STEM

The acronym STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. This approach to education is designed to revolutionize the teaching of subject areas such as mathematics and science by incorporating technology and engineering into regular curriculum by creating a "meta-discipline". There is more to STEM -- It is an attempt to transform the typical teacher-centered classroom by encouraging a curriculum that is driven by problem-solving, discovery, exploratory learning, and require students to actively engage a situation in order to find its solution.

Integration of a STEM Curriculum

The four parts of STEM have been taught separately and most of the time independent from each other for years. By adopting the STEM philosophy, science, technology, mathematics and the humanities all play an integral part in the teaching of the whole curricula. At Clark, all classroom promote integrated learning, investigation and inquiry. A STEM classroom might pose a problem and require students to do original research inspired by a class-wide project, where they must use technology to gather and analyze data, design, test, and improve upon a proposed solution, and then communicate their findings to their peers.

Michele Clark's Early College STEM School is a new type of school that brings together the best elements of high school, college and the professional work place. Our school enables students to begin their college and career experiences quickly with enrichment activities. Graduates of Michele Clark's Early College STEM School have an opportunity to earn a high school diploma, computer science/information technology certifications, and an associate's degree. This school-to-work pathway offers students the option to pursue competitive jobs in the Information Technology (IT) industry before, during and after graduation.

Clark's STEM Scholars are participating in the ISS Earth Kam Mission and learning about the effects of weathering and erosion around the globe.  Mr. Daniel Karcz of Malcolm X's Saturday Academy has collected images of locations (glaciers, mountains, coastlines, river deltas, and sand dunes) for Clark STEM Scholars to analyze and compose a brief essay based on their findings.  One of the most interesting aspects of the program is the chance for students to chat via an interactive videoconference with a NASA astronaut at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.