001Board comments, These Notices from, from the various schools and from Rushmore, Mrs. She wrote a little saying here or found saying, from little hol, your talent determines what you can do. Your motivation determines how much you are willing to do. Your attitude determines how well you do. Thank you. Mr. S We have, uh, two teachers who are going to receive tenure tonight. Jake Gore, who's a science physics teacher, is he here? Kimberly Salmon, who's a special education teacher. So just remember you don't, you don't have tenure until, uh, we vote on it. So don't be too happy yet. Wow. Wow. I'm only kidding. We have some retirements, uh, Eileen Fredericks, who's been with us for 16 years and has sat next to me, uh, all of those years in executive session. Sometimes I, I carry
002so much paper. I can't find something, but I, I lean on the slides for me and I've always appreciated her help. And we have Jerry Barada. He's been with us for 19 years as assistant principal. He's retiring as well. Thank you. Jerry. Sherry Gidi, who's been with us for 28 years is retiring. So congratulations. Kathleen Ney, who's been a teacher with us for 26 years. Deborah Rubin, who's been a teacher with us for 33 years. Congratulations. And GNA Ruben, who's been with, I'm sorry, Greg Ann Kerwin is an a BA teacher with us, has been with us for 20 years, is retiring. Gene Harrington, who's been a teacher, a here with us, a BA teacher a for 22 years, is now retiring. He graduat retirees, a long, healthy and happy retirement. Just to let everyone
003know, I will not be at the next board meeting because I'll be on vacation. So I don't think I understood that it was kind of good. And I'll, I'll pass this on to firstly, Don Monica. Good evening everyone. Congratulations on the retirements and the tenure. It's, it's an exciting moment. Um, I'd like to also congratulate the girls softball team to be the Long Island Champs and Wish. Well, for the boys baseball team this Saturday for the Long Island Championships. Um, I hope everyone had a peaceful memorial day. Um, it's a time for us to reflect and appreciate for those who lost their lives for our freedom. Our freedom is not free. And lastly, I'd like to congratulate everyone who participated in the BOTC Battle 11 classes. If you were here at last, um, the last
004board meeting you SRE on the hallway, you all these BOTC signs, all the high school grades at a competition against themselves. And they raised $18,000 for the Ronald McDonald House. So let's give them a round of applause. Thank Lord to second vice president here. Good evening everybody, and thank you for coming. Um, and congratulate congratulations to all retirees and our, our teachers received tenure. Very, very proud, everybody. And we miss you, Sherry, and everybody else. Um, okay. So congratulations to all our middle school and high school students who received academic awards for the annual awards summer. Please keep up the good work. Congratulations to all our seniors who received a scholarship or scholarships, uh, last week. Sir, it was a wonderful evening, and I wish them all. And the best of luck. Congratulations to our
005incredible seventh grade math athletes on earning first place at the New York State Education Department, mathematics Regional Tournament in Albany. You're also proud of your achievement. Keep up the good work. I also wanna thank the dedicated advisor For guiding and supporting, having congratulations to our sixth graders who participated in the stock market gain during their enrichment class, and placed in the top 20 teams with about 220 teams in the region. Special coaching teacher, Mrs. Sun, who's helping our students develop positive money habits to prepare them for their future as possible financial advisors. Congratulations to our girls softball team, um, for winning the Long Island Classic Championships. Great teamwork on frogs, and good luck to our boys who are playing on Saturday. And that's all I have. Gonna turn it over to Tri. Thank you. Good
006evening everyone. Congratulations to all of our tenure recipients, our retirees, uh, once a frog, always a frog, as we say. And, uh, just incredible, incredible, uh, dedication, hearing the, the amount of years spends. And just think about students that have been impacted. Um, some of you were here when I was a student here, um, which seems like it's further and further away. Um, for time I walked into this auditorium. Um, uh, just as always, wanna thank you for the opportunity to speak, uh, when it begin by just acknowledging, uh, we had a tragic loss in the community, uh, recently experienced, fell through the little league, especially at least in my household. Uh, one of my daughters, uh, teammates on our t-ball team. Um, simply wanna say how deeply you sat in my family was, and
007how grateful that, you know, I'm all the time, um, uh, in, you know, being part of a community like ours. It comes together, uh, during moments like this and really puts those compassion and passion awards, um, to good use. You know, it's not, they're not just words. They're really are. Um, so I just wanted to acknowledge that. Uh, I also want to recognize, uh, the outstanding performance. It was, uh, already shared, but, um, certainly worth an encore of our CarPlay students to recent state math competition. Uh, give a special shout out to, uh, Carol Warren Dini for incredible leadership Guidance isn't just a feel good story. Our students competed at a high level and came away with honors and speak to both their talent and the strength of our math program. Um, Carolyn's dedication, uh,
