Containing the excitement in his classroom is McCurdy Jones’s biggest challenge. “I don’t really have to motivate the students,” he says. “They’re engaged. Now it’s a matter of making sure that engagement doesn’t supersede the limits of what’s safe.”
Jones teaches Robotics, Electronics, Construction Skills and Manufacturing Technology at River Ridge High School. His classes are a new addition this year, part of an overall emphasis on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) that also includes Sports Medicine, which is taught by Head Athletic Trainer and teacher Stephanie Hjortedal.
The classes are hands-on, applicable to students’ lives and highly engaging, based on the response they’re getting. “The way it’s set up and the way Ms. Hjortedal teaches isn’t like any other class that I’ve ever taken in high school,” says River Ridge senior Alecktre Kirby. “It’s very interactive and there is a lot of information.”
The program was conceived at the district level in February, when North Thurston Public Schools administrators began adding classrooms and equipment that could facilitate STEM-based education. “It was a new initiative this year,” says Brad Hooper, director of the district’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) program. “We added four classrooms and a fabrication robotics lab. We also upgraded the woodshop construction area and the auto shop.”
In the meantime, NTPS hired River Ridge principal Monica Sweet who jumped on board what Hooper calls a “fast-moving train.” By the time she arrived, Sweet says “concepts were well-defined. We knew what the programs were going to be and we knew what the coursework was going to be. We had kids registered already by the time I came on board.”
What River Ridge High School didn’t yet have were teachers. Fortunately, the two people they needed were already close at hand. Jones had been teaching math and technology at Reeves Middle School in East Olympia for eight years and knew Hooper, and Hjortedal was already an athletic trainer for after school sports at River Ridge. Both leapt at the opportunity to create a program from the ground up, even knowing how much work would be involved.
“A lot of stuff isn’t there, so it’s been great to collaborate with teachers from other schools that have programs,” says Jones. “Timberline has electronics so they have a lot of material there that I can start working on. Now I’ve got to customize it to my style of doing things.”
For Hjortedal, the challenge has been learning a new field – teaching. “I have a lot of knowledge on the subject but I don’t have as much experience teaching,” she says. “My background is in athletic training but a lot of these kids are going to go into all kinds of health care fields so I want to keep it broad.”
Hjortedal’s hands-on approach seems to be working. Students can take her class for P.E. credit, as a partial science credit, or as a CTE credit. “A lot of them are really excited about the opportunity, especially those kids that might not be athletes,” she says. “They can get to be a part of a world that they might not normally get to experience.”
That also means exposing them to new possibilities for career paths and confirming choices they have already made. “I was originally taking (Sports Medicine) just for a P.E. credit but it ended up being a really useful class,” says Kirby. Every student did a research project at the beginning of the semester on a role within the medical field, she explains. “I did mine on being a Licensed Practitioner Nurse, and I decided that was what I was going to do.”
Sophomore Isaiah Brumer was already clear that he wanted to be a physical therapist before he enrolled. “This is a really good starter class for anybody who wants to go into the medical field,” he says.
Beyond practical skills, students are also gaining less tangible benefits like critical thinking, problem solving, and teamwork. Breanna Smith is a junior taking introductory robotics. “I’m learning how to better work with a team,” she says. “It’s easy to work by yourself, especially on robotics projects, but having to compromise with people is a big part of it.”
Electronics and robotics classes mirror the real world, says senior Noah Francom. “Where often in school you’re supposed to get one right answer, in these classes it’s about whatever you can come up with. If it works, awesome. It doesn’t matter if it’s correct. It just has to work.”
That level of relevance and applicability matters more than ever, says Sweet. “Students are walking into jobs, occupations and fields of study that are different from the world we grew up in as educators,” she says. “We want them to know that there are post-secondary opportunities for them, particularly in the STEM field, probably the fastest-growing field out there.”
Hooper credits everyone involved with bringing the program together so quickly. “To make an initiative successful, you have to have all parties working and playing together,” he says. “The district has been phenomenal to work with. The teachers have been phenomenal and willing to work the extra hours, days, and weekends to get stuff done. It’s been wonderful to have it be so successful so fast.”
Eventually Hooper wants to both expand the program and make it replicable for other educators. “My goal is to make River Ridge High School a beacon of STEM not just for North Thurston Public Schools, but for the region.”
