Gimme and "S," gimme a "T," gimme an "E," gimme an "M" - waddya got? "STEM!"
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David Cedrone, Manager of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Education Program for the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation, in cooperation with RICAPE, launched this summer a special initiative to provide learning experiences for teachers in agricultural settings.
Each summer, the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation, with support from the Governor's Workforce Board, will host the STEM Teacher Externship Program. This six-week assignment provides hands-on experiences for middle and high school science, technology engineering and mathematics teachers to apply classroom curriculum to challenges in Rhode Island's growth industries. Through summer externships, teachers develop an awareness of career opportunities and the requisite STEM knowledge and skills across a broad spectrum of industries that are important to the local economy. In the coming school year, participating teachers will relate their experience to classroom teaching and inform and shape the workforce of the future - today's students. David Cedrone, the STEM Program Manager leads this statewide initiative on behalf of the Governor's PK-16 Education Council.
This summer, Shannon Donovan, a teacher of physical science, biology, chemistry, environmental science, biotechnology, and plant propogation at Scituate High School, and Steve Morrison who runs a grade 9-12 special needs classroom at Hope High School in Providence, participated in the first on-the-farm externships conducted by the EDC STEM Program in collaboration with RICAPE.
From Shannon:
I am an extern at Coggeshall Farm Museum in Bristol, an amazing place where a farmstead is operated using (as much as possible) the technology and materials that were available in the 1790s. This provides a great model of how life was before the age of oil and industrial chemicals. I am currently focusing on creating lessons related to simple machines, properties of metals and smelting (there is a forge at the farm), and creating virtual tours.
From Steve:
I have been fortunate to pursue my interest in agriculture by participating in an externship at Salisbury Farm in Johnston, RI. Owners Wayne and Lois Salisbury have been more than accommodating and have been teaching me the ins and outs of running a working farm in the 21st century. I have learned how to operate many of the machines around the farm, and better understand how farming connects to the local economy and how weather and marketing practices directly affects the economic success of our local farms.
Wayne and I have visited several other farms and farmers markets throughout the state of RI. In our journeys, I was able to meet many interesting people, and listened to various farmers' stories regarding their successes an failures. Wayne and I identified many other aspects of the RI farming community that contribute to its success. Salisbury Farm not only produces and sells a variety of fruits and vegetables throughout the year, but also offers a corn maze, home made arts and crafts, school tours, classroom visits, as well as hay rides and activity hosting events. I am looking forward to the remainder of my time on Salisbury Farm to ensure that I will bring many aspects of this experience to my classroom at Hope High School for the 2009-2010 school year.
RICAPE Director Stu Nunnery and STEM Program Manager David Cedrone believe this will be the beginning of an expanded program in subsequent years to place more teachers on more farms. While meeting STEM's program needs to expand the reach of STEM core subjects both in and out of the classroom, the externships also meet a RICAPE goal to connect the classroom to the farm through a variety of informal experiences both for teachers and their students.
Future jobs and careers are on the line as well. Rhode Island's farms and natural resources cannot be managed and maintained unless more teachers and future generations adopt the values and skills necessary to do so. With many other subjects, science, technology, engineering and math figure prominently in agriculture today and sustaining Rhode Island's quality of life demands informed solutions to the many challenges and opportunities ahead.
Congratulations to David, Shannon and Steve. We look forward to working with you in the future.
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