In two short years, Wyoming Seminary’s STEM School has had a transformative impact on Sem’s students, faculty, parents and the local community. New programs such as the STEM Lecture series, the STEM Foundations course for freshmen, STEM-tastic Saturdays at the Lower School, and STEM Science Nights at both Lower and Upper Schools are a only a few of the initiatives that Rachel Bartron, Director of the Louis Maslow STEM School at Wyoming Seminary, has implemented since launching the STEM School in 2012.
The free STEM Lecture Series, held monthly during the school year, has showcased diverse subjects such as the Marcellus Shale, America’s changing healthcare system, sustainable agriculture and the science of beautiful music.
The STEM Foundations course for freshmen at Sem’s Upper School covers a wide spectrum of STEM subjects such as mechanics using Newton’s Second Law of Motion, green chemistry with students using the principles of energy production, and bioengineering. This course was so popular with students that four new STEM courses have been added for upper level students: STEM locomotion (fall), STEM Submersible (winter), and STEM Flight (spring), and the full-year STEM Electrical Engineering.
The Lower School (grades toddler through 8) has also benefited from the new STEM initiative. Last fall, the new Innovation Center at the Lower School was completed and is now used for long-term labs and engineering projects, STEM-centered experiments, environmental clubs projects, and extracurricular events.
At Lower School STEM-tastic Saturdays are held three times a year, opening up Sem’s laboratories to local students at no charge. The program’s goal is to introduce STEM subjects to younger students in fun and imaginative ways.
Other STEM-centered events include the STEM Science Nights at both Lower and Upper Schools and the STEM alumni assembly that brings back successful alumni in STEM fields to discuss their careers with Upper School students.