Tabetha Banks

Principal
Arlington Middle School

STEM Designation Committee,

Our school has proudly reinforced STEAM-based learning and mindset for
the last several years. Our school and district truly embody the inquiry-based
learning, real-world application, employability standards and 21st Century skills
that STEAM envelopes. Arlington Middle School shows commitment to a STEM-like
learning through our community partnerships, curriculum structure and
supportive leadership.

One of the key ways we have developed a robust STEAM program is through
deep connections with our community partners. We have solid professional
relationships with local universities, manufacturing facilities and professional
organizations such as Microport Orthopedics, University of Memphis, Memphis
Orthopedics, and the Arlington Chamber of Commerce. Many of these businesses
and organizations give our students opportunities to have professional
experiences and competitions. For example, several partners have allowed
students to tour their manufacturing facilities, and the University of Memphis has
extended invitations to multiple events we have participated in such as E-Day and
Girls in Flight. In addition to tours and events, competitions have been sponsored
and judged by our partners. This year, several sponsors have sent engineers to our
school to judge our STEM student’s projects. Another key way our community
sponsors support us is through their generous giving. The Arlington Chamber of
Commerce gives our schools and others within our district yearly grants where
thousands of dollars are put into our curriculum and programs. Our community
partners give our school and district their time, resources and training to help us
provide our students with experiences that develop their employability and
adaptability to today’s job market.

Our leadership team at our school is both supportive of our STEAM program
and is proactively making it flourish. Our school has added a STEM leadership
team exclusively to lead our school toward STEM certification and curriculum
implementation. This team has specifically led the school certification process this
year and advised administration and all departments on ways to further immerse
our school in problem-based learning. Teachers have also been given common
planning that is designed to encourage them to create cross-curricular lessons that
emulate STEAM-like activities. Our leadership at the school and district level has
also provided the funding, resources and training for our STEAM program to be
offered to every student in sixth through eighth grade. We have also renovated,
reorganized and refurnished a science lab exclusively for STEM projects and
learning that all our STEM departments share. The room now showcases STEM
tables designed for easy transition to group work and project-based learning. Our

5470 Lamb Road| Arlington, TN 38002 | P: 901.867-6015 | F: 901.867-7080 | acsk-12.org

______________________________________________________________________________
Arlington Community Schools offer educational and employment opportunities without regard to race, color, creed, national origin, religion,
sex, age, disability or genetic information and adheres to the provisions of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
 Tabetha Banks
Principal
Arlington Middle School

district and school leadership has supported and proactively planned with our
faculty to make our school a place with high engagement and 21st century
learning.

Our school also shines for STEAM by serving our students with a
challenging STEM curriculum. Our highly qualified teachers have undergone over
80 hours of training through the Project Lead the Way Curriculum throughout the
summer and school year. Our “STEM for All” program includes components of this
curriculum delivered at all grade levels. In sixth-eighth grade, students learn about
flight engineering, coding, automation and robotics. Some of the many STEM-
projects our students have completed include designing a foot orthosis device,
dissecting a sheep brain and building robots. Our STEM curriculum is built around
employability preparedness and opening our students to possibly engaging with
our Engineering Academy at our high school, which supports and provides even
more demanding and immersive real-world experiences.

Our school truly embodies an institution whose goal is to prepare career-

ready and increase employability. We meet our goals by supporting a thriving
STEAM program and mindset throughout our school and faculty. Our community
partners, leadership and amazing faculty are essential to this vision for our school.

5470 Lamb Road| Arlington, TN 38002 | P: 901.867-6015 | F: 901.867-7080 | acsk-12.org

______________________________________________________________________________
Arlington Community Schools offer educational and employment opportunities without regard to race, color, creed, national origin, religion,
sex, age, disability or genetic information and adheres to the provisions of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).