STEM at BCS
STEM at BCS was birthed in the summer of 2019 when kindergarten teacher, Dawn Balsiger and second grade teacher, Heidi Good attended a STEM conference put on by the National Science Teachers Association where they both caught the STEM "bug" in a big way!
Both started by implementing STEM into their classrooms that fall with the curriculum they received at the conference. Mrs. Good dreamed of making STEM available for all grade levels and began pursuing funding and developing a program. With the financial gifting and grants she received, as well as some government funding, STEM programing was started at BCS in the 2020-2021 school year covering grades K-12 with Mrs. Good at the helm as the STEM Coordinator.
Mrs. Good has been pursuing funding and developing an integrated STEM program for BCS. With the financial gifting and grants she received, as well as some government funding, STEM programing was started at BCS in the 2020-2021 school year covering grades K-12 with Mrs. Good at the helm as the STEM Coordinator. The next project for Mrs. Good is moving more STEM into the Secondary School. She is soliciting grants and funding to bring cutting edge STEM resources to BCS Secondary classes.
Currently at BCS, the kindergarten teachers cover STEM for their classrooms, Mrs. Good teaches STEM to students in grades 1-5, Mrs. Angelina Chan teaches 6th grade, Mr. Joel Guthrie covers grades 7 & 8, and Mr. Paul Suvar teaches a STEM focused Computer Science curriculum at the high school level.
With more STEM opportunities in the Secondary STEM will prepare Secondary students for the high-demand tech jobs. STEM prepares students for future job needs. Students exposed to STEM graduate with more ability to find and keep a job because they have the knowledge, experience, and realistic expectations to succeed. In addition, STEM education encourages creativity and problem-solving. Students are able to apply lessons from one subject to another which requires, develops, and enhances creative problem-solving abilities. STEM also improves collaboration and communication skills, builds confidence, flexibility, and resilience. Finally, students exposed to STEM are more prepared for college and more ready for their career.
STEM education is critical to help the United States remain a world leader. US math and science scores fall short of many other nations, so this makes STEM education and opportunities all the more important. This will benefit not only our nation, but have a positive impact on our world as a whole. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, STEM occupations are growing at 24%, while other occupations are growing at 4%. Innovation leads to new products and processes that sustain our economy.
If you would like to become a STEM sponsor, you can give and specify STEM in the Box marked other.
We would like to thank our 2022-2023 financial sponsors for their generous gifts:
Meijer
Clarity Pools
L3Harris
AEGIS Machining