008and mentorship helped, uh, make that possible. We're lucky to have her, um, in every regard. Um, and finally, I should stick to the script, really, is what I should know. That's, that's, I think I'd know that. Um, and finally, congratulations to our varsity softball team on bringing along a championship. I was at Park yesterday, my youngest son's little league game. Uh, sold a 1996 championship sign. Uh, still there, my sister's name's on it. Um, so I saw, I'm like, what is that? And I realized it's not about me, it's about my sister. It's, I kind of lost interest, quite frankly. Um, it actually needs to be rehome. Uh, I remember sitting on that same hill, you know, the one I'm talking about, right? Uh, watching my little sister Annie, her teammates play that year. It
009was a reminded that our success today is part of the longstanding continuum. One that connects younger players to the high school athletes. They grow admir, right? We do, you know, little League has their opening there ceremonies, and it's our little guys and gowns, right? Uh, high fiveing, our, our varsity players, right? That's a great connection, uh, that happens in that regard. Uh, I wanna acknowledge our retired athletic director, Chris Rudy, leadership, help build and sustain that pathway, as well as our current athletic director, Justin, right, who continues to support and elevate our student athletes who seem like they're winning something every week. Um, right. And of course, uh, thank you to our, our coaches for their time, their leadership and mentorship. Thank you. Congratulations to our athletes for carrying the tradition forward. Blue pride. Good
010evening everyone. Thank you all for coming out tonight. Your presence here is a reflection of the strength, unity, and compassion that defines our community. Tonight, we gather, I'm sorry. Tonight as we gather, we are reminded of how incredibly precious life is. Every life, but especially the life of a child, a child has not yet had the chance to fully experience all that life is at 12th firm. It's, it's adventures, it's milestones, it's quiets, it's quiet, joyful moments. We're here tonight with heavy hearts mourning the loss of Palo through the only five years old Palo touched so many lives, and in just those few short years, he brought light, joy, and love to those lucky enough to know him. That kind of impact is rare and speaks volumes about the beautiful soul that he was to
011pal's, family and friends. We extend our deepest, most heartfelt sympathies. No words and ease, this kind of pain. But please know that you are not alone. This entire community grieves with you, stands with you, and holds you close. The loss of this puts everything into perspective. It reminds us to hug our children a little tighter, to cherish the laughter, even the chaos. And maybe just maybe not to worry so much about the extra candy or the bey sofa. 'cause in my house, they all want candy because love, connection and time together matters more than anything else. While our hearts are heavy, we also take time tonight to recognize some of the many achievements in our community. Achievements that reflect the spirit, drive and excellence that make car place so special. Let's give a you congratulations
012to our varsity softball team who's just passed. Just, I'm sorry, just this passed Wednesday, won the Long Island Championships, and now we're, now we're headed to states next week. What an incredible acco accomplishment. We're so proud of you. Your dedication, teamwork, and resilience. Inspire us all and let's you on our boys varsity team play this Saturday for their old shot states. We're behind you a hundred percent. Good luck. Play with heart and know your community's root for you. And Brian Leary, of course, of athletic family of the year, of all years, made it to, uh, he qualified for the 400 hurdles and also as a chance at the a hundred meter and the long jump. Congratulations on what an athletic family. Um, we also recognize our Rushmore Elementary students who placed in statewide stock market
013game. We, we always hear about the high school and middle school students, but Rushmore Cherry Lane, they're doing something special. And Rushmore, these children. Um, Anthony Rore third place at 220 students. And then we also have police in other spots, uh, with Rashan, um, Nathan, Amir, Thomas, Zachary, Jenna, Lila, uh, Sheia, Gabriel, Ashley, and Kevin. Congratulations. I can't wait to see how you guys are next year in middle school. What an accomplishment. Your success continues to show that CarPlay shines not only on the field, but in the class as well. You're putting our district on the map, ac academically and athletically, and gonna be prouder tonight. We also take moments to celebrate those who have given so much of themselves to this district or retirees. Thank you for, for your years of service, dedication, and
014love for our students. You've made a lasting impression. So our newly appointed teachers and staff welcome. We're excited for the energy ideas and passion you bring to this amazing district, to our newly appointed teachers and staff. Welcome. I'm repeating myself. I don't know why I did that. So those that are receiving tenure, sorry. Congratulations. You've earned this milestone through your hard work and commitment. And we are thrilled to see you continue to grow with us. And finally, thank you truly to everyone here tonight. Your presence means everything. In moments of celebration, in moments of loss, and in moments of in between, this community shows up. Let us continue to hold Palo's family and all those who are mourning in our hearts. And let us hold one another as neighbors and friends and as community members.
