Spring-Ford Schools Receive $35,000 STEM Grant

Ram QUEST teacher Zach Laurie guides students as they work together to build a class project.

 Blogger's Note: The following was provided by the Spring-Ford Area School District.

The Spring-Ford Area School District was recently selected by the Pennsylvania Department of Education to receive a $35,000 grant through the PAsmart Program to grow the current Ram QUEST program in grades 1 through 6. 

RAM Quest is a class where students engage in authentic learning experiences in which they have to think critically and creatively to solve problems, to inquire, and to explore.

PAsmart is built on the recommendations of Governor Wolf's Middle-Class Task Force, comprised of business, labor, education, and workforce development leaders. 

In response to the task force's findings, the governor secured $30 million to strategically invest in education and workforce development with competitive grants to enhance the skills of Pennsylvania residents. These competitive grants will expand classroom instruction and professional development in the fast-growing fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), and computer science.

Heidi Rochlin, Math and Science Curriculum Supervisor, completed the grant application for the district. 

"Grant applications can often be a daunting task, but I really enjoyed this process. I looked at it as an opportunity to focus on our strengths and identify how and where we can grow," Rochlin said. "Our STEM education is already quite impressive, and now we have additional resources to provide more opportunities for our students. Our targeted grant of $35,000 will be structured so that our Ram QUEST team can experience new and innovative training and materials in order to further implement STEM learning in their classrooms."

This Saturday in Robot Science

Photo by Evan Brandt

Robots built by Pottstown High School students approach 

members of the Pottstown School Board.

Let's face it, robots are taking over everything.

They vacuum our homes, they build our cars and now, they're taking over our schools.

Robotics competition have become a favorite way in recent years to teach science to students and Pottstown is getting in on the trend.

Pottstown Middle School Principal Gail Cooper told the school board Thursday night that a program is getting started in her school and "we hope to go to robotics competition next year."

Her counterpart at the high school, Jeffrey Hartmann, one-upped her by showing up with a team that not only had functioning robots already, but is going to competition next month!

Hartmann said he hopes to instill in students at his school the "Seven Survival Skills" outlined by Tony Wagner, the first Innovation Education Fellow at the Technology & Entrepreneurship Center at Harvard University.

Tony Wagner

1. Critical thinking and problem solving;
2. Collaboration across networks and leading by influence;
3. Agility and adaptability;
4. Initiative and entrepreneurship;
5. Effective oral and written communication;
6. Curiosity and imagination;
7. Accessing and analyzing information;

"Through robotics, these students are learning and applying these seven skills," said Hartmann.

The first demonstration of this was through freshman Heather Swanson, who presented to the school board the journal the robotics students are required to keep which demonstrated, among other things, the way the students are working collaboratively, analyzing information and using their imagination.

Here is a portion of her presentation about the creation of one of the robots -- named Miley (we presume it is not programmed to "twerk"):

Hartmann told the board the team will shortly visit Blommsburg High School which is a "comprehensive," like Pottstown High School, meaning it includes its career and vocational program in-house.

That school already has a robotics team which is doing well in competition and has a career and technical education program integrated and co-taught with its match and science staff, "which is taking it to a whole new level," said Hartmann.

It is a model he intends to replicate at Pottstown.

Currently, that work is being undertaken by math teacher Robert Decker and science teacher Laura Wise, who told the board she "took on robotics this year, knowing nothing about it."

"These kids are totally dedicated to it. It's all after-school. We meet Mondays and Wednesdays and, at the request of the kids, we've thrown in a third day a week because we're getting closer to our competition, so we're trying to get more prepared for it," wise said.

"They're really implementing a thorough thought process, for example, watching them work on an arm model, realizing its not going to work, and then going back to square one in building the arm, and it's a really neat process to watch, how their brains work," said Wise.


Decker told the board that he is looking forward to the competition, where the students will get their first sense of the sophistication of the robots being built and be exposed to countless new ideas for how to make them work.

Very soon, he predicted, "these students are really going to knock your socks off."

Hopefully, that will occur before someone invests a robots to take our socks off.

This Saturday in Science at MC3

Blogger's Note: This week, we hand the reins of "This Saturday in Science" over to the very capable Diane Van Dyke and Alana Mauger who will tell us about science going on in our back yard over at MC3.

Seventeen middle-school students from the Pottstown area immersed themselves in Montgomery County Community College’s Green STEM Camp during the week of June 24 at the West Campus in Pottstown.

In its third year, the Green STEM summer camp is made possible by a $10,000 grant from the TD Charitable Foundation, which is funded by TD Bank. The camp encourages urban youth from Pottstown to learn about science and explore high-demand STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) careers.

“To understand what it is like to be a scientist, you have to emulate the environment in which a scientist works from start to end, which is what we did during this week,” said Dr. Davi Gonzales, Biology associate professor and director of the camp.

The students learned basic concepts of the scientific method, experimental design and data analysis, which they then applied to hands-on experiments throughout the week. Working in teams, they developed hypotheses, collected specimens, analyzed their collections in a laboratory and recorded their findings.

For example, one group compared data from four water samples taken from different locations in the Schuylkill River and Manatawny Creek to determine the correlation between temperature and water oxygenation levels. Other groups studied the pH of common substances and their impact on the environment, and whether or not gender plays a role in the speed of someone’s reflexes. Side note – it doesn’t.

Another group studied millipedes collected during the camp’s field day to determine if they preferred smooth or rough surfaces. Interestingly, the students concluded that their experiment didn’t meet the needs of the millipedes, which kept trying to escape from their new habitats.

On the last day of camp, students presented their results to their families and instructors during a special dinner program.

