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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.