News from STEM Rec
School year 2018 - 19



Dear Franklin Parents,


Welcome to the new school year. My name is Cindy Trueblood and I am the STEM Rec Coordinator for Franklin Discovery Academy. We have some new and exciting things going on in STEM this year and I am thrilled to be a part of it. New people have joined our exceptional team of educators and we look forward to providing your children with even more enriching and engaging challenges.  


Remember, our door is always open (literally) and we appreciate parent involvement in any form. Below you will find ways you can contribute.


We am always available to discuss ways to improve STEM Rec. If you have ideas, questions or concerns, please contact me or Annette via email at cindy.trueblood@franklindiscovery.org or annette.fullenwider@franklindiscovery.org or call the school at 801-785-6500. We would love to chat!

What is STEM Rec?


STEM Rec is a unique and exciting learning environment where students have the freedom to choose which activities they want to participate in. As educators, our goal is to empower each student to explore subjects that interest them by providing an environment rich in materials and learning opportunities. Their job is to take “control” of their own education and become responsible learners.


To accomplish this, challenges will be offered in the following subjects: (STEM) science, technology, engineering and math, social studies, literacy, art, music and wellness. We provide up to 6 focused, Station Master-led challenges (explained below) weekly. Additionally, students can participate in self-directed challenges found in our new “self-directed” section of STEM.


Focused challenges conducted by Station Masters.  
Focused challenges are small group activities (8-10 students) led by an adult who has expertise in their subject area. All challenges include hands-on activities to make the lessons fun and engaging. A reading and writing component will be added to challenges when possible. Focused challenges change weekly so there will be a plenty of exciting learning opportunities for students to choose from.  A list of the upcoming challenges will be posted to the blog each Friday so you can review them with your child and discuss which challenges would be most interesting to them.


Self-directed challenges
Self-directed challenges are available in the new “Self Directed” section of STEM Rec.  If students prefer to work alone or create their own small groups, they can. Self-directed challenges are created by Station Masters and change continually so students always have a variety of options to choose from. Students will always be able to find age appropriate math and literacy challenges as well a multitude of challenges in the other disciples. You should never hear your students say, “There’s nothing to do in STEM Rec”.


Parent Volunteers
There are a variety of ways parents can volunteer or help out in STEM Rec.  Elementary age students LOVE seeing their parents at school and in STEM Rec, we do too!! PARENTS ARE ALWAYS WELCOME!!


Drop In
No need to coordinate with us, just drop in and spend as much time as you can afford.  Stay for 30 minutes or several hours. It might be fun to volunteer when your child is in STEM Rec and work with them to complete a self-directed challenge or assist the Station Master as they participate in small group activity. Children grow so fast (trust me, I raised 5).  Spend as much time as you can with them while they are little. You will never get this time back.


Prepare Materials
If you are a mom with toddlers at home and find it difficult to come into the school to complete your volunteer hours, we have good news!  STEM Rec is in constant need of volunteers to help prepare materials. Cut, color, and collate things at home while the baby naps. If you want to take more initiative, create a challenge!! Parents did this last year and students were so happy and proud to share a challenge they helped create. Contact Cindy if you are interested.  


Become an Honorary Station Master and prepare a challenge
For parents who have expertise in specific areas, we encourage you to come and share your knowledge with our students. Become an honorary “station master” and prepare a focused challenge.  Present your challenge to a small group (or groups) of students. This would need to be coordinated, so contact Cindy if you are interested. We urge parents to participate in the Honorary Station Master Program.  Sharing what you know will make our school a better and more interesting institution of learning.


Run an after school club
Monday - Thursday we run after school clubs in STEM from 3:15 - 4:00. Clubs change every term so the commitment would be about 6 weeks.  As a parent you could work with a small group of students to teach them a new skill or craft. We would especially love to have some STEM related clubs. Are there any parents that could run our Lego League?  If four days is too big of a commitment, just do one day a week. Some of the past clubs we have offered are: drama, dance, chess, science, art, ASL, snap circuits, coding and sports to name a few. What are your talents? Come and share them with the children.


Service project
Per our charter, service projects are an important part of our student’s curriculum.  If any parents are interested in heading up a service project, STEM Rec would be a perfect place to organize and implement it.  Some ideas that come to mind: teaching a small group of students to knit and knitting scarfs to send to refuges, making wooden toys to give to Toys for Tots for Christmas, creating quilts to take to the hospital for preemies.  Again, just let me know if you are interested.


Contribute Materials
We are in constant need of materials as we have 500+ students passing through STEM Rec each day!! Parents can contribute material in lieu of volunteer hours. Every $10 of materials equal one hour of volunteering.  Here are some ideas:


White Card Stock
Pencils
Erasers
Color Pencils
Markers
Crayons
Glue - All kinds (you cannot believe how much we go through)
Tape - All kinds (we go through a lot of masking tape)
Paper towels
Clorox wipes
Sandwich bags
Tissues
AA Batteries
Hand sanitizer
Pipe Cleaners
Paper Cups
Straws
For our makerspace (engineering and design challenges) we will be asking for recyclables as we need them.  Things we may need: paper towel and toilet paper tubes (empty) fruit and yogurt cups, cereal boxes, metal washers, empty spools, plastic spoons, egg cartons, cups, bubble wrap, etc.  

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