015Um, together. Thank you. No, Nothing. It's, thank you very much. Um, it's difficult to, difficult to surpass what has already been said about the loss that, you know, one of our CarPlay families has suffered. So I'm not gonna belabor that point except to say that I wanna extend a lot of gratitude and thank you to the response from the response of the community for the great response that our cherry lane staff and our mental health staff has, um, given thus far and will continue to give in the days ahead. Also, thank you to the St. Bridget school community for their correspondence and coordination with us. You know, anyone who's been touch by grief, you know that that's a thing that takes a long time to unwind. So it's a road that we're gonna travel together
016and hopefully in support of the family. And, uh, I'll leave it at that. Again, thank you to everybody. Been so supportive so far. And there's a lot to report on here in school this morning, Mr. Re and I had the tremendous privilege of being at the, what they call the Sal breakfast. All of the valedictorians and salutorian for Nassau County, um, assembled in one place and there was a breakfast to celebrate them. And Alan and I were there together with, um, Izzy Cemi, and we were Cornell and their mothers and fathers. And what a wonderful privilege it was to be in a room full of so many smart, motivated people. It gives you a lot of hope for the future. And they are a testament to everyone who has taught them and guided them along
017the way, right? Those children of those young people are there today 'cause of their hard work and their dedication to goals. And because of all the folks who have taught them along the way, their teachers and coaches and family, it was really a wonderful thing. I'm sure that our students can stack up against anybody in that room. And they were really wonderful. It was really wonderful to be there with them. We've heard a lot about softball and baseball. That's been a lot of fun to watch. They are fierce and they are fair and they are strong competitors and they do it with joy. And it's really a lot of fun to watch. And if you can come out and see, um, baseball on Saturday, please do to our students. I will say study, study, study.
018Because we are coming into the home stretch. We're coming up to meets time and your final exams, all of your final projects in the younger grades. I've been visiting Regents Prep classes and talking to kids in there and seeing them. And it's really great to see them committed and working and, and choosing to go the extra mile. Um, I have to also say tremendous congratulations to our retirees and to our new newly tenured people about to be tenured to our new appointees, um, to our retirees in particular. It has been a pleasure. I have learned something from each and every one of you. And I take that away with me as I go on my own journey as an educator. So thank you all for that. Um, really, truly. And for our folks about to
019be tenured and for our people who are about to be appointed, you see what you have to measure up to. You see who you have to measure up to. And we have people here at both ends of the pipeline, right? And it's important that as our, you know, leaders of today are exiting, our leaders of tomorrow are coming in, right? It's a really, really wonderful cycle to be a part of. Um, couple more things. We're kind of moving right along. We are going to formally recognize our math students, our math students on the 18th. So come on back for that. We have a number of students to recognize tonight, both for stock market and reflections. We'll pull them down. We'll get a photo opportunity. Also, we have, um, some certificates for our retirees and tenure.
020We have a nice cake that we'll have as well. So families stick around for that. It's a really nice thing getting married. And I'll catch up to that in a minute. Um, thank you. Also, I want to announce a couple other things. When we're coming down to the end of the wire here. Um, in New York State, all of the state, every school board in New York State would be required to have what is called student ex officio board members. And that means that we will have students all over Nassau County, Suffolk County, all of New York, who represent their fellow students at board, at board meetings. That is a new rule that New York State has passed. And we have two so that they can alternate and work together throughout the year. They'll be
021giving you the student perspective in announcements and presentations, just like we're giving each week. And I would like to welcome them 'cause they're here with us and they are Carolina S and the rp. They're, Um, starting in July. You'll see them front and center with us here at board meetings. So that's a really, really great thing. Wonderful responsibility. Um, I want to thank my colleagues who are doing the third in our academic committee presentations tonight. We have one more coming at the end of the month, portrait of a grad, but tonight is the STEAM Advisory Committee. Well led and well executed. Um, and I wanna say one more piece before we close it out. We had a really successful thought exchange for, um, portrait of Graduate. We're going to do another one about the governor's
022cell phone rule that, that has been brought to schools, right? You'll know as of September, all sorts of devices, phones, apple watches. Essentially any smart device will be banned in schools completely from the start of the day. To the end of the day, we're going to do a thought exchange to gather thoughts and actions from the community, from our faculty. We're gonna have a special one for our students as well. And for the adults out there, we are looking for people to be part of a cell phone advisory group or steering committee to help us make decisions. So we'll put that, um, we'll put that phone exchange out there to the community and the faculty if you feel like you might be interested. We'd love to have you involved in that. It's a really great
023service to the community. We can't change the rule, but we want to decide how we adapt to it. And that concludes my report. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. We'll Move on with the agenda now. Are there any, uh, comments or questions on agenda, items on Okay. There any no questions or comments? We'll move on to recognitions Dr. Go. Um, I would ask that our retirees can come down please and receive a certificate. And if you want to have a photo with your family or any of your colleagues in the room, we can do that. So we'll get that done quickly. Maybe Eileen, well, you are one of the, one of the group, but if you can assist me with that, that would be good. Our first person here Is Eileen Fredericks. I will say, Eileen,
024I have had the pleasure and the privilege of working with you as my deputy for these last two years. And I thank you for many things for your wisdom and your institutional experience, keeping me out of trouble and steering me in the right direction. And I'm very grateful for that. Sincerely. Um, our next recipient is Jerry Barada. Jerry, it has also Sherry Ja. Thank you. Sherry. Kathleen. Marco. Is that be Ruben? You're up next. I got it. Do you need Anna here? Do you need, We're gonna have our tenure recipients as well. Oh, a group photo. Yes, We can. Of course they will not. So We're gonna have our, our two tenure recipients come up next. And, um, Ms. As an item to read Your Honor, Um, we do have, uh, two tenure recipients tonight.
