It all began with a school STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) day four years ago in 2014 when students at R.B. Wright Elementary participated in a day filled with science experiments and science phenomena.

Mr. Marc Bell and others headed to Wal-Mart with a list, and an hour later left with two grocery carts filled with cokes, Mentos, yeast, liquid starch, eggs, flour, etc. Hundreds of pipe cleaners, gallons of corn starch mixed with water, pounds of slime resulted in explosions and pops filling the school. STEM journals were filled with observations, drawings, and questions. This has continued once each year. Slowly the project has grown.

R.B. Wright has just recently completed its school-wide STEAM day. Yes, that’s right. STEM day is now STEAM ( Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) day. And R.B. Wright officially decided to apply for Georgia school STEAM certification this year.

Allowing students to participate in the STEAM modules, all R.B. Wright students will have the opportunity to obtain skills – such as problem solving, critical and creative thinking, collaboration, and communication – that they will use both in school and for the rest of their lives, on any career path. The faculty feels that the students are more likely to be prepared for careers that will require problem solving, critical and creative thinking such as scientists, technology experts, engineers, interior designers, managerial positions, attorneys, mathematicians, healthcare providers, and researchers after participating in the STEAM program initiative.

R.B. Wright has a rich history with fine arts beginning when the school started. It must be part of this movement which is now known as STEAM.  Since the beginning more than 50 years ago, on every Friday morning assembly programs were established at R. B. Wright.  Each class is responsible for a program and every child participates.

Felicia Cullars, Ed.S, Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math (STEM/STEAM) Program Specialist, visited R.B. Wright on Sept. 22, 2017 for a pre-application visit. She observed classrooms and spoke with students. She had positive remarks about R. B. Wright and provided suggestions towards pursuing the certification.

After the visit, Cullars officially invited R.B. Wright Elementary to begin the process of becoming a STEAM certified school. R.B. Wright staff is working on implementing the steps, ideas, and suggestions.

 One goal is for all students to discover their area of interest and their passion for any professional field as well as STEAM fields. Once STEAM certified, R.B. Wright will be an elementary school with technical and engineering school climate. Science and math instruction will be delivered together while fine arts will be a focus. Presently Georgia has three schools that are STEAM certified and 30 STEM certified schools. South Georgia does not currently have any schools with either certification. Guidelines and lists of certified schools can be found at www.stemgeorgia.org .

Several programs and activities are currently in place that support the STEAM initiative. Project Lead the Way, Theatre Club, Coding Clubs, Choir, Art Club, Makers Club, Technology Club, Gardening, Hydroponic Garden, Pet Caretakers, etc. R.B. Wright will be hosting its 3rd annual science fair on Nov. 29, 2017 and art exhibits are in the spring.

To continue with the certification process, each grade level at the school is currently exploring local real-world problems for students to put through the engineering design process. The students will choose a problem such as stopping erosion on the school playground and working to find a solution.

 The school’s third grade has decided to grow hydroponic gardens in order to start a healthy living movement at the school. Middle Georgia Soil and Water Conservation along with Farm Bureau awarded R.B Wright grants and donations to get the  school’s garden tower started during the previous school year. This year students in the third grade will continue to grow the garden while exploring the hydroponic growing method.

The students will collect growing data to create a more productive garden. Students will then use the “farm to table” method to influence their peers in healthy eating habits. Students have already been introduced into using greens in smoothies for snacks. Data will be collected to analyze their efforts to influence other students to become healthy eaters.

In conjunction with these projects, R.B. Wright appeals to the community for  support. The school has involved many community partners, but will be seeking experts in many careers that generally don’t get involved with students in a face-to-face format.

The school will need community partners to commit to each grade level and work directly with the students. Assistance is needed from our local manufacturers, engineers in many fields,  farmers and agricultural specialists, contractors, health professionals and small business owners. The objective is for  students to become better collaborators and critical thinkers. With experience and actually applying their knowledge to the problems they solve, students will become better prepared to be more successful on their education path and beyond into their career fields.

The journey of becoming a STEAM certified school is a large undertaking. It takes endless hours of planning and researching on the part of teachers and school leaders. Because this process began when Mr. Marc Bell was the principal at the school, R.B. Wright dedicates this journey to his memory. It was his goal for students to be rich with knowledge and happy while participating in their learning experiences.