Essex High School

STEM Academy
A place for exploring and making connections

Academy Overview

School within a school to help students explore their passions

Academy of Visual and Performing Arts started in 2009
STEM Academy started in 2013
Register for Academies at the end of freshman year
Currently 50 students in the STEM Academy
STEM and AVPA have their own advisories

School wide initiative, new last year

Students placed in multi-age groups of 12, meet 30 minutes per week

Personalized Learning Plans launching Fall 2015, Act 77

STEM Endorsement Requirements

Enrollment in STEM Advisory

Creation of a STEM electronic portfolio, ongoing from 10th to 12th grade
Attend 10 STEM Lecture Series Events
STEMinar Internship class (junior year)
Capstone project (senior year)
Four years of math
Four years of science

Academy Goals
Personalized growth throughout the program
Advisory grouped by interest
E-portfolio
Internship class in junior year
Capstone project in senior year
Making connections
Students and faculty in advisory
Lecture Series
Creativity and collaboration
Digital Literacy
Awareness of societal and global issues
Enhance quality of college application

Academy Strands

Medicine
Life Sciences
Computer Science/Math
Engineering

Medical Advisory
Our first project is to build prosthetic hands using the 3D printer in our
Fablab

Matched with mentors and recipients through e-NABLE

We will be making the Raptor

Building the hands

17 students in Medical Advisory
Team taught by academy leader and tech ed teacher
Four hands, three recipients
Edited e-NABLE build plates with Rhino CAD software
Printed on uPrint by Dimension

Fab lab
uPrint 3D printer by Dimension
Laser Engraver
CNC Lathe
Electronics Workstation
Robotics Club workspace
New CNC Milling Machine available

Life Sciences Advisory

Students completed an inquiry activity in
which they tested local water samples for the
presence of coliform bacteria.

This activity demonstrated the importance of

using controls during experimentation and
why water quality testing is important

Future Plans

Design a bat cave with ideal conditions for hibernating bats

without contamination by white nose fungus

Research genetically modified organisms using DNA

electrophoresis

Investigate biotechnology using a virtual world

Engineering Advisory
Our first project was to introduce the Design
Process through building paper rockets. Our
compressed air cannon can launch paper rockets
more than a tenth of a mile.

Currently learning Rhino to design 3D printed parts

Computer Science/Math
Learning about microcontrollers and programming with the Arduino using
the SparkFun Inventors Kit 15 circuits designed to unleash a students
inner inventor

Student led
Follow on activities will likely include:
Modeling using Excel
Learning how to create phone apps

Future Advisory Plans

Continue to work with students on their portfolios
Pick a problem in the community
Design and build a solution
Contests
VT State Science Fair

Recent Events

Goal setting in portfolios

Purdue Admissions spoke to Academy on Wed, Sep 10 Advisory
Neurobotik gaming research opportunity with UVM
Healthcare Shadow Day through CVAHEC, Oct 17
ECHO partnership under development
Library Maker Space Launch
Evolutionary Robotics talk with Dr. Josh Bongard from UVM
STEM Lecture on Software Development and CubeSats

STEMinar Internship Class

One semester class
Unit 1 Tech Intro
Unit 2 Career Exploration
Unit 3 Job Sites
Unit 4 Connections and Research
Unit 5 - Presentations

Internship Partners
FAHC
UVM
Revision Military
Liquid Measurement Systems
Logic Supply
ECHO

Capstone Projects

First Projects will start in Spring 2015

Will be done in conjunction with the students advisor

Advisory Board
UVM
FAHC
Champlain College
Logic Supply
IBM
Inntopia
Create It Labs
Polhemus
Keurig Green Mountain

Current Focus

Increase visibility in the community

Define solid community partnerships

Create student opportunities in the community

Large emphasis on Making in this community, incorporate that into advisory
projects and capstone projects
Collaboration with our library
AVPA/STEM connections

Library Maker Space

Maker Plans

Capstone projects possibly involve Maker projects

Expand our presence in the library
Workshops in partnership with the community
Middle school outreach

Summary

STEM Endorsement on Diploma

Goal setting and personal growth

Community Involvement
Internship
Capstone Project
Learning to solve problems in a creative way so they can lend their talents to the
problems of the future