025If, uh, Jake and Samantha would, uh, excuse me. And, uh, receiving tenure is, um, is an honor. It's something that you earned and something that the, the, uh, superintendent and the board have, uh, granted to you. And it really is, um, a responsibility. Now you have a responsibility to, to the board, to the superintendent, and especially to the, uh, to the students in Coral Place. And, uh, just remember that as you go forward and continue to grow. Um, and we just have a few words, um, that have been figure this out. Um, no, I just have a few words to say about, um, each of our recipients. Um, Kimberly Salmon. Ms. Salmon has proven herself a valuable and dedicated member of the Special Education Department. She has a deep understanding of best practices and effectively
026collaborates with her colleagues. One of Ms. Salmon's most noteworthy qualities is the passion with which she consistently goes above and beyond for her students to ensure a safe environment in which they can receive the highest level of education outside the classroom. Ms. Salmon has been an intricate part of the school. She coached the seventh grade girls volleyball team, as well as assisting with the Varsity Girls team. Ms. Salmon ran the Builders club and participated in Battle of the Classes and the Key Club Fashion Show. Further solidifying her strong relationships with students and colleagues. Ms. Salmon, congratulations. And, uh, a few words, um, about, uh, Mr. Barrett, Jake Barrett. And these words were written by their supervisors, um, over the, uh, course of their, uh, probationary periods. Over the course of four years, Mr. Barrett has
027proven himself to be a valuable member of the science department. He brings a calm, steady presence to the classroom that creates a focused and supportive learning environment. His thoughtful demeanor and consistent approach helps students feel safe. Mr. Barrett has established a great rapport with students, their families, and his colleagues outside of the classroom. He has stepped up to the role of advisor for the class of 2025, has chaperone numerous school events, organized the Physics Day at the Six Flag at Six Flags Field Trip, and even participated also in the Key Club fashion show. He is, he is quiet. He had a po. He's a client in constant force, bringing dedication and empathy to everything he does. Congratulations, Ms. Okay, so next we're going to get into some of our student recognitions. And I want to
028recognize our students who have participated in the PTA Reflections. Contest Reflections is a contest that happens all over New York State. It happens to be one of my favorite things because of the way it challenges students to write, to paint, to compose music, to compose dance. And each year there's a theme that students have to work with. And the theme for this current school year was set by the National PTA. And that is accepting imperfection. It's one of the most challenging things that a person can do. It's one of the places where we grow the most. 'cause if we accept imperfections, we find ways to grow beyond them. We find ways to work around them. And we realize that nothing in life is perfect. And that's a really, really powerful thing for a student to
029recognize at an early age. And our two students who are receiving this honor tonight, did it through musical composition. That means they actually created their own original piece of music to address the idea of accepting perfection. I have never composed a piece of music in my life. It is something that I admire tremendously as a consumer of art. I really, really respect and admire people who are producers of art. So, without further ado on that, I would like to pull down Nathan Zi. Yes. And Evan Ey. Get a photo behind the board. You guys okay with that? Or is that, come on, it's my birthday. Okay. So we will round out the evening by recognizing our students who participated in the stock market game. And it's gamified, but it's certainly not just a game. This
030is not a frivolous thing. Um, Rushmore's sixth grade students participated in the stock market game during their enrichment class with Mrs. So thank you, Mrs. So the seven Rushmore teams placed in the top 20 of about 220 teams in the region. That's hard work. Well done. The stock market game is an engaging real world simulation that allows students to learn about investing and personal finance through hands-on experience. They were given a virtual cash amount of $100,000 and made real time trades based on actual market data. They had to watch trends and track data, watch the market, and try to execute in a smart way. Students learn to research companies trade stock performance and build their understanding of the risks and rewards of investing. The goal of the stock market game is to build the best
031performing portfolio over a few months. Big congratulations to our Rushmore sixth graders, Anthony Deandra, Thomasson, and Zachary 16th Place, ADA and Layla Knapp, 17th place And Gabrielle Quez, Bermuda 18th place. And Ashley Man and Kevin Kang, 20th place. And congratulations. Thanks, grace. And this cla so come on down for facilitating our young investors. Well Done. Alright, thank you. We'll move on with, uh, part of the agenda now. May have a motion to approve the Board of Education meeting minutes of, uh, May 8th, 2025. All in favor? Aye. We have a motion to approve the annual budget vote and election results minutes from May 20th, 2025. All in favor, before we go on to the consent agenda? I think we should, everyone should meet, uh, new, uh, appointments, uh, Margaret Hall, Andrea Davis, Cassidy, Gianna Costanza,
032Brooklyn Romano, and Christina Ante. Congratulations. All right, move to the consent, then we'll move to the consent agenda. Now may have a motion to approve the consent agenda. I'll make a motion. All in favor? Alright, Now we're gonna have a, uh, presentation. The STEAM Advisory Committee presentation. I thought we were case for everybody. We can do the case. All right. Uh, I don't misunderstand the cake, the push for cake. I just wanted to spare them. Um, the STEAM committee. It's good stuff, so you're gonna enjoy it. Um, we'll, we'll be we'll be quick, as quick as we can be. We know it's a thick agenda, so, um, good evening. My name is Michael Limon. I'm the District Director of Fine Performing Arts. I am, um, accompanied tonight by, uh, members of the STEAM committee, including
