Arkansas STEM Education Schools Connect to LA Tech

Last Friday was a very enjoyable and personally fulfilling day due to having the privilege of visiting two innovative STEM-focused schools, eSTEM Middle Charter (enrollment, 900 students) and eSTEM High School Charter (enrollment, 600 students) in Little Rock, Arkansas. Coming from a rural environment, it is a bit different to visit schools located in the midst of the business and busyness of a city. This aspect made the visit educational while the teachers and students I met made it extremely enjoyable and very fulfilling.

If you are wondering about the reason for this visit, it begins with the COE’s connection to Ms. Danni Stuckey, COE alumnus and former teacher at Dubach Elementary School. During her association with the COE, Ms. Stuckey also participated in the SciTEC Scholars program where she learned of innovative methods to integrate STEM concepts, demos, and experiments into a reading curriculum to heighten student engagement. Prompted by this professional development, she developed a series of STEM/literacy lessons including activities such as how design and use pinhole cameras to discuss light and color, concepts while connecting directly to texts such as Lois Lowery's 1994 Newberry Medal recipient, The Giver. While the book was available on the students' Kindles and iPADs, they were unable to take them home, annotate, or otherwise physically engage with the text, and they seems to especially enjoy interacting with one that has a hard cover. Ms. Stuckey submitted a request outlining her vision and her need (40 hard cover texts), which the COE was able to meet due to the generosity of funding made available through the Pipes Foundation. 

Ms. Lindsey Keith-Vincent, Director of Outreach and External for the COE, who played a primary role in this collaborative event, joined me in “welcoming” the eSTEM students to the Tech traditions of excellence and in distributing copies of The Giver.  We had the pleasure of speaking with some engaging students from two high school classes who asked many insightful and interesting questions about Tech, Ruston, and University life in general. I am very thankful to the wonderful students of Ms. Craig’s AP English class and Mr. Pursley’s AP Chemistry class who asked thoughtful questions and who seemed genuinely engaged and interested in the process of learning and achieving. To Ms. Craig and Mr. Pursley, thank you for your kindness and consideration in allowing us to use some of your valuable instructional time to meet and chat with your exceptional students.

In summary, the visit to the eSTEM Charter Schools saw the establishment of a new competitive grant program offered through the Office of Outreach and External Funding for the College of Education, the initiation of a new relationship with some exceptional students and teachers from a stellar school, and a view of the P-12 education thriving in city environment.

- A BIG thank you goes out to Ms. Debra, Mr. Sarper, and Ms. Stuckey for a great visit and a wonderful start to what we hope is a long-term partnership

*Enrollment numbers are approximations provided by eSTEM Charter School faculty.

Visit https://www.estemlr.net/ for more information about the eSTEM Charter Schools.