Initiative presented to add the arts back into programs
During the Haddonfield Board of Education meeting Thursday, a presentation was given by both district Superintendent Richard Perry and math teacher Stephen Burns, showing some possible initiatives moving forward with the STEAM initiative.
STEAM stands for science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics. It is an initiative that varies from STEM by placing an increased focus on the arts. Some programs that would be created under the STEAM imitative would be to have students come together as a class and work on a project together such as animation.
“It is a new thing,” Burns said. “People took the STEM aspect and realized that the arts were missing. There is an artistic part that goes into every design project. There is a big push across the country to take the STEM, place the arts back into it and make it STEAM. We would like to take it to the next level and make it a problem-based learning environment. These kids are working on real problems and are problem-solving all the time versus having specific content.
“I think it is creating an open dialogue,” Perry added. “Different people can add different things to this program. We have a lot of experts within our community. We have a lot of talented staff, and we are trying to bring everyone to the table to create a new way of learning. Students learn differently now. They think differently. It is a different world, and we are trying to keep up with the times as we move forward in the 21st century and create opportunities for the students to learn, to collaborate, to utilize their talents and to be marketable into the job market, especially in regard to creativity, emerging thinking and critical thinking.”
It is estimated that it will take at least two years to implement the curriculum and activities across the district.
In other news:
The board is looking at the 2017–2018 budget to see if there are resources to move around to make these programs more available to students. Science based extracurricular programs such as the robotics club have been very popular in both elementary schools, but space in the program was limited. The Haddonfield Board of Education will hold its budget meeting March 23 at 7 p.m. in the Haddonfield Memorial High School library.
