Moving from STEM to STEAM?

Originally posted January 12, 2012

Riding with 8th Graders on a bus to the Museum of Modern Art a while back, music teacher Vicki Wepler was talking about an inspiring conference she had attended called “Arts in Education: Continuing the Conversation.” Started by a group of colleagues from her graduate program at Harvard, the conference focused on the theme “Finding Voice” (a theme which, not coincidentally, found its way into performances by the chorus in the Middle School Winter Concert and the Holiday Program).

Vicki shared that she also came away from the conference with another notion that excited her: the concept of adding the Arts to the STEM discussion – in other words, expanding STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) to STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math). The acronym was new to those of us on the bus, but it’s actually been a part of the STEM conversation for some time, and it’s an idea that is gaining ground.

In a recent article in Education Week called "STEAM: Experts Make Case for Adding Arts to STEM," author Erik W. Robelen writes, “The idea? Move from STEM to STEAM, with an A for the arts. Although it seems a stretch to imagine STEM will be replaced in education parlance, momentum appears to be mounting to explore ways that the intersection of the arts with the STEM fields can enhance student engagement and learning, and even help unlock creative thinking and motivation.” Click here to read more.

Or take Cathy Davidson, co-founder of HASTAC (Humanities, Arts, Science, &​ Technology Advanced Collaboratory), who writes, "What we really need is STEAM - Science, Technology, ARTS, and Math. We need to inspire kids with the scientific method, which happens not to be scientific exclusively but, basically, learning where any form of discovery is rewarded and encouraged."

Head of School Laurie Bottiger points us to STEAM founder Georgette Yakman and her website: http://www.steamedu.com

Here's Vicki Wepler on the subject: “Adding the Arts to STEM to create STEAM seems like a logical and obvious connection to me as an educator because all of the elements that make up the acronym (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) are inextricably linked through the 4 Cs of 21st Century Skills: creativity, collaboration, communication, and critical thinking. Countless major scientific, technological, and mathematical innovations have blossomed from one person's creative way to solve a problem and/​or make something better. Many creative thoughts are also enhanced when multiple minds collaborate and communicate to push a great idea even further. By linking the Arts with STEM and putting all the educational elements on equal footing, students will understand how highly the Arts are valued in terms of one's learning and personal growth, and how important creative expression and critical thinking truly are for the future.”

Of course, if you look at the TCS curriculum and some of the activities that have been taking place for years (one example: Art teacher David Acheson’s Pond Yacht Regatta, for which students design, create, and then race their own boats in the “pond” Mr. A. creates on the Lower School playground), it’s pretty clear that STEAM has been occurring in an unofficial way for quite some time.

This year, some of the STEM clubs have enhanced that notion. Below is STEM coordinator Terrie Hartsoe's rundown of this year's Middle School club offerings. Among other activities, Middle School students are:

• Doing set design and construction for Beauty and the Beast
• Designing and constructing costumes for Beauty and the Beast (just how do you create an outfit for a woman shaped like a teapot or transform a hideous beast into a handsome prince right before the audience's eyes?)
• Writing songs and constructing instruments
• Creating balsa wood airplanes
• Building a box city, and giving it a physical landscape, representing the past, present and future (all with an environmental consideration)

No doubt, this discussion will be on-going at The Country School as it is in the outside world. The past few days alone have had some interesting STEAM-related conversations on NPR, although they weren't identified as such.

A conversation from Marketplace (a conversation between NPR's Kai Ryssdal and author William Poundstone) focused on the ways in which companies are changing their interview styles when seeking new employees. Poundstone, author of Are You Smart Enough to Work at Google?,   described some of the interview questions he had come across. Below is an excerpt from the NPR conversation.

Poundstone: OK. Suppose you're shrunk to the size of a nickel and thrown in a blender.

Ryssdal: OK?

Poundstone: Now, the blades are going to star spinning in 60 seconds. What do you do?

Ryssdal: I lie down. Right? I'm the size of a nickel. Those blender blades are, in theory, a millimeter or two higher than a nickel. I lie down and those blades go right over my head and I'm fine.

Poundstone: The answer that a lot of people came up with is that you would just jump out of the blender. You can do that and you can use physics to explain how this would actually happen. And that's considered a good, creative answer.

