National award
Somerton school district honored for use of digital learning
SOMERTON — Its use of computers and digital learning to teach math and reading to its students has earned the Somerton Elementary School District honors from the National Education Foundation.
The Virginia-based nonprofit organization recently presented the district with a STEM+ Merit Award recognizing Somerton schools’ use in the 2019-20 of the foundation’s Total STEM System Solution, a virtual learning program.
The Somerton school district is one of 26 in the nation and the only one in Yuma County to participate in the program. Three other districts in the nation also received the STEM+ Merit Award.
The Total STEM System Solution is a digital program that makes use of individualized teaching, mentoring, performance tracking, awards incentives for students and teachers and teacher training to promote learning in reading and the STEM subjects — science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
The program has been in place in the Somerton district since January 2017, last year serving 1,298 students in third through sixth grades, as well as some in the seventh and eighth grades, said Anna Fermanis, the district’s instructional director.
“This honor means that our administrators, teachers, students and parents see the value and the impact of combined learning,” she said.
“(The National Education Foundation) provides the district the SuccessMaker system, a learning program online that functions as a personal tutor for the students. It has math and reading components, and our students use them for 30 minutes for each subject.”
As they advance through coursework in the program, students get help from their teachers whenever they struggle with a concept, she added.
Those students who demonstrate a 3% rate of weekly academic progress in the program are invited to take part in STEM and computer science programs offered by the district during the school year and in the summer.
She said funds the district’s budget override, approved by voters in 2016, enabled it to purchase the computer equipment needed for the program.
In recognizing the district, the foundation singled out the district’s successful use of the program during the month of the school year when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of Somerton campuses.