033Jen Bambino, our district, uh, director of technology. Also, a big part of this work was, uh, Jamie and Pullen, our former, uh, STEM director, who's no longer in the, um, uh, in the district. But I do wanna mention her. On page six, we list all the members of the committee. Um, but I should take a moment just to recognize Mar Crease appears. Here's here tonight to help us with the presentation, Alyssa Marshack and Julie. So thank you to them for being here with us. Presentation. Uh, slide two is, um, we wanted to begin with the mission of the district that's guiding the work that we're doing. And, uh, remind us that the mission and vision for Carl Clay School District is that the members of the Carl Clay School District work diligently to nurture compassion
034and passion while honoring tradition and inspiring excellence, working collaboratively to shape the future of our students. Together, we seek to accomplish this work through active learning and agency within between and beyond the classroom where students, teachers, and administrators work together to create a continuous cycle of success. Um, hold a quote. The best way to predict the future is to invent it. We thought that was appropriate for our STEAM presentation. Alan Key KK is a software, um, software developer. Mrs. Poland pulled that quote. Um, so, but we thought it was good. I was advocating for nothing. Takes the past away like the future. No. Does anybody? No. Who said that? Nothing too. No. Madonna, thank you. But, um, we didn't go with that. That's the only moment of levity in this presentation. I hope you enjoyed
035that. Okay. So next. Um, So while looking at the district's mission and vision, we had four main goals for our committee. The first one was to discuss what makes a great STEAM committee, uh, steam program by looking at what Coral Place does, and then also what a bunch of other districts across the island does. The second one was to meet with professionals in the community to discuss kind of what their jobs are and how we can get our students most prepared for those jobs. Um, we then were going to make recommendations on what we found, and then lastly, make sure we understood the budgetary aspect of it to not, uh, represent anything reason. So, um, part of the charge was to create connection, community and collaboration through this process. And how we did that was
036with, uh, committee meetings with our staff members. We analyzed other Long Island schools STEAM course offerings. Um, we had a community meeting with some community members who were STEAM professionals. Uh, we had a community survey that we shared to collect data about local businesses and partnerships, interested in mentorship and internship opportunities for our students. And we produce a student interest survey, um, about future steam course offerings that would be possible at the high school. And we'll be sharing those results later in the presentation. Um, the next slide is just a recognition of the committee members. And, uh, in addition to the committee members is also, uh, um, mention of that community meeting. Those folks are members of the committee as well, and community survey and the student survey. So round thanks to all the members.
037Um, and that's us. Um, so Alyssa, Yeah, so, um, the left one here shows what our jobs were as, um, educators and members. So we did attend all the meetings. We met as a team. Um, we analyzed the data and then ultimately are making this presentation to you. Um, we also had some guest members that came and spoke to us. Um, they shared the parent perspective and then also if they were working in the steam fields, um, shared what they do and how we can get our students best prepared to do them as well in the future. Um, alright, so how did we shape our learning? Uh, meetings took place in whole group and small group formats. We, um, had engagement in visual thinking protocols, independent reading, research and reflection work. Uh, we analyzed other
038Long Island high school steam related course offerings, interviews with steam professionals in our community. Um, we collected data from local potential partnerships. I feel like I'm repeating this. Um, and student survey. Uh, we did a student survey and a draft. We drafted and refined our recommendations. Um, slide 10. So this is a list of the, um, the articles that we read in preparation in starting this work. Um, Jen and Jamie Ann and I, um, read most of, read these. And then we, we sort of, uh, refined it to the second bullet. Design thinking gives team to teaching a framework that breaks disciplinary boundaries. That was the article that we had asked the entire community to read. And that really guided our, uh, thinking as we went through, um, this process. And I, what I'd like
039to mention, what I think was the important piece that came out of all of this research was the commonality between, uh, these professionals who were really sort of trying to help the reader, um, land on what it is that makes something a steam, uh, endeavor. Uh, we have a STEM department, but how do we take those things? What, when we look at the things that are happening around the DIS district, uh, is that a STEM event or is that a STEAM event? And how do we know the difference? What do we have to do to take a stem, uh, practice and turn it into a STEAM one? And, and the, uh, connecting element was this, uh, idea of design thinking that that's really the artistic piece. So, um, STEAM isn't just about like, we're having
040a science event and, and we'll bring in musicians and, and there'll be art or we'll have some, someone doing drawings or, and there's art here. So that's steam. It's that idea that within the arts and a and a flourishing arts education, that what we're doing there is nurturing students', um, creativity that we're teaching creativity, um, that, uh, that we're teaching students not to fear failure, that they're trying things. And it's that, um, innovative spirit. So, uh, by adding the, the element of design thinking to science, technology, engineering, and math, um, it, it, that is what takes that kind of experience and makes it a steam experience. So that piece that came from our research is what has guided the rest of the recommendations that we'll be making, uh, for the evening. And I'd like to
