Story by Ainsley Hall
INWOOD — The West Virginia STEAM Technical Assistance Center (TAC) visited Musselman High School as the program celebrates its three-year anniversary. STEAM TAC specialists work with middle and high school students across the state through interactive and hands-on immersions that put their math skills to the test.
Sara Porter, a teacher at Musselman High School, first heard about this program during a conference through the Mountaineer Mathematics Master Teachers (M3T) project. After learning about how it works, Porter thought it sounded like a great opportunity to teach her students and show them that math can be fun.
“I wanted to show them that math can be fun and is applicable to our lives,” Porter said. “It’s something different and hand-on, so it looked like a fun opportunity to bring to the students.”
STEAM TAC started on Dec. 6, 2020, and has worked with more than 35,000 students throughout West Virginia. The goal is to expose them to career-oriented skills and show them future job opportunities through engineering-type projects. Through their classroom immersions, they get real experience solving problems.
During their visit, STEAM TAC specialists Clifford Sullivan and Melissa Bane put together an activity where students are given a scenario. They must design a zipline for the Seneca Rocks Visitor Center by building a structure out of Legos that they will use to go down the zipline. They then run multiple tests to make sure it’s safe.
“We’ve noticed a huge increase in engagement and a huge increase in student success through this program, particularly in students with special education needs,” Sullivan said. “It helps build their confidence and they really thrive in the chaos.”
Students split up into groups and each took on one of three jobs: design engineer, site supervisor and aerial construction specialist. Each student must complete their job to succeed. Porter believes that having students work together is one of the reasons this program is so beneficial for the students, as well as giving them a real-world challenge.
“I believe it’s important for students to bond with their classmates, and this program encourages them to work together,” Porter said. “It gives them real experience outside a textbook.”
For more information about STEAM TAC visit https://steamtac.wvu.edu/.