The Carle Place School District is working to chart a new path forward with its science, technology, engineering, art and math, or STEAM, education programs.
At the Thursday, June 5, Board of Education meeting, members of the district’s STEAM advisory committee presented their findings on the subject to the board along with recommendations for the district’s next steps.
One topic that came up frequently during the presentation was design thinking, which emphasizes focusing on human-centric solutions to problems rather than addressing problems in isolation. Michael Limone, the district director for visual and performing arts, said highlighting this way of thinking can help students experience a more holistic and integrated STEAM curriculum.
“It’s that innovative spirit,” he said. “What we’re doing here is nurturing students’ creativity; we’re teaching students not to fear failure.”
The presentation also touched on ways that the school district has already been able to successfully integrate STEAM into its curriculum. For example, a second-grade class at Cherry Lane Elementary School was able to make a travel blog of destinations around Nassau County. The students researched and wrote blurbs on area landmarks, finding pictures to pair with them as they designed their website. A highlight of the presentation was a clip of the accompanying “Navigating Nassau” podcast made by the second-graders.
Carle Place’s students have also extensively used MIT’s Scratch platform, learning the basics of coding and integrating it with various projects.
In plotting the future, the STEAM advisory committee sought the input of students and the broader community.
The committee said students indicated high levels of interest in STEAM. A survey of sixth to 11th-graders showed that their favorite subjects were science, engineering, and the visual arts. In the same survey, they were enthusiastic about possible new classes in interior design, architectural design, human anatomy, and others in the medicine and engineering fields.
Local businesses might also be a large part of the STEAM program’s success going forward, the committee said, as the district is looking at potentially partnering with them for work-based learning opportunities, including internships. This way, presenters said, students would be able to see how the technological skills they are learning in school could translate into the workplace.
