CHENANGO — The Chenango Forks High School STEAM Academy program is doing more than just winning statewide honors. It’s helping to prepare students for jobs after graduation at area companies like Raymond Corporation and Keystone Associates. The school first got the idea for the STEAM Academy about two and a half years ago, Principal John […]
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CHENANGO — The Chenango Forks High School STEAM Academy program is doing more than just winning statewide honors. It’s helping to prepare students for jobs after graduation at area companies like Raymond Corporation and Keystone Associates.
The school first got the idea for the STEAM Academy about two and a half years ago, Principal John Hillis says, after unsuccessfully seeking grant opportunities that would help the school keep a variety of electives available. As a small, fairly homogeneous school district, the opportunities just were not there, he says. “We didn’t qualify for anything.”
School officials then learned about an IBM program in New York City that sounded promising, but after reaching out learned it likely wouldn’t qualify for that either. But, school officials were advised to consider starting their own program.
While it seemed monumental at the time, Hillis says, after about two weeks of discussions, the school decided to just go for it.
Rather than establish a STEM program — which refers to science, technology, engineering, and math — Chenango Forks opted instead to focus on STEAM, which adds arts to the mix and focuses on encouraging design and innovation while bridging the gap between education and industry. It’s all packaged with internship opportunities that help students take what they learn in the classroom and apply it in real-world work settings.
“We knew we had something special after we started it,” Hillis says.
Adding the art element is important, says Keith Rosko, art teacher at Chenango Forks High School, because it helps add critical thinking and hands-on elements to the process.
“We felt we had an art and technology program here that would allow us to jump in with both feet,” he adds.
The school hasn’t jumped in too quickly, deciding to take it slow and make sure it got things right, Hillis says.
Chenango Forks currently has its first group of eight STEAM interns out working at partner employers, and expects to have 11 interns in the spring semester. Other businesses and organizations working with the high school include Lockheed Martin; WSKG Public Broadcasting; C&S Companies; Roberson Museum and Science Center; Maines Paper & Food Services, Inc.; and State Farm Insurance.
Before the next school year, Chenango Forks hopes to have a board comprised of those business and nonprofit leaders to help oversee the program and meet with school officials and faculty to discuss project ideas, says Kathleen Quaranta, a business teacher at the high school, who runs the STEAM Academy. The goal is to bring real business problems into the classroom for students to tackle.
Another key element she would like to have in place is state certification that will allow the district to give students educational credit for their STEAM efforts.
Ultimately, Hillis hopes the program can support as many as 30 to 35 student interns each semester. “This program is meant to be of benefit to any student,” he notes.
The goal, he adds, is to not only help students gain the knowledge and experience they need for a career, but also to help foster relationships with businesses in hopes those students will choose to remain in the Southern Tier for that career.
The school’s STEAM Academy was honored in October by the New York State School Board Association and the SUNY Polytechnic Institute with a “Be the Change for Kids” Innovation Award.
“Too often we hear about what’s wrong with our schools,” New York State School Boards Association Executive Director Timothy G. Kremer said in a news release.
“Yet the programs we recognize today illustrate what’s right.”
Chenango Forks and two other school districts in the state were selected from among more than 40 entrants in the competition.
Chenango Forks was honored for arranging credit-bearing internships matched to students’ intellectual and career interests and using a model that focused on hands-on, project-based opportunities. Students also gain basic workplace skills and learn about professional demeanor, social skills, deportment, and appearance.
To learn more about the STEAM Academy, visit http://www.cforks.org/STEAMAcademynews.aspx.