Ryssdal: Yes, and once again I'm not smart enough to work at Google. William Poundstone. His book is called "Are you Smart Enough To Work at Google?" Thanks a lot.

Poundstone: Good to be with you.

As Vicki Wepler, who mentioned the story said, ''What's the overarching element? CREATIVITY!!!" Click here for a link to the entire interview.

Or click here for another recent NPR story about participants at a math conference. One mathematician talks about how she uses knitting and crocheting to test math problems. She pulls out a current crochet project and says, "Okay. This is crochet and this is mathematical. The origin of this is, I wonder what it would look like if I made a hyperbolic mobius band."

One more interesting article to take a look at (thank you, Mrs. Wepler!): From the National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture, a blog with this compelling title: The STEAM Movement: It's About More Than Hot Air.

Learn more at www.thecountryschool.org

Designing to Solve Real World Problems

Originally posted 02/06/2014 12:31PM

Houses of the future in an 8th Grade math class, an adaptation and survival design challenge in 4th Grade STEAM, and a "Trash City" made by students in PreSchool through Grade 5. Students are engaging in design challenges all over campus - and even off campus during their own free time.

In a recent Little Hoot, we published a blog by Head of School Laurie Bottiger about how design can be used to solve real world problems: What Do Stanford’s Design School and The Country School Have in Common? Through these design challenges, students also learn important lessons about collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking - some of the 21st century skills experts say they will need in the future.

Recent Design Activities on Campus

Houses of the Future. Eighth Graders in Louise Jackson’s integrated Algebra/Geometry class are designing a house for the year 2075, taking into account population growth, urbanization, future design trends, and energy efficiency. As they embarked on their project, they had a visit from Everett Barber, a renewable energy expert, writer, and former lecturer at Yale Architecture School, who talked them through the calculations and quantifications designers, architects, and engineers must make when engaging in responsive design.

During his long career in renewable energy, Mr. Barber has overseen the design and installation of more than 1,000 solar energy systems. At The Country School, he has another claim to fame: he is married to Sarah Barber, Middle School history teacher. Mrs. Jackson said Mr. Barber has agreed to return to her math class to serve as an evaluator for the TED-style talks students will deliver at the conclusion of their projects. Stay tuned.

Recycling. As they have for many years, 4th Graders oversee the school’s recycling program, and so this year they decided to turn their focus on recycling into a design challenge and awareness campaign for their peers in PreSchool through Grade 5.

Each grade was asked to design and construct a building out of all recycled projects. Students were encouraged to look at real buildings across the globe for inspiration. The result – Trash City – is now on display in the lobby of Clark House, the Early Childhood building. Stop by to visit.

Kindergartners decided to model their construction after the Petronas Towers in Malaysia. To construct their design, they saved all of the scraps from recent snowflake-making and Eric Carle projects. They then used the scraps to embellish the towers.

Adaptation and Survival. Meanwhile 4th Graders had their own design challenge issued to them by STEAM teachers Stephanie Smelser and Stephanie Johnson. Here was the challenge:

Adaptation and Survival Design Challenge

As 4th Graders, you take on the recycling duties around the TCS campus.  You are all too aware that we humans produce too much garbage and that it is important to continue to raise awareness and educate others about the importance of recycling.

In this design challenge, you will think about what you saw and learned on our field trip to the CRRA recycling facility in Hartford as well as discuss and research what others are doing to help with the garbage problem. You will see images of works of art created by artists made entirely of recycled materials. In addition, you will design and build a “creature” using recycled materials that has adaptations and abilities to help it survive under and then escape from a garbage dump.     

The process and requirements are as follows:

1. Draw thumbnail sketches and blueprints of your creature

2. Label the adaptations and functions of your creature’s parts

3. List materials you will use

4. Construct your creature referring back frequently to your plans

5. Using Google Docs, complete the reflection paper and artist statement

6. Write a poem from the perspective of your creature

7. Proudly display your work for others and remind them of their responsibility to REDUCE, RE-USE and RECYCLE! 

STEAM Elements of Project

S: environmental challenges, adaptations, needs of organisms

T: recycling tools and machines, TED talks, Google images

E: blueprints, properties of materials, elements of construction

A: sculpture, material choice, themed art, proportion, writing/reflecting

M: scale, measurement, shapes

More 4th Grade creatures are on display in around the Clark House STEAM Lab – feel free to stop by and visit some of these creatures. Perhaps you heard some of the creature-inspired poems during last week’s 4th Grade Poetry Café?