041ask Mr. Cre, take slide 11. Hello. Uh, so one of the tasks that we had, um, was defining the characteristics of a high quality, and we came up with a follow up, a high quality steam curriculum and learning environment integrates science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics to hands on inquiry based learning, included in design thinking. It fosters critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and problem solving skills while promoting real world application and interdisciplinary connections. A team learning environment support all all learners by incorporating innovative's tools and practices, as well as opportunities for exploration, ensuring students are equipped for future careers and life endeavors. Um, we have identified that student learning experiences are already embedded in our schools. For example, we have project based learning units at Cherry Lane. We also have STEM units in Cherry Lane and
042Rushmore, um, library, library classes, as well as classes at Rushmore. As a matter of fact, uh, the Rushmore STEM program has successfully evolved into a STEM program with a strong emphasis on the design and invention process. Furthermore, we are currently offering classes, um, that are STEAM related or stem, um, basic engineering, um, innovators and makers, integrated tech, computer literacy, art science, exploration, and STEM enrichment. Those classes are offered at the middle school level. At the high school level, we are offering principles of engineering, one at two called engines, woodworking, architectural drawing, studio art, tech drawing, AP computer science, advanced ceramics, anatomy and physiology, science research, digital photography, Photoshop, stem Enrichment, computer Game Design and Program. So what does this really look like? Well, I can't really show you unless I have photos and, uh, some
043student, uh, sample work. So, through our learning, once we, uh, looked at what design thinking looks like throughout the curriculum, um, and came up with our definition of a high quality steam environment, we looked at what's happening in each grade level in each building. And in Cherry Lane, we have steam stem going on in general ed classes. We also have just recently had steam night, um, at Cherry Lane. And that's something that we're going to look into deeper to see if that's something I can adopt in the Rushmore and perhaps in in middle school and high school. Um, I had the privilege of observing a PBL unit in second grade a few months ago. Um, and they were working on a travel blog, um, as part of a geography unit and local history. Um, they
044recently completed an exciting travel agency project focusing on exploring NASA County. So they became sort of like, you watch the TRA travel channel and you see the person going around the world while they get to go to all these places per se. But they did some research about places like Gardens Point. Um, they researched the sounds, the other bodies of water, Joel's beach, and they worked collaboratively. The second graders worked collaboratively to create a script to, uh, write on their travel blog, which was basically a website. It was imagine second graders working collaboratively on a website and in Google sites, it was the most affordable thing I've ever seen. I saw students take take on leadership roles at eight years old. I'm a fast typer. How about I'll do the typing or wait, guess what?
045You can when a, when the red line underlines the word that means it's spelled wrong, like the learning was happening live and I was just blown away. Um, the, the other things that they did in this, um, unit, they wrote short, these short blurbs, and then after they made their own website, they had to find a photo or an image of the, you know, August Point Jones Beach, places of interest, Roosevelt Field Restaurants, Mrs. Claar, all local history. Um, the, they also reported a short podcast and then incorporated onto the travel log. So that's what these kids are doing over here in the, uh, photo on the right and which was able to, the travel log they created. Now there's elements of design here they had to take again, take the photograph for image that
046they wanted to show. That looks pretty good right now. Pretty great. Um, and then when you click on use mass account here, this was one particular, uh, they did all the landmarks here and did their little, like the, uh, blurb that they researched and then they recorded the podcast. Get ready. It's really, Hello. Welcome to another episode of Navigating Nashville Farm. I learned about Coast on. Can you tell us about the North Shore? Yes. Garvey's Point is located in Glenco. What is the coast like? The coast is very rocky on the north shore, not great for sand castles, but really good for searching for sea and animals on the rocks and in tide pools. Now let me tell you facts about the South Shore. Yeah, yeah. Tell us the facts. Alright, did you know that
047Long Beach is a coastal town? No, I did not know. Tell us more. The coast is Sandy and it's a great place to visit in the summer. Cool. And now Teddy, what do you know about plates? I know that things cover that one third of land also area where the land is mostly flat, and those are facts about This for days. Days. And I saw another lesson, um, in Rushmore where they were doing a different activity, different topic, but it was also recording a podcast. I was talking about that for days to other teachers. And now we have a seventh grade teacher in the middle school who was going to also try this out. Um, really, really fabulous work. Um, and in this particular PBL unit, you can really see how the students combined their
048learning of geography, the local history, they were collaborating, they did research, they used technology, um, and really got to display their learning in a very meaningful and authentic way. And they could not be prouder of this kind of work. So that's where she found a lot steam happening in or at Journey. Um, so I have a STEM teacher at Rushmore who just going to tell you a little bit of the few projects that we have been working on throughout the school year. So the gentleman in the red shirt is holding a third grade project, and they had to, as part of the Spring and Earth Day lesson that I touch base on, they had to create their own bug. The Z is I give them criteria and they have to create their own bugs. We
049look at different bugs so they could get an idea of what they wanted to do. Then they go through the engineering design process where they have the plan and design sketch, what they would like their bug to look like. Then provide plenty of materials. And I have, I call it the juice market, where they have a, not a free for all, but they are, have various materials they can use. A lot of recycled materials that they've been collecting from me all here. Uh, bottle caps, water bottles, um, basically I lay it all out and they get to choose. So they sign their buck, they realize certain things that they want to do don't work when they're all done. This was a finished product. He built the spider and they kind of write little stories about
