MEDIA CONTACT: Matt Cardoza, GaDOE Communications Office, (404) 651-7358, mcardoza@gadoe.org

Gilda Lyon, GaDOE STEM Coordinator, (404) 463-1977, glyon@doe.k12.ga.us

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May 27, 2015 – The Georgia Department of Education has awarded Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) certification to Rex Mill Middle School in the Clayton County School System.

Rex Mill is the second middle school in the state and the first school in Clayton County to be awarded the designation. The official banner and certification was given at a ceremony May 11 by Georgia Department of Education CTAE Director Dr. Barbara Wall.

“The teachers at Rex Mill work diligently to create integrated experiences for the students in the program to make sure they can apply math, science, and health care science,” Superintendent Woods said. “Rex Mill Middle School’s focus on health care science provides students with opportunities to learn skills in an area where we know there are multiple employment options.”

To earn STEM certification, the school had to submit an application showing that it meets specific criteria, including evidence of teacher collaboration, business and industry partnerships, high levels of math and science instruction and an integrated, project-based STEM curriculum. A team from the Georgia Department of Education visited the school to observe the program.

While “STEM” has engineering as part of the acronym, there are many components of a STEM program that are applicable other than just engineering, as demonstrated at Rex Mill. The school has worked for three years to accomplish this goal as they moved from isolated classes of CTAE, math and science to the integrated curriculum provided for students today. Students have worked on long-term integrated STEM projects such as an emergency management initiative and designing an entire STEM lab funded by Coca-Cola.

Learn more about STEM schools at www.stemgeorgia.org.

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