Gov. Hutchinson praises STEM program
“What you’re doing … is amazing!”
Gov. Asa Hutchinson
Showing off three new STEM classrooms and students’ expertise at computer use, coding and creating games, Pea Ridge School officials took Governor Asa Hutchinson on a tour at Pea Ridge Middle School Monday.
Joining the delegation were state Sen. Cecile Bledsoe, state representatives Austin McCollum and Jim Dotson; as well as Anthony Owen, director of computer programming from the State Department of Education; Kathy Smith of the Walton Family Foundation; officials from PITSCO, providers of hands-on products for use in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math); and members of the Pea Ridge School Board.
“You are very blessed to be in the Pea Ridge School District.
“I’ve been to over 60 schools across Arkansas and what you’re doing in terms of teachers and computer science, in terms of your offerings and different languages and computer coding is amazing. And, I just saw some students and the confidence that those students had in their demonstrations really shows what you’re getting here puts you in a position to do very well in life.
“Secondly, you’re in Northwest Arkansas. It’s like the center of the universe in technology,” Hutchinson said.
Principal Leslie Moline said all sixth-graders go through the STEM rotation every nine weeks and the bulk of it is coding, robotics.
School superintendent Rick Neal said there are pathways with a new program called “Prep” linking pathways from kindergarten to eighth grade and give sample careers.
Students were enthusiastic in sharing their projects with the governor.
Students Chris Johnson and
Colby Radtke programmed a game that kept score and was able to randomize the jumped object. Ethan Curtis and Kinsley Simpson programmed a maze game where the player had to find an escape to exit the game. Hunter Sims and Kaleb Frost programmed remote control cars that where connected by Bluetooth.
Eighth-grade student Aaron Staib introduced the governor to the student assembly saying that the 46th governor of the state had made education one of his top priorities and made Arkansas one of the first states to require computer science.
“I’m very close to home,” Hutchinson said, explaining that when he was first married, he and his wife, Susan, lived between Pea Ridge and Bentonville off Arkansas Highway 72. He said he grew up in Gravette, on a farm, three-and-a-half miles down a country road and lived in the country. “My mom and dad were farmers and Dad worked in a poultry processing plant. I was the youngest of six. My parents told me to get a good education … That made a difference in my life and have given me opportunities I would never have had before.”
“I’ve been to over 60 high schools since I was governor promoting computer science. I know what that means to the future of computer science and to Arkansas.”
Hutchinson said Arkansas is the first state in nation to make computer coding offered in every school in the state and he helped get $3.5 million allocated to retraining teachers.
“We’ve put $10 million of state money into computer science programs since I’ve been governor,” he said. “The result of that is that we’ve got more teachers trained, more students taking it, put it in curriculum in K-8. Arkansas is leading the nation in computer science education.”
He told students that with the advent of technology and learning good computer skills, jobs are not isolated by geography.
“You can run the world from your front porch in Pea Ridge, Ark., if you understand computer coding and have access to high speed broadband Internet. You could work for a company in Houston, New York, California from right here,” Hutchinson told students.