Senators Mark Udall and Michael Bennet awarded D 49 a $100,000 federal grant earlier this year. The grant dollars help to fund a fully integrated STEM program at the elementary, middle and high school levels. The STEM schools focus on a hands-on curriculum, encompassing real-life topics and problem solving. The curriculum also ties into literacy, social studies and fine arts subject matter.The grant supports the district’s K-12 STEM Initiative, which provides STEM-focused professional development for more than 100 classroom teachers; curriculum materials for more than 3,000 elementary, middle and high school students; 21st century technology and equipment; and STEM internship opportunities for high school juniors and seniors. Sand Creek graduates receive national STEM awardTwo Sand Creek graduates returned from a trip to Washington DC, each with $10,000 in scholarship money recognizing their innovative work in the field of engineering. David Hirsch and Brendan Isbell received national honors from Project Lead the Way’s Award for Innovation at the National Innovation Summit. They earned the award for a product they developed during their engineering design and development course at Sand Creek High School last spring.Hirsch and Isbell created a semi-automatic folding chair as the final project, culminating four years of work in the high school engineering program. The portable folding chair actually fits on a person’s back, then folds out behind the person to allow the user to sit down without having to take the chair-backpack off. Their project was selected for demonstrating a high degree of critical thinking and imaginative problem solving.Hirsch and Isbell were two of only four students nationwide to receive the award.”It gives me an incredible amount of pride to know that we gave students the tools, environment and knowledge to accomplish such an amazing task,” said Sand Creek engineering teacher Todd Matia. “It is a true testimony to the fact that great accomplishments require talent, knowledge, wisdom, and skill, but without effort, determination and sweat, a great idea will never be more than a dream.”Hirsch is attending the Colorado School of Mines, and Isbell is attending Colorado State University.

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