Principal's Message
Dear Baggett Family,
A clear vision of the future is perhaps the most powerful concept in an organization. Knowing where we are going and having a shared understanding of what it will look like provides the guiding light for decisions that we make, money that spend, staff who we hire, and programs that we put into place. At Baggett Elementary School we are committed to becoming an innovative STEAM school that promotes an environment in which all students feel a sense of belonging and are inspired to become creative, impactful members of society. Within the building, we all know what this looks like. I want to make sure that you, our Baggett Family, also has this shared vision. To accomplish this, I want to take a moment to explain what STEAM is and what it looks like.
STEAM is an acronym that stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Math and is an approach to eduction that promotes the integration of the these subjects (and others) across the curriculum as students address real-world problems on a local level with potential impact on a larger scale. So how do we integrate these subjects? What is engineering and how is this subject combined with the others? What do you mean specifically by technology? What is included in the arts? What is an example of this? These questions are all very important ones. My plan is to provide you with the answers to these questions over the next few months.
Let's start with engineering. According to one source (Study.com), engineering involves taking our scientific understanding of the natural world and using it to invent, design, and build things to solve problems and achieve practical goals. For example, our 4th graders just last week, following lessons on simple machines in science, used their knowledge to collaboratively design and build catapults (see pictures below). They then tested them and, having learned something from the testing, made adjustments to their designs and prototypes. This process is known as the engineering design process (EDP). There are, in fact, many examples out there, and we have our own student-friendly version (see the picture embedded). At Baggett ES, the EDP is not just for students but is, in fact, an approach that we use to all events that we hold and processes that we follow. The EDP is all about solving a real-world problem through research and working to consistently make it better. We do this all the time. This year, for example, we have a new schedule for differentiating instruction to meet the needs of students. After examining what we are doing in the past and the results that we were getting, we conducted additional investigation into how other schools were approaching this, we imagined what the plan might look like for our school, we created the approach, we evaluated the approach that we are currently taking, and then communicated it to our faculty. Not unlike the 4th grade catapults, we are, in fact, still evaluating and making minor adjustments in an effort to continuously improve that which we have. The engineering design process can be applied to so many different scenarios: 2nd graders exploring erosion on our nature trail, our approach to ice cream sales, safety and security throughout the building, or 3rd graders approach to reducing pollution. Connect with us next month for more about STEAM and how it plays out on our campus for the benefit of all of our students.
Mitch Green
Principal
Baggett Elementary School
