KNIGHTDALE - With rising unemployment, a squabbling school board and a region's reputation of underperforming schools as his backdrop, renowned educator Sam Houston used Knightdale Town Hall as his pulpit to prophesy a coming change in classroom culture and student performance. "If we can think about school in a different way, entrusting our children to think independently and tackle global issues ... it can lead to the salvation of our economy," Houston told an audience of about 80 people last week.
Houston, president and CEO of the N.C. Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education Center, was the keynote speaker for the Sept. 22 forum about STEM schools.
Earlier this year, East Wake Middle and Knightdale High became part of the STEM network, which provides select schools with advanced technology and new learning techniques to help teachers promote a focus on science, technology, engineering and math.
STEM schools receive additional funding and resources - from science kits to iPads - as well as training for teachers so students can approach learning from a "real-world" perspective.
The event was hosted by Knightdale 100, an educational advocacy group which had lobbied schools' officials for East Wake Middle and Knightdale schools to become part of the STEM network.
"The problem with our schools is not that they are not what they used to be, but that they are what they used to be. They haven't changed from when we were in school," he said. "To inspire rigor, we have to make (the lessons) relevant to today's world."
Students trained in STEM fields are more likely to find work, according to 2011 study by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economics and Statistics Administration. In the past 10 years, growth in STEM jobs was three times greater than that of non-STEM jobs, the report said. STEM workers also command higher wages, earning 26 percent more than non-STEM counterparts, and STEM degree-holders earn more, regardless of whether they work in STEM or non-STEM occupations, according to the report.
The switch to STEM-based learning has already begun at local schools. Knightdale High students this year have written scripts for iPod applications, crafted aqueducts from scratch and tackled dozens of new projects, school administrators Geof Duncan and Brad Walston said. "Our teachers have embraced this change," Walston said.
Damion Lewis' English students are learning how to properly apply for funding grants that would help conserve school resources, such as paper and bathroom towels. Teachers at East Wake Middle said they have begun recording classroom lectures so they can be integrated with online course material.
"The rest of the world is competing for the future," Houston said. "If we don't change the way we think about education, we'll be left behind."
Houston, president and CEO of the N.C. Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education Center, was the keynote speaker for the Sept. 22 forum about STEM schools.
Earlier this year, East Wake Middle and Knightdale High became part of the STEM network, which provides select schools with advanced technology and new learning techniques to help teachers promote a focus on science, technology, engineering and math.
STEM schools receive additional funding and resources - from science kits to iPads - as well as training for teachers so students can approach learning from a "real-world" perspective.
The event was hosted by Knightdale 100, an educational advocacy group which had lobbied schools' officials for East Wake Middle and Knightdale schools to become part of the STEM network.
"The problem with our schools is not that they are not what they used to be, but that they are what they used to be. They haven't changed from when we were in school," he said. "To inspire rigor, we have to make (the lessons) relevant to today's world."
Students trained in STEM fields are more likely to find work, according to 2011 study by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economics and Statistics Administration. In the past 10 years, growth in STEM jobs was three times greater than that of non-STEM jobs, the report said. STEM workers also command higher wages, earning 26 percent more than non-STEM counterparts, and STEM degree-holders earn more, regardless of whether they work in STEM or non-STEM occupations, according to the report.
The switch to STEM-based learning has already begun at local schools. Knightdale High students this year have written scripts for iPod applications, crafted aqueducts from scratch and tackled dozens of new projects, school administrators Geof Duncan and Brad Walston said. "Our teachers have embraced this change," Walston said.
Damion Lewis' English students are learning how to properly apply for funding grants that would help conserve school resources, such as paper and bathroom towels. Teachers at East Wake Middle said they have begun recording classroom lectures so they can be integrated with online course material.
"The rest of the world is competing for the future," Houston said. "If we don't change the way we think about education, we'll be left behind."
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