050their spider. They name their spider. When, where does the spider live, what does it eat? And they can be as creative as they want. If it was a real bug, the spiders with the bug or you know, or the spider lives in the classroom. And I don't remember it was this child, but it'd be homework and pencils left on my desk on floor. So the little girl in the picture is working on a project they had. I gave them the criteria. They had to tell four things about themselves. They drew pictures about their favorite things, food, favorite subject, basically whatever they wanted to share with the others. They then had to record their voices and code it using scratch. The laptop was there. So we used Scratch a lot. Rev from third grade through sixth
051grade, where they reported their voice made a code block. And then we took another technology piece called Making, making, which is a little, um, remote, excuse me. Um, a little removed with wires and alligator clips where they connected their picture. They made to the Makey making with the Chromebook. And then they used Fasteners and they set the Chromebooks up around the classroom and they could go to Chromebook, to Chromebook to Chromebook, similar to a museum and play their friends information. So they didn't have to speak about themselves. They listen to the reports. So they love it. They love sharing about themselves and not being public speaking. Like the last one is also a project that we did. And I collaborated with some of the sixth, uh, fifth grade teachers. They were talking about their solar
052system unit. And you can see off the side of the Chromebook, there's a little robot called an Zobo. So we used Ooc Lock link similar to Scratch. So it's a very easy transition where the students had to research a consolation, and then on paper they had to draw out a plan where their robot was going to go. It wasn't tracing their drawing, it was on the table or the floor that they had a plan out what coats they were going to use, what was going to happen when the robot got to each star and they could dance, play music, lights. And they had code all that with robot walking and then they play robot. The other two pictures are just different things we've done with fourth grade and sixth grade. They had a research sixth
053grade researched, um, about catapults, and they had to sign and build their own catapults transition to another project. They did labeling. In addition to everything that Ms. TSA does in her classroom, we also offer a technology club after school. Um, it's for all the different grades. They rotate through, uh, six sessions a piece. Uh, this year a lot of the focus was on Canva. So I taught them how to make their own poster for a club. They might wanna stop start, um, create study materials if they were in fifth or sixth grade. Um, and then to make Valentine's cards and Mother's Day cards when those came around. Um, they also used the Makey Makey, um, which I mentioned where they can turn a banana into a space bar and can play a piano key. Um,
054so they got to use all those tools and they had learned it with Missa and then got to further it in the technology club. It also connects to scratch, which they all love and are very familiar with. Um, so they got to go even further with that. Um, and then the last thing they did in technology club this year was the coding mice. So the third graders, which a lot of 'em were familiar with Cherry Lane. So just a nice continuum that is going to continue as they go to the middle of high school. Uh, some of what you see here, these are examples of some work that's coming out of our high school on the right side. Um, and middle. These are coming out of our architectural drawing class taught by Ley Norman. Uh,
055it's no surprise that there's engineering at work here. There's math, um, there's also design thinking here. So that's what's taking this kind of an endeavor from a technology class into a steam activity. Um, that's not to say that everything that happens in that class would be considered steam, but this is a great example of, uh, students using their creativity to, um, solve the problems of, uh, uh, of drafting and creating through architecture, um, buildings and, uh, homes. Uh, on the left, uh, when you actually, when you leave this auditorium tonight, and if you look to the left, you'll see in that our case, there's some examples here from Ms. Neighbor's sculpture class. So, uh, the last unit she just did, she had them designing a, a room and they were, um, they were using, uh,
056t uh, uh, textiles. They were using how, you know, what kind of floor were you gonna use? Tile floor, what floor, what are you gonna have on your windows? Uh, they built and created the, uh, furniture that was in the room. They had to have certain number of, uh, furniture, et cetera. So while that's an art class, um, and I don't think she even realized it was really a steam endeavor. That's an example of some of these, uh, coming together around the concept of design picking that there's design thinking going on in that. Um, in that, uh, uh, project, Uh, one of the things that the committee was charged with was to reach out to local businesses to, um, try to make connections for our students so that they could, um, have on, uh, mentorships
057and partnerships to maybe some careers that they might be interested in. And originally this, the charge was really to find, like, I'm gonna say we have a saying in the company called Names Steamy. But we were supposed to find like steamy businesses, you know, steam related businesses. And through our learning and our discussions, we were like, why does it only have to be steam careers that we are gonna partner our students with? Maybe there are businesses and students that are interested in law. Maybe they're are our kids in our community that are interested in opening up a restaurant. So we sent out a survey, um, to every household and community, and we got responses from a wide range of, uh, local businesses. And the results that we got from that survey, it's still open. By
