Their active involvement enables us to address and meet the needs of the diverse learners and underrepresented groups within our student population. The invaluable partnerships help in bringing relevance to the content and skills taught in all classes, thus making learning experiences authentic and meaningful for our students.
Our Future City class had an engineering mentor who worked alongside student teams and their teacher every Friday, while being an advisor to students as they worked to develop a "futuristic" city based on a real-world problem using the Engineering Process Design. The mentor provided guidance and feedback, which was based on his technical expertise, to the groups throughout the entire process. He encouraged students to work through their failures to find solutions. Since the mentor was fully invested, a strong partnership emerged. Throughout the year, the mentor would frequently discuss his career and encouraged students to pursue STEAM opportunities.
Another partnership is with Savannah River Site (SRS), a federal nuclear site owned by the US Department of Energy. The site is less than one mile from New Ellenton Middle STEAM Magnet School. It is managed by Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS), LLC. Additionally, the MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility, a contractor, is located on SRS. These industries are vested partners of New Ellenton Middle, as they have provided numerous scientists, mathematicians, computer technologists, and engineers to provide presentation to our students. The representatives of various STEM related careers also volunteered throughout the school year to participate in STEAM projects, STEAM clubs, Career & Technology Center STEM classes, as well as assisting in keyboarding and computer applications classes. Every year our students take field trips to SRNS's Ecology lab and the Silver Bluff Audubon Center. Through SRNS's educational outreach programs, our teachers and students participate in STEM opportunities, such as the Science and Technology Enrichment Program (STEP). The program provides K-12 teachers and students with hands-on science, mathematics and technology opportunities through real-world investigations that focus on responsible environmental stewardship. STEP lessons are designed in accordance with state and national standards to reinforce and enhance the mathematics and science curricula. Classes are taught primarily through outdoor settings at the Silver Bluff Audubon Center or at the Savannah River Site. Higher order thinking skills and environmental decision-making are an integral part of each hands-on lesson.
Many of our teachers are recipients of their Innovative Teaching Mini Grants Program. The grants are used to fund STEAM programs and projects for the students at New Ellenton Middle on an annual basis. Each school year, the faculty seeks additional resources to support the STEAM curriculum. Every teacher is encouraged to submit at least one grant to support classroom instruction. As a result, four teachers were recipients of the Savannah River Nuclear Solutions Innovative Teaching Mini Grant to fund science, math, and/or technology lessons in their classrooms. Another teacher received a Full Circle Technology Grant that provided her with a class set of laptops. The Related Arts department was award the Distinguished Arts Program grant from South Carolina Department of Education for the amount of $21,350. The school is also a recipient of a $500 math and science grant from Exxon Mobile, $1,000 grant from SAM's Club, and $5,361 from Public Education Partners of Aiken. Donors Choose is frequently used to fund student-led classroom projects. In doing so, every classroom teacher acquired color printers. Through this organization, we have also obtained the following: 40 laptops, three 3D printers, one MAC desktop computer, two desktop computers, speakers, a 3D pen, one 42-inch television, two 40-inch televisions, two television wall mounts, 35 headphones, one sound bar speaker, one digital camera, three Go Pro cameras, a Leap Motion Controller, a 360 Degree Spherical Panorama Camera, five Virtual Reality Headsets, Bluetooth Headphones, Bluetooth Pro Game Pad Joystick, a document camera, and four iPods.
In addition, our Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) works closely with the faculty and staff by volunteering during the instructional day and during after-school events. As volunteers, they are willing to assist teachers and our students. They also carry out multiple fundraisers throughout the school year to financially support the instructional and technology needs of our school.
New Ellenton Middle School has an open-door policy when it comes to our parents and guardians. Our faculty and staff have always strived to develop and maintain positive, productive family-school partnerships. We recognize that forming intentional and ongoing relationships with our families enhance and enrich the learning experiences of our students. One way we create strong bonds with our families is through frequent, positive, timely, and clear communication. Administration sends weekly updates of activities through emails and calls by way of the Blackboard Connect call system. School-wide text messages are also disseminated weekly to parents, guardians, teacher and staff. These various means of communication are utilized to share and promote all activities, especially those pertaining to STEAM. The school's website is also kept up-to-date with the most current information.
