The vision of Austintown Local Schools is to offer a united community with a proud legacy and a progressive approach to education. We prepare our students by providing an inspiring education with a focus on a future of unlimited possibilities. One way of extending progressive educational initiatives is through our many STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) programs and extracurricular activities starting in kindergarten through graduation. These programs provide a project-based and student-centered learning environment with a focus on 21st century skills to give our students skills to ensure success that lasts a lifetime.
Our youngest Falcons experience a variety of extracurricular activities and lessons that focus on STEM education and 21st Century Skills. We offer FIRST® LEGO® League Jr. (K-3) and FIRST® LEGO® League (4-8), both are extracurricular early education programs intended to introduce students to robotics and programming concepts.
Students also can participate in the National Inventors Hall of Fame sponsored, Club Invention and its complementary summer program, Camp Invention. These project-based learning programs engage students and spark interest in STEM fields.
Students at the middle school can experience STEM to varying degrees from individual elective courses, self-contained complete immersion programs, and several extracurricular activities. All students complete various modules using Project Lead the Way (PLTW), a not-for-profit organization that develops STEM curricula for elementary, middle, and high schools. Some modules include Design & Modeling, focusing on computer-based modeling program and 3D printing and Energy & the Environment, concentrating onrenewable energy and energy conservation.
Students also have the option of participating in the Austintown Middle School STEM Program, the only self-contained middle school program of its kind in Mahoning county. This means that students are engaged in hands-on, stimulating interdisciplinary projects for most of their school day. The core subjects such as Math, Science, Social Studies, and Language Arts are blended together within the STEM curriculum. Each STEM class consists of four PLTW units, which are strategically selected to align with the common core standards for each grade level. AMS STEM students also compete annually in the STEM Gravity Racing Challenge held at Derby Downs in Akron, Ohio and each spring launch a weather balloon into space.
Extracurricular activities exist for students to engage in STEM skills outside of the school day. FIRST® LEGO® League robotics and the Junior STEM Program, an afterschool mentorship program where 7th and 8th grade STEM students teach their younger peers skills they learn in the AMS STEM program allow students to experience and share their STEM knowledge outside of the classroom.
Students at the high school experience STEM through a variety of ways similar to Austintown Middle School with students participating in elective courses, intensive all day programs and extracurricular activities. Some of the STEM electives available to students are 3D Design & Additive Manufacturing and a comprehensive series of Advanced Placement Computer Science courses where upon completion students may receive college credit.
The high school also has an intensive all-day STEM program strategically designed as a continuation of the skills learned in the middle school program. This program focuses on broad-based engineering and computer science with the integration of STEM concepts that are also imbedded into the core curriculum. Core teachers, such as English and Science teachers are all trained in specific Project Lead the Way courses, such as Principles of Engineering, Computer Integrated Manufacturing, and Engineering Design & Development, the latter course is a senior Capstone course where students complete an internship with a local business or community member.
Students can also participate in various after school and optional STEM activities, such as FIRST® LEGO® League, VEX Robotics Competition, and STEM Ambassadors, a peer mentorship program expanding knowledge and skills to students in the elementary and intermediate grade levels.
For more information about STEM initiatives and programs at Austintown Local Schools contact Danielle Chine, District (K-12) STEM Instructional Coach.