How Students are Applying These Lessons Off Campus

During yesterday's snow day, a Country School 1st Grader shared what she's been learning in school about weather and polar regions. She told her siblings and parents about igloos, and they worked together to create this amazing structure.

One of the theories behind STEAM is that cross-curricular activities in science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math are not just great ways to foster the development of 21st century skills, but they are engaging and fun. The smiling faces below would surely attest to that notion.

We also read on the Kindergarten blog about two students who were inspired to use their snow days to engage in some school-inspired creativity in the kitchen. Read the Kindergarten blog to learn about snow muffins (and even discover a recipe or two).

Learn more at www.thecountryschool.org

Empathy Through Literature: Inserting STEAM and Reflection into the Equation

Originally posted Nov 20, 2014 1:21:00 PM

Wonder How We Look Beyond Ourselves?

by Teresa Sullivan
Middle School English teacher

Reflection begins with the self, and this is the level of reflection adolescents are most comfortable with. When students are reading a great book, they naturally ask themselves, "What does this text mean to me?" But we want them to move beyond the self and into deeper levels of reflection. ... In asking our students to reflect, we want to push them beyond the self and encourage them to think in terms of the outer circles of reflection.
      (from Deeper Reading: Comprehending Challenging Texts, 4-12 by Kelly Gallagher)

As I like to say in the classroom, we need students to take off their blinders, which isn’t always easy for young adolescents. Enter the Circles of Reflection graphic created by John Powers.

At The Country School, Willa Ridinger and I have worked with our 7th Graders during our reading of Wonder by RJ Palacio and our extended STEAM unit with Steff Smelser. Through cross-curricular activities involving science, technology, engineering, arts, and math, our students learned what it was really like to step inside someone else's shoes. (Or in this case, someone else's skin, calling to mind the words of Atticus Finch from To Kill A Mockingbird, one of the books these students will have a chance to read next year: "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view ... until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.").

This unit demands that our students take off their blinders and practice kindness and compassion for others. However, at The Country School not only do we teach kindness and compassion through the novels we read, but we strive to live this through our actions. From our Mission Statement, “We encourage our students to look beyond themselves, to work cooperatively with others, and to serve their communities and the larger world. We expect much of our students, because we believe they have much to give.”

Presented with this graphic, our 7th Graders took time to articulate how they as individuals and we as a community show kindness and compassion to ourselves, our families, our peers, our community, our country, and humankind. Here is a sampling of their responses:

What does Wonder mean to me?

We should be thankful for what we have and be more respectful and kind to those who are less fortunate. Once I read Auggie's point of view, I don't want to be mean; I want to be nice.

It means to me that every day is not going to be a great day. Some days there might be a storm and damage is done, but the storm will pass and things will become better.

I learned that people really do have ailments like this and they just can't do some things, but that is no excuse to make fun of them and tease them. Everyone should be treated with respect.

Wonder gave me an awareness about kids with disabilities.

It helped me learn that kids with disabilities are just as smart kids without.

It reminds me to stand up for people like Auggie. 

What does Wonder mean in terms of my family and close friends?

When my family sees a kid who has a disability, we will try to make him feel comfortable in the environment.

If you have a friend with a disability, stand up for your friend if other people speak badly about them.

What does Wonder mean in terms of my community?

If everyone read Wonder, they would treat people differently.

What does Wonder mean in terms of thinking about my country?

There are so many people in the US with a disability and we should be kinder to these people.

What does Wonder teach about humanity? What universal truths/precepts does it contain?

Humans have a tendency to be afraid of the unknown, which means they can be mean to try to cope and conceal their fear.

I have learned from the book Wonder that not all humans will behave normally. There are always outliers and haters, but there will always be more kind people.

Respect other countries’ differences and uniqueness.

To learn more about the Wonder curriculum at The Country School, click here.

Can School's Foster Innovation?

