STEAM in the Black Belt

Last week, I had the pleasure of sharing details of Selma City Schools outstanding STEAM opportunities with my fellow District 2 superintendents.  I am super excited and so proud of our STEAM Team for their journey towards excellence in this area.  Team Selma’s goal is to create a demonstration site that can support STEAM education for all the districts in the Black Belt.

STEAM is science, technology, engineering, arts and math.  Previously, I shared about the partnership that we have with the University of Alabama’s School of Engineering.  The mechanical engineering students of UA, under the leadership of Dr. Ashford are supporting our scholars and teachers as we repurpose a school bus into a mobile greenhouse.  This is STEAM in motion and we will reveal more throughout the school year.

With the support of International Paper, our sustainable gardening class is still growing and recently harvested watermelons.  The hands-on research that came next gave our scholars insights on what it means to be a scientist. 

Both of these initiatives are key to our next steps as we move forward.  On November 8, R.B. Hudson STEAM Academy will host educators from our Black Belt school districts.  We will share professional learning to support grant writing and building effective community partnerships, share valuable information on how to infuse technology into learning and provide student demonstrations of STEAM activities that are taking place during STEAM Day at the Academy.   

Just as Team Selma is committed to ensuring that our core values are embodied in our work, we are equally committed to seeing our vision through.  Our vision is to be documented as a model school district where students are empowered through academic excellence to achieve success throughout life.

Being recognized locally or even nationally as a model school district is not enough.  True success will come from making certain that all schools are providing educational excellence in every classroom, every day.  We must also ensure that we are improving outcomes for our scholars and their families.  This is our core work and we will continue to focus on developing our STEAM Academy, creating Academies of Academic Excellence at our elementary schools and providing support for high school students through our new Star Academy.

We appreciate the continued support of this beautiful community.  As always, we encourage you to check out our social media outlets to keep up with STEAM in the Black Belt and all things Team Selma.

For more information please reach out to me at avis.williams@selmacityschools.org.

Don't Count Me Out

Students who miss school miss more than just a day of learning.  As I visit schools and see the amazing level of engagement and opportunities that our scholars have, it makes it clear that students who are counted out are missing out.

Last week our second and fifth grade scholars enjoyed a visit from Lady Liberty.  Sponsored by Liberty Learning, the presentation taught about history and civic citizenship in an interactive field trip at Selma High School.  Only those present were able to enjoy this.

Also, last week our scholars at School of Discovery explored integers using Flip Grid.  Now, integers may not sound like fun but the smiles on our scholars’ faces says otherwise.  It was absolutely fun and every student had a voice in how they learned math.  Well, every student who was present had a voice.

Additionally, our R.B. Hudson STEAM Academy scholars have been having a blast with their weekly STEAM Day.  Several of them gave our principals a demonstration at our monthly meeting.  We saw examples of STEAM concepts in science, social studies and arts.  Our scholars were confident, articulate in their delivery and most of all they were present to share their learning with our district leaders.

In Team Selma, we believe in rewarding excellence.  Therefore, all of our schools are celebrating School Attendance Awareness Month with incentives for our scholars who are present daily.  Celebrations include the Attendance Café at Hudson where our scholars rotate in and out of the café to enjoy refreshments, soft jazz and socializing.

Scholars at Meadowview and several other schools enjoy popsicle parties, because it’s cool to come to school.  All schools are recognizing perfect attendance in fun and exciting ways.

This message is for all our families and our scholars.  When you miss school, you not only miss a day of learning but you also miss amazing opportunities that are fun and engaging.  Team Selma aims to ensure that all scholars are present, on time and ready to learn every day.  Don’t get counted out!

                                                                  

For more information please reach out to me at avis.williams@selmacityschools.org.