Scientists at Sigma-Aldrich, a chemical-supply company in Midtown St. Louis, turned down the lights in a classroom-sized laboratory, where about 50 K-8 school teachers stood around lab tables wearing white coats.
When the scientists combined two chemicals, the mixture glowed a magical turquoise blue in the dark.
“As the kids would say, that’s tight,” said Cardellia Brand, a fifth-grade teacher in the Normandy School District.
On July 22, the Sigma-Aldrich team members taught Brand and the other teachers a few science experiments that they could do in their own classrooms.
For the fourth year, a select group of St. Louis-area and Metro East educators spent two weeks, July 13-24, learning how to better teach their students in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
Called the STEM Teacher Quality (TQ) Institute, the teachers engaged in simulated space missions at the Challenger Learning Center, explored creek habitat at Castlewood State Park and uncovered the secrets of software security with MasterCard.
Express Scripts, Ameren, the Federal Reserve Bank and Microsoft offered activities to encourage the teachers to “STEM-itize” their curriculum. And several teachers said the program opened their eyes to careers that aren’t the typical doctor or scientist roles.
“The goal is not just to raise test scores but to foster and grow a lifelong interest in the fields, thereby establishing today’s students as the STEM leaders of tomorrow,” said Deborah Holmes, project manager and facilitator for the institute. “And the method seems to be paying off.”
In 2014 all STEM TQ fifth and eighth grade science classrooms out-performed non-participating classrooms, according to evaluations performed by STEMpact – which is the collaborative network that organizes and funds the institute. In math, reports show STEM TQ students out-performing non-participating students by at least 22 index points.
The 2015 STEM TQ included 165 participants, up from 106 last year, and there was a waitlist of more than 20 educators. This year’s participating school districts included Affton, East-St. Louis, Ferguson-Florissant, Hazelwood, Hillsboro, Jennings, Kirkwood, Mehlville, Normandy, Pattonville, Rockwood, St. Charles, St. Louis Language Immersion, University City, Webster Groves and Wenztville.
At Sigma-Aldrich, Tanya Jackson, a global product manager, told her story of how she landed at the company, which sells about 300,000 different products.
“The wind blew me here,” she said.
Jackson grew up in Buffalo, New York, in a family that all worked service jobs, and she was the first one among her family members to earn a degree. No one in her family encouraged her to pursue science, she said.
“I wouldn’t be here without my teachers,” she said. “I’d be working at the bar like the rest of my family.”
It took her seven years to earn her biology degree, and then she went on to earn her master’s degree in natural sciences. She has had a variety of jobs, including “bench scientist” in a cancer research lab and “troubleshooter” for customers’ challenges with a company’s life science products. She said these are positions that their students potentially land in the science field – and none are paths she would have chosen as a youth.
“Career connections has been one of the big takeaways for me,” said fifth-grade teacher Megan Zinch, who teaches in the Normandy Schools Collaborative.
STEM TQ and its year-long follow-up programs cost about $3,200 per teacher but is free to participants. Following STEM TQ, STEMpact provides additional training during three professional development days and six after-school development sessions throughout the school year.
STEMpact is a local collaborative partnership made up of representatives from the area’s top STEM companies and funded by Ameren Missouri, AT&T Aspire, Bank of America, Boeing, Emerson, Express Scripts Foundation, The Laclede Group, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, Manifest Digital, Maritz, MasterCard, McDonnell Family Foundation, Monsanto Fund, Peabody Energy, Sigma-Aldrich Corporation, and Washington University Institute for School Partnership.
“Professional opportunities in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math continue to grow, and will be a source of long-term economic growth for the region,” said STEMpact board member Danny Sherling of Sigma-Aldrich.
“We’re investing in this program because we recognize that St. Louis-area teachers play an integral part in preparing the STEM professionals of tomorrow.”
Follow this reporter on Twitter @rebeccarivas.