Originally posted 
Mar 7, 2014 3:01:00 PM
by Laurie Bottiger

How top universities and high schools - along with The Country School - are inspiring students to "make something from nothing" while collaborating across disciplines

Recently a parent of four Country School alumni emailed us to share an article she had seen in Phillips Academy Andover's winter 2014 magazine (one of her children, TCS Class of 2005, is also an Andover graduate). The article, The Andover Institute: Cultivating Innovation, Activating Ideas, described the newly created Andover Institute, designed to foster what the renowned boarding school calls "connected learning." Here is Andover Head of School John Palfrey as quoted in the article:

Everyone involved in the Andover Institute will learn how to make something from nothing, how to scale something for greater impact as it succeeds, and how to fail gracefully and learn from our mistakes.

Or, as Caroline Nolan, the newly appointed Andover Institute director, says in the article, the institute is about "having a collaborative, participatory space where community members can come together to work on projects across a broad range of disciplines."

"Sound familiar?" the parent wrote in her email. 

Indeed, it does. If you had visited The Country School this winter, you would have seen students routinely collaborating across disciplines, making something from nothing, and learning from their mistakes. The major difference, of course, is that some of the people you would have encountered at The Country School were no older than 3 or 4. (At right, a 1st Grader shows off the model of a geodesic dome he and his classmates built as part of their study of winter and weather. Students learned about the importance of the strength of the triangle in creating the dome and about Buckminster Fuller. Learn more about the weather study here.)

As we look at major universities and leading secondary schools, we see that they are all paying homage to the notion of innovation. How, as educators, do we foster innovation? How can we create students capable of being successful, innovative leaders in the 21st Century?

We are asking the same questions at The Country School, and we firmly believe there is no better time to start cultivating those skillsets than during the earliest years, the most formative time in human development. Which is why I find it so thrilling to walk across campus and watch our students and teachers in action. What I see are students of all ages deeply engaged in the creative process, collaborating across disciplines, problem solving, and finding new ways to approach hurdles—essentially finding opportunities in challenges. Here are a few recent examples:

The PreK Dinosaur Study. This week, the TCS community was invited to a Celebration of Learning in Clark House, where PreK students and teachers had immersed themselves— for months—in an exploration of dinosaurs. The integrated STEAM study provided opportunities to explore multiple themes related to dinosaurs (from what “extinction” means to what a paleontologist does; from measuring a Tyrannosaurus Rex footprint to creating the giant Pterodactyl sculpture now hanging from the Clark House ceiling). 

Eric Carle Explosion. Last week Kindergartners shared their learning through a similar in-depth exploration—a deep and absorbing journey into the work of children’s author Eric Carle and the community. The exploration took students into literature, art, science, math, technology, engineering, and even geography, as Kindergartners created Eric Carle-inspired ducks and then mailed them to friends across the globe—from Syria to South Carolina. Learn more here. 

Ancient Egypt in 5th Grade. As they do each year, 5th Graders are immersed in a study of ancient Egypt. The exploration will continue for months, but we happened to stop by the other day and found students poring through books and maps as they attempted to construct their own maps of ancient Egypt. When one parent shared some of our photos on Facebook, we were struck by a comment one of her friends, a college professor, posted: "Wish my undergrads knew this much about Egypt. Or anything else."

Designing Houses of the Future. The 8th Grade’s Integrated Algebra and Geometry Class recently spent six weeks researching and then designing houses of the future. This week, in TED-style talks, they presented their learning and designs, including to-scale models of their houses, circa 2075, to their classmates, teacher, and an outside adjudicator. In explaining the project, math teacher Louise Jackson said, "I was looking for a STEAM project in which my Integrated Algebra/Geometry students could apply the concepts they were learning in real world applications, and where they could be creative/innovative with design work."

She went on to say that she wanted her students "to experience working in a group where they would learn how to deal with opposing opinions—and sometimes controversy—and how to negotiate and compromise in those situations. In 21st century jobs, many of the students will be in environments similar to this, where they are working collaboratively on a project." 

Everett Barber, a sustainable energy expert who watched the presentations, said he was deeply impressed with the students and their House of the Future designs. As a former teacher at Yale School of Architecture, he said he found it particularly remarkable that these young students were able to dig so deeply into the subject, engage in sophisticated research and design (to which they also applied complex mathematical formulas), and then make their presentations, all while juggling a full course load in an array of other subjects (not to mention a school musical, athletics, the MacLane Poetry Recitation, and more).

For their part, students report that they found the project fun and meaningful. One said he would use the experience when it comes time for him to purchase his own house; another said she really enjoyed being able to apply her math learning to a real-world arena.

Where Else Do We See This Kind of In-Depth, Integrated Exploration? 

