001Hello, I'm Priscilla Gossett. I'm the principal at Madison Park Middle School. We are a STEAM school in the Madison School District. And welcome to Park. Park is very fortunate to have the ability to offer two signature programs to our students in fifth through 8th grade. The first one is the steam signature program where we emphasize science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math. Also, the other signature program we're lucky to house is the REACH program, and that is a program for highly and profoundly gifted students. The Steam style of learning is all about hands-on. It's a lot of labs and projects and practical learning to see how those principles connect, how STEM, technology, engineering, art, and math are in the world all around us. I would describe the steam program at Park as innovative, challenging, and
002by challenging, I feel in the best way possible. It pushes my kids out of their comfort zone into trying something new. At Park, we have lots of opportunities in the elective choices for students to really enhance that steam knowledge. We have a STEM art class where students really learn how artists use science, technology, math in the field of art and vice versa. We have a game-on class where students are actually creating and building games. Then there's the maker space class where students are creating different designs and ideas. They learn how to use air compressors, 3D printers, the saws, the drills. We also partner with a company called GenTech to offer different levels of steam classes throughout your whole time that you're here at Madison Park, which has proved very valuable to ourselves and the students.
003GenTech is a STEM education company. We have partnered with Madison Park to bring our curriculum and our equipment here in class for students to use. And essentially what it is, we take the standards that need to be met in Arizona and we go above and beyond them, prepping students for different career paths that they may want to take in STEM. For my seventh graders, what they get to do is they get to work with these tiny microcontrollers, and they get to hook up a lot of different motors, gears, attachments, and we get to do fun engineering projects. And then for my eighth graders, I'm actually teaching them Python, which is a very sought-after programming language that if they start doing now and start learning, by the time they get out of high school, they may
004not even need a college degree. They could just go straight into software engineering. In my GenTech class, which is where we do a lot of coding, we do fun projects like learning how to make an alarm system, learning how to make video games and various projects that help us learn, especially since we're so surrounded by technology today. Learning about how things work and how to fix things on your own. As an elective teacher here at Park, I get hands-on with our steam signature program here. I get to offer traditional art classes but also art classes that have a steam focus. For example, one of those art classes is game on where we make things that you can play, wear, and interact with. And so we look at how art is also functional and how art
005meets engineering and connects with technology. My favorite thing about being at a steam school is the art part. We get to do projects like clay projects and 3D projects and drawing projects. Students at Madison Park who attend the REACH program take math and English language arts 2 years ahead of their peers as well as getting some extra opportunities for field trips. Lots of project based learning in the classroom especially in English language arts and social studies. There's a focus on deeper thinking and getting students to really take a complex idea and break it down. So, in the Reach program, we learn two grade levels ahead and they're also really small class sizes and everything is really inclusive. Like all the people I know in reach, they're really really nice and they just try to make
006you feel welcome and like they make sure that you still feel confident in yourself while also being challenged in different aspects. The reach program for my daughter has given her a lot of opportunities that she wouldn't have had otherwise. She's been able to go on annual field trips. She has done an annual research project and I think how rigorous that program has been has really helped her grow academically. She also has been with a cohort of students in that program. She knows those kids very well and they all are very supportive of each other and and cheer each other on. And there's been a lot of advantages to that. My favorite thing about going to school at Park is the teachers and how encouraging they are. My teachers are really awesome and they actually help
007me grow. My teachers are really kind and caring and they spend so much time trying to make sure that each kid gets what they need. They always work really hard to make sure that I am challenged and I'm learning to my fullest. I would describe the teachers at Park as being passionate, being caring, advocating for my children, and teaching them how to advocate for themselves. In parent teacher conferences at the beginning of this year, I was really surprised at how well they knew my kids and their specific needs already. We're fortunate here at Madison Park to offer a wide variety of after school extracurricular activities. anything from the typical fall, winter, and spring sports. And also, we are a recipient of the 21st century learning grant where we are able to offer free before and
008after school programs for students. Many of those being aligned to the steam program. And then also traditional clubs like National Junior Honor Society and Yearbook. The 21st century programs at Park have been a really good opportunity for my students to find subjects that they're excited about. My daughter has stayed after school to do speech and debate and creative writing. The one cool thing about park is there's something for everyone. If you are open and you are willing, you will find your place that you belong here. If your child is curious, if your child is artistic, if your child likes science, art, and math, and all of these things combined, I feel like it's a perfect school to bring all these subjects together. If you are considering enrolling your child at Park, I'd say come take
009a tour. When we came to do the tour, we brought my son and he took a look around and said, "I want to go here." He saw all of the technology in the classrooms, the garage doors in the classrooms that open up into space to create and make things. He saw all the equipment and he just fell in love. If I had to choose a word to describe Park, I would use maybe the word personal. I feel like the education my kids are getting are very personalized to to their needs. So, one word to describe Park would would be evolving. We're always evolving to make this place a better space. I would say one word to describe Park is agency because students get to make their own decisions about so many things that they do
010and take their learning into their own hands. innovative because every day I watch students create and make and innovate and question. If there was one word that I could describe Park, I would say it's transformative. One word to describe park would be magnificent because it is.