These innovative teachers have some awesome hands-on lessons in store for their students this school year.
Berkeley County School District would like to recognize its more than 20 teachers who landed STEAM grants from Santee Cooper.
Through this grant program, individual teachers could apply for grants up to $2,500 and teams of teachers could apply for up to $5,000. These STEAM lessons include different activities ranging from experimenting with 3D printers, to coding Ozobots, to harnessing entrepreneur skills – and beyond.
Brandy Incorvia, Manager of Community Relations with Santee Cooper, said a portion of the lump sum donation Santee Cooper gives to BCSD each year is set aside for teacher STEAM grants.
“Santee Cooper values education and educators,” she said. “These grants are a way for us as a company to help empower educators to expand the opportunities for their students.”
Congratulations to the winners listed below!
Boulder Bluff Elementary
Victoria Bianculli will use her earnings to help her second graders design and build birdhouses or insect hotels to enhance their understanding of habitats. Students will also collect and analyze data from their ecosystem observations and later present their findings to their classmates.
Cane Bay Middle
Gateway to Technology teacher Jeanneatte Hartstein will have her middle school students split into teams to design and program a Dash Robot to navigate through an obstacle course, a lesson that will incorporate coding, problem-solving and critical thinking skills.
Daniel Island School
Art teacher Lauren Rice is bringing back her fused glass lesson for her eighth-grade art students; last year, Rice’s students learned the basics of glass fusing when they made fused plates. This year, students will learn to cut, score and slump glass, and each will produce a coral reef-themed glass bowl.
Foxbank Elementary
A couple of teachers from Foxbank Elementary scored STEAM grants from Santee Cooper this year.
Erica Harper will lead fifth-graders in a STEAM-focused project where students create and screen-print their own t-shirt designs. Students will use digital tools such as Procreate and Apple Pencils to create graphic designs, which will then be transferred to physical t-shirts through the process of screen printing. They will also learn basic principles of business and entrepreneurship.
Meanwhile, Tiffanie Kessler and Jennifer Rowe will also lead fifth-graders in a project that involves coding Ozobots. The coding aspect will tie into a research project the students will work on where they study cultures around the world.
Goose Creek High
Valerie Richiusa and Sandra Oliver’s vision is to have students from Richiusa’s general education biology class partner with their friends with special needs from Oliver's class and explore ecosystems at the South Carolina Aquarium. In their application, Richiusa and Oliver wrote that they hope both sets of students will learn from each other during the field trip.
Hanahan Elementary
Brittany Lowell and Marcy Gasperson will implement a project called “21st Century Engineering” where fourth-graders will work in teams to problem-solve solutions for different tasks. Six different engineers (mechanical, electrical, software, nuclear, architectural and environmental) will visit classes so students can learn about the different engineering fields.
H.E. Bonner Elementary
This school had a couple of group winners as well.
April Ash, Vickie Dawson and Amanda Mixson’s project entitled “Enhancing STEAM Learning through Innovative Design Projects” involves fourth-graders using a laser cutter to design and create a car that will hold an egg to safely travel down a ramp. Students are currently learning about force, motion and energy and will later use this project to demonstrate their knowledge.
Meanwhile, Krystle Ragusa, Kristen White, Rebecca Weaver and Dorothea Manigault plan to purchase a new 3D printer to make manipulatives and other resources to support learning for their students with special needs.
Philip Simmons Elementary
Kiana Brown plans to purchase a program called “High Tech, High Touch – Science Made Fun!” for second graders. Last year’s group experienced a lesson from the program and loved it. Students will get involved in interactive and hands-on science programs that align with state standards and lessons they are currently learning in class.
Sangaree Intermediate
Saskia Keller will use the school’s Makerspace classroom to get the school’s third through fifth graders involved in hands-on assignments. Lessons will begin with a “hook” using a piece of children’s literature shared with the students. They will be presented with a problem or challenge to create a product based on the reading. Most projects will be completed in groups.
St. Stephen Elementary
Denise McCay, Rachel Shealy, and Melissa Williams will lead students in coding and programming Ozobots and Dash Robots to successfully complete mazes. Students will also design the mazes themselves, structuring them around math fact fluency, vocabulary words, phonic skills or word roots.
St. Stephen Middle
Kayla Craft and Jessica James will use their earnings to teach students about entrepreneurship. Students will design school-themed items such as keychains, earrings, necklaces, ornaments, door signs and more. After designing a product, students will work in groups to produce, assemble and sell their products.
Westview Elementary
Jennifer Beaver’s third graders will cover the book “How I Learned Geography” by Uri Shulevitz, who found a way to experience World War II because of a wall map his father purchased; the map allowed him to dream and “visit” places that gave him temporary respite. Using inspiration from the story, students will use a printed world map to map their journey from the United States to different continents using Ozobots.
Westview Primary
Heather Postell plans to lead first-graders in researching their favorite animals and creating dioramas depicting their animals in natural habitats. Students will also experience a 30-minute virtual field trip with a zookeeper and three different animal species from the Bronx Zoo.
Whitesville Elementary
Anne-Marie Cate and Bridget Campbell’s “Tech for Tomorrow: Climate Solutions through Micro:bit and Podcasts” will have fifth-grade students diving into global issues. Students will use “Micro:bits” to gather climate-related data through projects (like weather stations, among others) and later analyze their findings to create solutions to environmental challenges. They will also produce podcasts to touch on their findings.
Multiple schools
School counselors / career specialists Ahja Glaze from Philip Simmons High, Jimarra Norwood from Berkeley High, Teresa White from Goose Creek High and Jessica Galati from Cane Bay High are joining forces to create a STEAM Fusion Fest where high school students will create interactive displays and demonstrations that showcase how STEAM principles can be applied to everyday life and various career paths. They will research different STEAM careers passed on programs offered at the aforementioned high schools. Community business partners will also participate to offer on-site interviews and resume tips to get into the STEAM industry.