In its first ever Kansas State University Virtual STEAM Academy offered by the College of Education’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction, approximately 110 middle school students participated in hands-on learning activities throughout the state.
As a spinoff of the popular in-person USD 383 Manhattan-Ogden and KSU COE STEM Summer Institute, the virtual program focused on STEAM, or science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics and was geared toward taking the on-campus STEM camp to rural communities. Held June 7-24, it served as a pilot study and was initially offered with a small selection of topics:
- Wild, Weird and Wonderful Writing, co-taught by Vicki Sherbert, assistant professor in the COE’s Curriculum and Instruction department, and Delaney Pollart, a recent KSU COE graduate who teaches English at Goodland Junior/Senior High School.
- M.U.S.I.C. (Music Using STEM is Cool), taught by Spring 2021 KSU graduate Meredith Casey, assistant director of bands for Washburn Rural High School, Topeka;
- Sports Science, taught by Angie Messer, instructor for the Curriculum and Instruction department;
- Stop Motion Animation, taught by Rachael Asbury, 7th/8th Grade Computer Science Teacher, Dwight D. Eisenhower Middle School, USD 383, and
- Planet Podcast, taught by Shelly Camba, English Language Arts Teacher, Susan B. Anthony Middle School, USD 383.
Calista Speake, a remote kindergarten teacher for the 2020-2021 school year at Amanda Arnold Elementary School in Manhattan, served as principal of the virtual academy. Lori Goodson, assistant professor of curriculum and instruction and K-State Summer STEM Institute coordinator, developed the virtual program.
Like the Summer STEM Institute, the virtual version offered hands-on, high-engagement activities led by highly-qualified teachers throughout the region. Classes in the virtual version are designed to make use of many common household items to keep expenses at a minimum for participants.
The program was open to individual students who wanted to participate from home, as well as to school districts interested in a hybrid version that involved the classes being taught virtually to classrooms with on-site teachers from the local district to assist.
Four districts—Inman USD 448, Oxford USD 358, Prairie Hills USD 113, and Royal Valley USD 337—joined the Virtual STEAM Academy, with a total of 11 classrooms offering the classes. Lisa Suhr, the Technology Integration Specialist for Prairie Hills, loved the interactive option of STEAM and had much to say about the students and teachers enjoying it.
“Our students had a positive interaction with their school while they explored, created, and deepened their understanding of STEAM topics! Our teacher facilitators were able to show up, learn alongside students, and enjoy the time instead of having to do more prep and planning during the summer. They even got some ideas to use back in their classrooms in the future!”
Plans are already under way for summer 2022, which will include a wider variety of virtual class topics, as well as involving more school districts across the country in the hybrid version. Be looking for details of how a grant will make this option even more affordable for your school district!
To learn more about the STEAM Virtual Academy, contact Speake at virtualsteam@k-state.edu or Goodson at lagoodson@ksu.edu. Check out the Virtual STEAM news item at:
https://www.k-state.edu/today/announcement/?id=76050 and the STEAM Summer 2021 Report:
https://coe.ksu.edu/collaborations/documents/2021-Virtual-STEAM-Report.pdf