Washington Middle named ‘STEM Excellence’ finalists
Washington Middle School is a finalist for The Future of Education Technology Conference STEM Excellence Award.
Washington Middle School beat out three other schools in the world to receive a STEM School of Excellence Award by the International STEM Education Association last year.
“We believe all students gain the world through engineering and technology studies. We will strive to give all students authentic problem-solving opportunities through project-based learning,” according to the school’s STEM belief statement.
Since the award, the school continued to shine in community-driven events, student showcases and robotics competitions. WMS transformed into Washington Middle CyberSTEAM Academy.
“It is not everywhere that students get to create videos using augmented reality, code drones, build their own computers and create moving robots with sensors out of household materials when they are in the fifth and sixth grades,” WMS Principal Jody Vines said.
FETC recognizes outstanding achievements in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) in K-12 education and awards the "Excellence" honor to an elementary, middle and high school every year.
The principal said, “FETC is a huge conference and even being a finalist gives us a great platform to share about the great things going on in our community.
"Each January, the biggest tech companies gather at this conference in Orlando (Florida) to unveil their products being released to education in the upcoming year," she said.
The committee “was impressed by the innovation and educational impact” Washington Middle School and other finalists were able to achieve, according to a FETC press release.
“Our staff and community partners work very hard to provide WMS students STEM opportunities that are secondto-none. We have exerted much effort to create the best school possible for our students. To be recognized for this is very rewarding,” Vines said. “We will be presenting to people across the nation, the opportunities we are providing here in El Dorado to help our students.”
FETC’s award process is “highly competitive” and all of the finalists will be recognized in some fashion at the 2018 conference in Orlando. The winner will be announced during the keynote address Jan. 26, according to a press release.
“Our pre-AP programs, our award-winning arts program and our STEM programs are second-to-none in my opinion. We are holding our breath to hope we win the award, but being acknowledged as one of the top three in the nation is an incredible honor,” she said.
Brittany Williams may be reached at 870-862-6611 or bwilliams@eldoradonews.com. Follow her on Twitter and like her on Facebook @BWilliamsEDNT for updates on Union County