Nanuet's Beefed Up STEM Program Already Seeing Results

About three years ago Nanuet School District officials decided to bulk up the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) curriculum, and they asked a math teacher to facilitate the program.

Since then, Christopher Polizzi, along with technology teachers Vinny Garrison and Brian Perry, have worked to make the Nanuet STEM program a leading example in Rockland of teaching students in a more career-oriented fashion.

“The things we’re teaching the kids, those are the areas where you’re seeing job openings, and a lot of people think those are fields that can help bring manufacturing back to the the U.S.,” Polizzi said. “They need people in those fields, so this program is kind of whetting the kids’ appetites. The hope is that if they take engineering in middle school, they’ll be more likely to take it in high school, in college and go into the field.”

The program is for all students in the middle school, from fifth to eighth grade, with each student taking part in the program for at least one quarter a year with a chance to take electives later.

Garrison said one way in which they’ve grown the program is by bringing in better equipment. The school recently acquired a 3-D printer and laser cutter. A lot of the improvements and equipment for the program were made possible by a $50,000 grant secured for the school district by Assemblyman Ken Zebrowski.

The STEM teachers, along with Superintendent Mark McNeill, School Board President Anne Byrne and others, welcomed Zebrowski to the middle and high school to show him what his grant brought to the district.

“This is real 21st Century learning,” Zebrowski said. “They’re learning such great things, and in a way to seems more engaging and exciting to the students than simply reading a textbook. They’re teaching kids computer programming in fifth grade and making real life products in class. This is the kind of thing that we need to do to be globally competitive. I meet with all the superintendents regularly and ask them for a wishlist, and seeing something like this come to fruition is why we do what we do. It’s great that they got this grant and really made something unique from it.”

When Zebrowski was at the middle school, the STEM teachers provided him with some gifts they made using the machines. They used the 3-D printer to give him a replica of a building in Albany, and in a rather bipartisan move presented him with two tiny plastic animals: a blue donkey and red elephant. They also presented him with a clock that had arms made from the 3-D printer and “Assembly State of New York” etched into it from the laser cutter. They also gave Zebrowski a lithograph of his own headshot, when the picture is held up to the light it reveals the actual image.

Garrison also showed Zebrowski some of the CO2 cars his students made, including plastic wheels they designed on the computer for the 3-D printer. Garrison said he’s had students made CO2 cars for 12 years, and since bringing in the 3-D printer, he’s seen some of the best times since starting the project. He added that the students bring in images they want to see the 3-D printer print.

“For me and the students, it’s like watching a fire,” Garrison said. “The kids will sit and watch it print everyday.”

In Polizzi’s computer programming class, the students learn how to make apps for mobile devices, as well as video games. He’s had students place in local competitions this year for creating apps and video games. He said the apps and games they create always try to tie in curriculum from other classes, as well. For instance, a popular app his class works on is one that teaches the user words in another language.

In addition to seeing a need for employees in STEM fields, the trio also said there’s a large gender gap in those fields as well.

“We’re trying to encourage the girls to take the classes once they move up into the high school and think about going into those fields because there aren’t as many females in them,” Garrison said. “We’re trying to show them that girls can become computer programmers or engineers if they want.”

Perry said one way he’s tried to get some of his female students interested in the technology is by showing them how the 3-D and other machines can be used to make jewelry.

But that hasn’t just been for his female students either. While the STEM program is very much career-oriented, Perry said he still has students question why they’re learning this and why they’ll need to know it in the real world.

“I’ve shown them sites like Etsy, which is just a huge site of people selling their own products,” Perry said. “Online, you have all these people selling jewelry and whatever other things, and they’re products those people made. That’s engineering. They’re doing what we’re teaching and starting businesses.”

Moving forward, the trio said they’d like to combine the technology more for projects, like using multiple pieces of equipment to build clocks. They also plan on getting students to enter more competitions, including a robotics competition. They’re also excited to see where the technology goes.

“We’re all tinkerers,” Polizzi said. “We all like to figure stuff out on our own.”

Garrison echoed that sentiment and said that’s already been a big part of the STEM program.

“You really need teachers who aren’t going to shy away from new things,” he said. “There’s stuff we’re teaching that we might not have known that much about beforehand, but you research and learn about it. There’s Youtube videos for everything.”

Garrison made a time lapse video showing off the 3-D printer’s ability and put in on Youtube (which can be seen attached to this article above).

While it’s still early in the program’s history to get a read on if more students are signing up for STEM electives in the high school, Steve Martin, a technology teacher at the high school, said he’s already seen the impact.

“It’s at a point where we have to stay ahead of the kids,” he said. “They’re coming into the high school with more and more knowledge now. We don’t have to spend as much time on basic level things. We can just jump right in.”