Brown and RISD. As 8th Graders delved into their House of the Future project, we stumbled across an article from Brown University about a similar project students at Brown  are engaging in, along with students from RISD and the University of Applied Sciences Erfurt. Read about their Techstyle Haus adventure.

Stanford. In a previous blog, I referenced Stanford’s Design School, where students are using design to solve real world problems, gaining the kinds of skillsets our students absorb when they work collaboratively to build a giant pterodactyl or design a house of the future. Read the blog here.

Harvard. The November/December issue of Harvard Magazine was filled with articles and ads about how the university is focusing on discovery and shaping the future. One ad, “The Future is a Game Changer,” had a photo of Harvard stadium and the land surrounding it, along with the following copy:

The pace of innovation is accelerating as never before, and an explosion of knowledge and new technology has indelibly transformed society. At Harvard, we are devising solutions to the world’s most challenging problems using an unparalleled blend of innovation, science, business—interdisciplinary in nature and across boundaries.

This is why we are expanding a campus for Harvard’s next century that combines academics, business, athletics, arts and humanities, residential, social, and retail in one vibrant community…. We will meet the challenges of our time in inspired and creative ways—a place where bold ideas and imaginative ventures have the potential to change lives.

Choate Rosemary Hall. Last year, Dr. Alex Curtis, Choate's Headmaster, visited The Country School to speak about Choate’s effort to engage students in cross-curricular learning integrating math, science, technology, engineering, the arts, and humanities. Read about their major construction project designed to facilitate that effort in a recent Choate News article. (TCS alumna Liz Walbridge ’03, a current Choate English teacher, is on the committee tasked with writing a curriculum for Choate's new interdisciplinary center, which they are calling the i.d. Lab.)

Groton. At the Groton School, students have had the opportunity to engage in integrated STEM activities for some time, but, like Choate, the school recently launched a major building campaign to enhance facilities and allow for more cross-curricular activities in science, technology, engineering, and math.

The Country School. As Head of School at The Country School, it feels terrific to be in such good company. What these top universities and high schools are describing are exactly the kinds of activities our students have been engaged in for several years now. To some extent, these activities are what we have always done; the beauty of an independent school like The Country School is that—rather than stick to a rigid, pre-ordained format or have to focus on preparing our students to take a certain test—we are able to engage in exciting, integrated, hands-on learning.

The difference with our program today, though, is that like all of those excellent schools listed above, we have made this cross-curricular activity—which at TCS we call STEAM—a priority. We have purposefully set aside the time in students' and teachers' schedules, the space (two STEAM Labs), and the personnel (a STEAM coordinator and a team of remarkably creative, flexible, inspired teachers) to do so. We have engaged in professional development toward that end, and we are becoming a resource for other schools interested in advancing STEAM through our summer 21st Century Innovation Teacher Institute and periodic teacher workshops. 

As we head to spring break, I leave you with an image. As we all know, Mother Nature threw us some curveballs this winter, but Country School students showed they could turn those challenges into opportunities in true 21st century fashion. 

The other day, after our campus was buried in yet another foot of snow, we looked out the Farmhouse window and saw Reading Buddy teams working together to build a giant snow structure. Together, they figured out how to make the base of the structure wider so that it wouldn’t topple over, and then pairs of students, often one bigger and one smaller, ported chunks of snow to add to the structure. The result was a true feat of engineering and an example of collaboration, communication, and trial and error at its best. (It was also priceless to see the smiles on our students’ faces, even though by that time even the most playful among us had seen enough snow to last a winter, and then some.) The scene made me think of the 15 month old who is given a fancy toy for a present but finds much more joy and opportunity in the empty box.

Click here for more photos

When we return from spring break, I fervently hope that we return to warmer weather and no more snow. But I also know that if winter does choose to linger, we will find some remarkable, innovative things to do with that curveball. In the words of John Palfrey at Andover, I know our students will be able to "learn how to make something from nothing, how to scale something for greater impact as it succeeds, and how to fail gracefully and learn from our mistakes.”

Learn more at www.thecountryschool.org

What Do Stanford's Design School and The Country School Have in Common?

