Educators and administrators at the Palm Beach State College Loxahatchee Groves campus for STEAM day.
Palm Beach State College’s Loxahatchee Groves campus celebrated a new partnership with Loxahatchee Groves Elementary School by holding its first STEAM Day on March 21. The hope is that one evening of public education celebration will result in months of innovation in Palm Beach County classrooms and long-term benefits for kids.
More than 50 primary school teachers attended the professional development day, which featured science, technology, engineering, art and math activities offered by instructors from PBSC’s Loxahatchee Groves and Belle Glade campuses. Also at the program were Richard Myerson, the principal of Loxahatchee Groves Elementary School; Vivian Green, the instructional superintendent of the School District of Palm Beach County; Marcia Andrews, a member of the West Lake Education Committee; and Mary McNicholas, a liaison from the Loxahatchee Groves government.
“This partnership is a great extension of the college’s longstanding collaboration with the Palm Beach County School District. It will not only help the elementary school meet some of its STEAM goals, but it also helps expand awareness of the Lox Groves campus and our programs. It is a win-win, especially for students,” said Kimberly Lancaster, the dean of the Loxahatchee Groves campus.
Demonstrations on an Anatomage Table, an augmented reality platform called Magic Leap, and a Syndaver, a synthetic human cadaver, were among the activities led by professors Gregory Maxwell, Jeanne Murcia, Vetaley Stashenko and Candace Walker. Instructors also used zSpace 3D technology to explore the Virtual Anatomy Laboratory and learned STEAM concepts they could implement in their elementary school classrooms.
Dr. Vetaley Stashenko showcases the anatomage table to instructors at Loxahatchee Groves Elementary School.
“The engaging professional development on this day allowed our teachers to expand their toolbox of STEAM activities to help our students deepen their knowledge across curriculums,” said Juliana Bradley, an assistant principal at Loxahatchee Groves Elementary.
She noted the pressure students are feeling as state testing approaches. The training on STEAM learning opportunities will help teachers “push their students’ critical thinking skills while taking a break from the pressures of preparing for the test.”
Walker, an associate professor who teaches science at PBSC, said educators at all levels can bond over how hard teaching is. “To have opportunities to pour encouragement into each other, spark creativity and remember why we fell in love with teaching in the first place is priceless.”
The college’s cooperation with the elementary school began in February, and they hope to make STEAM Day an annual campus event.
