Welcome to INNOVATOR, an update on secondary school change from the North Carolina New Schools Project. Our newsletter is designed to inform practitioners, policy makers, and friends of public education on innovation, research and success stories from secondary schools. Please feel free to contact us, provide feedback and suggest article ideas.
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Creativity a key focus at STEM conference
 | | Tony Wagner |
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 | | Brett Carter |
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 | | Emily Pilloton |
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Ostensibly, the three-day conference this week at the edge of Research Triangle Park was devoted to the interdisciplinary blend of science, technology, engineering and math called STEM.
 But a different, if complementary, theme emerged within the first few minutes of the first speaker's talk and never let up. Whether in presentations from students, breakout sessions with experts or keynote discussions by leading thinkers, the focus was as much on creativity - and the need to nurture that capacity in students - as on the disciplines known as STEM.
Tony Wagner, an educator and author who argues that traditional high schools are obsolete, now adds creativity to his list of essential survival skills - critical thinking, collaboration, agility and curiosity among them -- which he formulated several years ago in his book, The Global Achievement Gap.
"But these skills are not enough," Wagner told conference participants over lunch Tuesday. "Innovation - especially in STEM - is the most important capacity that our children need."
A similar theme was struck by Brett Carter, president of Duke Energy North Carolina, who said growth in the energy business increasingly depends on such innovations as solar power and other alternative energy sources - the development of which demands creativity.
Read more ...
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STEM students show learning by doing
 Educators spend a lot time these days talking about how schools must teach students to become skillful problem solvers, critical thinkers and effective communicators.
This week, dozens of students from schools across North Carolina showed how that theory is being put into practice. The students, participants in the 5th annual Student STEM Symposium, presented projects they developed this year to their peers, then a number of teams tightened their ties and smoothed their hair to present to grown-ups attending the Scaling STEM conference that followed.
A tough crowd, but the students never stumbled.
From Durham's City of Medicine Academy, a team of students conceived a fictional city from the rubble of another to create a more modern, enjoyable eco-friendly environment. They developed a plan for alternative energy sources, energy-efficient housing, public transportation and new industry based on the development of fashion, cosmetics and art.
Students from Warren New Tech High School considered every possible detail in their exhaustive plan for an environmentally friendly theme park for Warren County, The Green Kingdom.
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STEP candidates chosen from strong field
Sixteen candidates for a new program aimed at luring mid-career professionals and recent college graduates into teaching secondary school science, technology and math were named this week during the Scaling STEM conference held near Research Triangle Park.
The candidates were selected from a strong field of 74 applicants to the program, called NCNSP STEM Teacher Education Program, or NCNSP STEP, which will provide classroom-based preparation in innovative secondary schools affiliated with the NC New Schools Project.
An initiative of NCNSP, the non-traditional teacher education program is supported by the federal Transitions to Teaching grant program, which supports efforts to recruit and retain highly qualified mid-career professionals and recent college graduates interested in earning a teaching license through an alternative route. NCNSP is one of 30 organizations nationwide awarded five-year grants from the U.S. Department of Education to train non-education graduates to teach in high-needs schools.
Candidates in the 15-month program will receive a year of on-the-job training at an innovative school supported by NCNSP, combined with NCNSP seminars and online coursework through WIDE World, a professional development program of the Harvard Graduate School of Education. In the first year, the teacher training programs will be conducted at the NCNSP-affiliated Learning Laboratory demonstration high schools: Caldwell Early College in Hudson; Cross Creek Early College in Fayetteville; Hillside New Tech High School in Durham; and the Wayne School of Engineering in Goldsboro.
Read about the selected candidates ...
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Meet an Innovator
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 | David Peele
President
Avoca, Inc.
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Growing up in Aurora, in rural Beaufort County, David Peele attended public school with the same 30 kids from first grade through high school. Today, as president of Avoca, Inc., Peele is a key leader behind a new regional biotechnology and agriscience high school opening this fall in northeastern North Carolina. "My high school experience was entirely different. I knew everyone there," Peele says. "A school focused on science is the gem of what I would have wanted to attend. Even at 13 years old, I think I would have recognized this special opportunity." A self-described "farm boy" and the son of a school teacher, Peele chairs the board of the Northeast Regional School for Biotechnology and Agriscience. When it opens, the school will be the state's first model regional school authorized by new legislation adopted last year. The early college high school, which serves students in Beaufort, Martin, Pitt, Tyrrell, and Washington counties, is designed to serve as a statewide model school for STEM education (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). Peele is quick to thank the other members of the regional school board and to credit key partnerships for making the school happen, including the five local school districts, the NC State University College of Agriculture, the NC State Board of Education, and the NC New Schools Project with additional key support from the NC Department of Agriculture, the NC Biotechnology Center, and the JOBS Commission. In addition, this project is receiving support from the Golden LEAF Foundation. "Everyone involved is trying to make this school be the best it can be," Peele says. "This will be a great resource, beyond just the students who will attend the school. Teachers from this school can lead professional development in science and math for teachers across the region and really have an impact on education in eastern North Carolina. Read more ... |
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