New STEM Program Offered To Middle School Students

BERLIN — As Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) continues to have an expanded focus in Worcester County schools, a new program will allow middle school students to get a big jump on the field.
Gateway to Technology (GTT) offers eight units encompassing aspects like Green Architecture, Magic of Electrons and Energy and the Environment. Worcester is currently offering Gateway Part One to middle school students. Part One contains the two required foundational classes: Automation and Robotics as well as Design and Modeling.
While the county has worked with Worcester Technical High School on Project Lead the Way (PLTW), a STEM initiative, for six years, it was only last spring that Worcester received an anonymous grant that funded the expansion of Gateway to county middle schools.
“We recognized the need for enrichment at our school as all schools have,” said Trevor Hill, a teacher at Stephen Decatur High School.
Hill directs students as they work through GTT. The program is flexible and carries a lot of depth, according to Hill. This allows participants to take as much away from Gateway as they put in.
“The Project Lead the Way program Gateway to Technology (GTT) features a project-based curriculum designed to challenge and engage the natural curiosity and imagination of middle school students,” he wrote in a memo to the Board of Education. “They envision, design, and test their ideas with the same advanced modeling software used by companies like Lockheed Martin, Intel and Sprint.”
There is also a heavy focus on understanding alternative energy such as solar, thermal and wind power. The goal, Hill told the school board at its December meeting, is to show students from an early age that the field of engineering has unlimited potential. The courses are meant to generate interest by having students create robots and see the impact of energy. Hill likened what GTT does to a classic engineering activity: the egg drop.
While dropping an egg off of a building to learn about physics sounds old-fashioned, Hill told the board that it was still something that demanded his interest as a student, a feeling he wants to duplicate with Gateway.
“It was a memorable thing, it was really engaging, it was really exciting,” he said. “And that’s kind of what I’ve put on myself to make sure that’s what I’m doing with these students. We’re doing memorable things that are engaging and exciting as we’re doing this Gateway to Technology.”
As the name “Gateway” implies, the program is considered preparation for the STEM courses available at WTHS. However, GTT can function as a standalone program and there is no requirement to move on to WTHS.
“Students completing Gateway Part 1 are not required to attend a STEM academy at Worcester Tech, but will be better prepared for WTHS should they choose to pursue a specialized STEM program,” he said.
But the skills imparted through GTT are such a strong foundation for Pre-Engineering, Bio-Medical Science and Renewable Energies that transition to the technical high school is common. This often leads to students further pursing STEM in college and beyond. Hill noted that this gives Worcester students an edge in the workforce.
“According to Forbes and U.S. News and World Report, the greatest occupational needs are going to continue to be STEM-related areas,” he wrote.
Gateway aligns perfectly with Worcester’s ongoing emphasis on STEM education, according to Board of Education member Doug Dryden.
“The world is wide open for engineers and there are technologies that we don’t even know about yet that these kids will be involved in,” he said.