“What makes this program truly unique is that it was done at a community college with middle school students within five days,” Dr. Gonzales said. “Usually, these types of programs are done by research universities with much older students. It proves that you can teach college-level material to younger students. We were able to do this due to the tremendous talent of the faculty and staff involved.”

The Green STEM program was a collaborative effort of MCCC’s STEM faculty, including Biology Associate Professor Dr. Davi Gonzales, Geology Professor Rob Kuhlman, Microbiology Instructor Dr. James Bretz, Assistant Chemistry Professor Dr. Janet Graden, Assistant Mathematics Professor Stephanie Isaac, and Biology Lecturer Cheryl Criscuolo. Program teaching assistants included Kaitlyn DeJohn, Charles Lewis and Juliane Smithson.

The TD Charitable Foundation is funded by TD Bank N.A., which operates as TD Bank, America’s Most Convenient Bank®, and is one of the 10 largest commercial banking organizations in the United States. The Foundation's mission is to serve the individuals, families and businesses in all the communities where TD Bank operates, having made $88.6 million in charitable donations since its inception in 2002. The Foundation’s areas of focus are affordable housing, financial literacy and education, and the environment. More information on the TD Charitable Foundation, including an online grant application, is available at www.TDBank.com.

The Career Doesn't Fall Far from the STEM

Representatives from PECO present Montgomery County Community College with a $15,000 grant for student scholarships to Johns Hopkins University’s Engineering Innovations Summer Program. From left: Dr. David Brookstein, dean, STEM, MCCC; Dr. Karen Borgsmiller, director of Engineering Innovation, Center for Educational Outreach, JHU; Frank Wellman, senior account manager, PECO; Dr. Karen A. Stout, president, MCCC; Craig L. Adams, Exelon, president and CEO, PECO; Frank J. Jiruska, director, Energy and Marketing Services, PECO; Suzanne Ryan, regional external affairs manager, PECO; and Dr. Vidya Nandikolla, Engineering Innovation instructor, JHU.

Blogger's Note: The following from Alana Mauger, our friend over at Montgomery County Community College

Montgomery County Community College and the Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering (JHU-WSE) have entered into an agreement to bring the JHU-WSE Engineering Innovation (EI) Summer Program to MCCC. EI is an intensive summer course designed to introduce high school students to the field of engineering.

Developed by JHU faculty, the program is designed to help high school students develop the skills to think and problem solve like engineers through lab activities in computer engineering, chemical engineering, electrical engineering, material science, civil engineering, robotics and mechanical engineering. 

Students who successfully complete the program with a grade of A or B will receive three transferable college credits from JHU.

“Engineering Innovation builds on the College’s commitment to re-energize our STEM programs by building entrepreneurial pathways that introduce students to careers in STEM and help them navigate their way to a baccalaureate degree,” said Dr. Karen A. Stout, president, MCCC.

MCCC received a $15,000 grant from PECO that will provide scholarships to offset the cost of tuition, which is $2,200, for eligible students.

“We are proud to partner with MCCC to help increase interest in the engineering field and are pleased that our support helps underserved youth participate in this program,” said Craig L. Adams, president and CEO, PECO. 

 “MCCC consistently adapts their programs to help fit the needs of the changing community. We are thrilled that they are working with JHU to develop our future workforce in such a critical field,” Adams said.

“We deeply appreciate PECO’s continued support of the College’s programs that support the educational attainment of youth and young adults in Montgomery County,” Stout said. “The impact of STEM programs, like Engineering Innovation, will make a significant difference in our community workforce for years to come.”

Engineering Innovation at MCCC’s Central Campus in Blue Bell will run from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday through Friday from July 1-26. 

The program will culminate on July 26 with activity that tests the strength of bridges students will build as part of their final project. Space is limited to 24 students.

To participate in the program, students should have completed algebra II, have knowledge of trigonometry, and taken one of the lab science courses (chemistry, physics, and/or biology). 

Students wishing to apply need to complete an online application and 250-word essay, and must submit most recent standardized test scores, a letter of recommendation and official high school transcripts. 

Full details are available online at http://engineering-innovation.jhu.edu.

Rockets and Robots and Math, Oh My!

Have you ever wanted to build a sumo wrestling robot? Now you can, thanks to a program at the Olivet Boys and Girls Club that starts up Thursday.

Have you ever launched a rocket?

Built a sumo wrestling robot?

Did you ever wonder why bridges don't fall down?

Well if you are a high school student in Montgomery County, there is a free program focusing on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics -- or STEM -- available through the Olivet Boys and Girls Club at the Ricketts Community Center that can help you explore all those questions and more.

Professionals from two companies -- Montco WIB and Turner Concepts -- will meet with 15 to 20 students over eight weeks and be mentors helping to explore those subjects.

Open for students ages 14 to 18, the program begins on April 11 and runs through June 22.

Each group will meet for two hours every other Thursday  from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. and every fourth Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Ricketts Center, 640 Beech St.

The Saturday events will take place at Central Montco Technical High School in Plymouth Meeting.

Subjects covered include aerospace engineering; civil engineering, physics; mechanical engineering and robotics engineering.

Projects include:

• An egg drop that will showcase fundamental properties of physics; 
• A rocket project in which students will build model rockets in small teams and compete for best launch and innovation; 
• A rubber band car project that will enable students to see the mechanical action required to move an object, to understand the difference between potential and kinetic energy and to analyze how a vehicle is affected by motion and stresses; 

A K'Nex Bridge

• Building bridges using K'nex which will show how varied types of brides support weight and the differences between static and dynamic loads and;
• Robotics competition in which students will build a robot to compete in the Robot Sumo Competition where two autonomous robots face off on a circular platform in a high-tech version of the ancient Japanese sport of sumo wrestling.

Director Jan Burgess said Tuesday that seats are still available and students can sign up at the center.

For more information, call 610-945-1020.