MCAS BEAUFORT -- Children throughout the Laurel Bay schools learned how science, technology, engineering and mathematics are applied in different career fields during STEM Week, April 9-11.
STEM Week gives students the opportunity to connect what they learn in school with different careers and how these subjects affect their daily lives in ways they never knew.
Teachers are always asked by their students why they have to study math and science, but this assignment gets the students out from behind their desks and gives them a broader understanding of their subjects and some of their practical uses, said Shelman Burton, the district math and science instructional systems specialist.
“This assignment allows the students to see something new and try something completely out of the ordinary,” said Burton.
The seventh and eighth grade students at Bolden Middle School had the opportunity to work with students from the Georgia Institute of Technology to build robots and use scratch animation to make video games is an assignment to tie in with STEM Week.
“I built a robot called the Clean and Play that is designed to play with young children, ages three to five, then clean the toys up after playing,” said Brandon Stewart, a seventh grade student at Bolden Middle School. “It’s a great way to learn more about mechanics.”
The children also begin to appreciate all the hard work the service members and contractors do within the Tri-Command, said Burton. This program will start to make children question and wonder more.
“I would like to be a fighter pilot,” said Stewart. “This assignment will help me understand how mechanics work and the importance of my school work, which in the end will make me a better pilot.”
President Barack Obama believes math and science should have a strong role in our nation’s schools, said Burton. The Department of Defense has a strategic goal to get the STEM program in all of their schools, so the next generation of Americans can continue being competitive globally