Originally posted by Laurie Bottiger, Head of School

Jan 16, 2014 12:59:08 PM

A few weeks ago, an article in The New York Times caught my eye, and as I walk around The Country School campus, it keeps bubbling to the surface. In “Solving Problems for Real World, Using Design” (The New York Times, December 19, 2013), reporter Nicole Perlroth writes about Stanford University’s D.school, where students are challenged to identify real world problems and then find solutions through tinkering, creating, and testing.

Among the successful solutions arrived at since the design school opened eight years ago: a sleeping bag to help reduce infant mortality, a way to resolve unreliable electricity and malnutrition, and a brace to combat clubfoot. The idea is to use design to make a lasting and significant difference in people’s lives, and Perlroth writes that the undertaking has made Stanford “the envy of universities around the world."

As Head of School at The Country School, I’m proud to say that something similar is taking place here as well - in our two STEAM Labs, in our art studio, in our science labs, and even in our regular classrooms. Our students may not yet have found a way to end infant mortality or combat malnutrition, but just give them time! 

Every day, Country School students, ranging in age from 3-14, engage in the same process that students at the D.school do. They identify problems that need fixing, they tinker and test, and ultimately they come to a solution. Here are a few recent examples:

In Louise Jackson’s Integrated Algebra/Geometry class, 8th Graders are designing houses for the year 2075, taking into account population growth, urbanization, energy efficiency, and future design trends. In a couple of weeks they will share their learning – including models of their houses – and present mini “Ted Talks” about their designs.

Fifth Graders recently finished a Rube Goldberg Design challenge in which individual teams of students had to design, build, and test a contraption capable of accomplishing a task using a simple machine such as levers, pulleys, inclined planes, wedge, and so forth. Challenges included Watering a Plant, Applying Hand Sanitizer, Shooting a Ball through a Hoop, Pressing an EASY Button, and Applying Toothpaste to a Toothbrush.

Over in 4th Grade, students have turned their year-long recycling project into a design challenge for their peers in PreSchool through Grade 5. They have challenged each grade to design and create a building out of all recycled materials. When the buildings are complete, they will be exhibited as part of a “Trash City” to help raise awareness about the problems of pollution and the need to recycle. In part, they were inspired by a recent visit to the Connecticut Trash Museum. The 4th Grade's recycling awareness design challenge comes on the heels of a similar awareness campaign by last year’s 4th Grade. Members of the Class of 2017 opted to make a movie, Recycle!, about the problem of trash and the need for recycling.

A few months ago, Kindergartners turned a discovery in The Country School garden into a multi-pronged design project of the culinary sort. When, just before the first frost, they noticed a surfeit of tomatillos in the school garden, they brainstormed about what they could do with the little green fruit. They tasted them, tested them, and tinkered in the kitchen. Eventually, with the help of their teachers and parent volunteers, they produced a delicious salsa verde.

Kindergartners bottled their creation (complete with TCS labels) and sold it during the school’s Fall Festival. They opted to donate the proceeds from sales to two worthy causes, one of which may have helped alleviate hunger, while the other could end up underwriting similar design challenges in the future. The nonprofits they selected: The Connecticut Food Bank and The Country School’s Annual Giving Campaign.

Even our robotics teams are in on the action. When, in preparation for the First Lego League Robotics Competition, members of the Wise Guys Robotics team had to come up with an innovative solution to a problem related to the theme of this year’s competition – Nature’s Fury – they brainstormed about something they knew firsthand. They thought back to last winter’s big blizzard, and one of the students interviewed a Madison town official about what could have a made a difference to the town in terms of recovery. Their solution: a plow which would scoop up snow, turn it in to water, and empty the water into a safe, designated area. The students were so articulate and convincing when they presented their idea at the state Robotics Championship (they were among 51 teams in Connecticut to qualify) that they were awarded a $200 cash prize from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

We’ve all heard U.S. education officials lamenting the fact that Americans are falling behind in the areas of math and science. According to the U.S. Department of Education, just 16 percent of American high school seniors are proficient in math and interested in working in STEM fields. Among those who do study science, technology, engineering, and math in college, only about half end up working in STEM fields.That obviously has implications for how our country will be able to innovate in the future. And so, in 2011, President Obama called on the United States to invest in innovation. ”We know what it takes to compete for the jobs and industries of our time,” he said. “We need to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world."

At least at The Country School, I’m happy to report that innovation, education, and building are alive and well. Indeed, our students give me great hope for the future.

Learn more at www.thecountryschool.org.