058the way, if you have not responded or you know, someone that might be interested in responding, please have them respond. Um, we are gonna hand over these results to, um, our, uh, work based learning coordinator next year in the high school. You want to see the survey. So the questions are here. So if you know any businesses, what kinds of, um, opportunities might you offer, be able to offer for our students, how many students and so on. Then we also surveyed our student population to see what kinds of steam, um, careers, steam courses that they might be interested in, you know, are, one of the charges was for us to, um, make a recommendation for a nine through 12, um, pathway for students, um, you know, related to, uh, STEAM or stem. And we really
059figured out that we couldn't make that recommendation without knowing what our students were interested in. Um, so I have a link to survey here, but as you can see from the results, a lot of our students are interested in architecture and engineering and medical and health careers. Um, by the way, their favorite subjects were science, and I'm a little bias. I'm a social studies teacher, social science, engineering, and visual arts. Um, those were the top subjects that they were interested in school. And then what kinds of courses sound interesting to 'em? Interior design, architectural design, human body systems, uh, medical and engineering. So we have a lot of students here that are really interested in seeing. And then from our, you know, analyzing the results of the survey, we learned that, you know, it's what
060our students are interested in STEAM is that it's very broad, but it's also balanced. They're not just interested in the traditional STEM fields. They are interested in STEM plus arts. Um, we do have also a number of students who are interested in rev design and video broadcasting. So these are all very interesting to us. Um, we're going to, you know, we'll get to this further. Um, but it was really good to hear from our students. We, uh, surveyed students in grades six through 11. We had about 400 to four 500 students respond. Okay, so just about, uh, nearing the end here. Um, so what were the recommendations based on all the work we did and the, um, the, the work that came from the committee? Here are the recommendations that we are making to you.
061Um, the first being that we take some time as a district, as a committee, as a group, uh, as we move forward to assess, uh, our current STEAM learning experiences and vertically align what is taking place K through 12. So, um, we're looking to develop a cohesive STEAM curriculum to support a meaningful progression from kindergarten through the 12th grade. I believe, uh, we should allocate some professional development time to assess what is currently being done in the district, identify where there are gaps and where there may be overlaps. Align current practices across all grade levels, and conduct an audit of the Rushmore STEM program to align and fine tune instructional elements by grade level standard with the goal of establishing a foundational course that supports science research pathways in the middle school and the high
062school. Our next recommendation is that we begin using the district's new curriculum template to design a vertically aligned STEAM curriculum K through 12 and implement key checkpoints at Terry Lane, Rushmore, and the middle school to ensure that these gateway experiences are building toward a high school steam pathway. We're also recommending that, um, our new STEM B director and our and the high school work-based learning coordinator should collaborate to expand the real world learning opportunities for students and strengthen career connections. Um, taking the work from that community survey and the student survey as well. And hopefully, um, finally achieving that goal of creating an internship program, um, for future planning. Continue to research into a comprehensive steam course sequence for grades nine through 12 that leads to, uh, potentially a micro-credential offering students formal recognition of
063their skills and enhancing their readiness for college and career pathways. So those are the recommendations that we made, uh, we are making based on the work that we did this year. Uh, that's our presentation question. Is anybody have any questions? A couple comments. Thank you so much for the, uh, presentation. Um, definitely some of these things really, really ring true. I mean, I, uh, love hearing about the disconnection, uh, everybody running connections and reinforcement between clubs and, you know, uh, the classroom and anything that sort of binds those things together reinforces the skills because how they, they evolve over time from PreK to 12th grade. And you know, that's a lot to be said. Your recommendations, you know, speak to it of preparing our students at the younger grades and we're starting seeing those things
064as presentation, uh, for sure. Um, just as early involved as possible so that they're prepared for later grades. Uh, I love hearing, I love seeing that. Great. I'll use that. I'll be in my day job. So Stevie will be be taking that. Um, love didn't seem nervous at all. Love the, uh, Makey Makey and the idea of, you know, having students, you know, there's, there's covert and overt active participation, right? So, you know, might surprise you find out I was very shy. Did particularly, uh, the younger grades. So the idea of the idea of being able to use scratch coding and then, you know, uh, you know, marry it to, and then, you know, I can kind of practice that a few times and you know, and, and you know, not be kind of work
065on my, my speaking listen, listening skills, right? While, um, with also the stakes for a little lower. I think that's important. And at part that too to me, a C my daughter in seventh grade and she works on that project and she whole loved it. Um, I know love anything that has computer. So great meditation out together really well. Thank you. Yes, Thank you. It was very informative. Um, it's really nice to hear the kids how they understand that they a process. There's a beginning and call process to it's not, which is really the long run. They high school and college. Um, you also, so the last that the tool that you'll Be using For your curriculum writing and then I guess update, That's what we were referring to. So the work of the, of
066the curriculum committee that was done this year resulted in a new curriculum template tool, but how will be, um, writing the curriculum moving forward. So that's, yeah, That's, we great. We love when we're love. Thank you. Before We get to the cake, are there any questions or comments on any other items? There'll be no questions or comments. I will ask for a motion to close public session and move to cake. I'll Make a motion. Question. One favor. Aye Uh, squad. Alright, thank you. Thank you. Um, baby squad Jake Retirees.