MMS STEM bridge building competition 2023!
Students have worked hard to use the engineering design process to design and construct their bridges.
The bridge score is based upon the mass held divided by the mass of the bridge, so every popsicle stick counts!
STEM Opportunity for 6th - 12th grade students!
About the Program:
The NC Flight Crew program is an exciting opportunity for girls and non-binary students in grades 6-12 who want to explore STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) while serving their community and developing their own leadership skills.
The NC Flight Crew program is your ticket to an incredible STEM adventure! This program offers participants hands-on STEM experiences, leadership development, STEM career exploration, and the chance to give back and make a real impact in your local community.
Apply to Join the NC Flight Crew! (applications open from Sept 15th-October 10th)
Open to girls and non-binary students in grades 6-12 with an interest in STEM and in becoming a community leader.
Complete the Application Form here by October 10th
https://ncafterschool.org/nc-flight-crew/
Mountain View Intermediate School students have been exploring the outdoors and learning about their natural home through the new Outdoor Explorations course. These students have been learning about vertebrates and invertebrates, the classification of living things, native fish (fish printing), Leave No Trace principles (https://lnt.org/), insects (photo of a student demonstrating the parts of an insect), and spiders!
Macon Early College teacher Bryan Byrne and his students are learning about data collection! They have just installed their new weather station and will be using this information to learn more about the local weather! Mr. Byrne's Earth and Environmental class and Biology students will be using this information as part of their local studies but it is also now part of the Weather Underground database - citizen science at work!
https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/KNCFRANK251
Migration Celebration is in full swing this week! Over 4,000 Macon County 6th-grade students have participated in this program over the last 13 years. Students spent the whole day learning from scientists and researchers about migrating birds and monarch butterflies. They participated in citizen science through Monarch Watch. They learned how local people and the Cherokee would prepare for winter and how they utilized natural resources to make functional and beautiful baskets and other vessels. Finally, they experienced our beautiful home through the stories and expertise of local master naturalists!
Thank you to the Highlands Biological Foundation and the National Environmental Education Foundation (US Forest Service STEM Grant) for providing the funding to make this possible again this year and to Mainspring Conservation Trust who prepare and provide access to Tessentee Bottomland Preserve for our students!
Thank you to our 2023 presenters -
Highlands Biological Station: Jason Love and Patrick Brannon (https://highlandsbiological.org),
Mainspring Conservation Trust (https://www.mainspringconserves.org),
Bigelow's Botanical Excursions (https://bigelowbotanicalexcursions.com),
Blue Ridge Bird Observatory (https://bigbaldbanding.org) and
Mary Thompson with Qualla Arts & Crafts (https://www.authenticallycherokee.com/artists/mary-thompson & https://quallaartsandcrafts.org)
Experiential and Outdoor Education M.S. student Kayler DeBrew from WCU
Thank you also to all the Macon County teachers who enthusiastically participate in this program each year and to their young scientists & naturalists!
STEM Explorers is exploring STEM through exciting television shows across the country!
https://frameofminds.org/nc-stem-explorers/
Thank you to the Macon Gem and Mineral Society of Franklin, NC for supporting our teachers! Ms. Carlson (MVI) and Mr. Byrne (MEC) both received generous scholarships to purchase materials and take students on field trips to learn more about our native rocks and minerals. This support allows teachers to engage students in hands-on activities and experiences in our community! For more information about this organization, please go to https://www.fgmm.org/, and thank you so much for your support!
Today was a great success! Students hiked 2.5 miles and gained 580 feet in elevation hiking on the Appalachian Trail! Thank you to the Nantahala Hiking Club for joining our group and our happy hiking advisors Mr. Burns and Mr. Kolodzik for leading our group! This was the first outing of our new Macon Outdoor Club which has 22 members in our first year! Look for more adventures coming soon!
Coming Soon! Outdoor Club - Hiking, camping, biking, rock climbing, horseback riding, fishing, archery, and much more! Students who are interested in joining the Macon Outdoor Club must apply by September 8th. Please complete the Google Form and you will be notified if you have been accepted by email. If you have questions, please email Jennifer Love at jennifer.love@macon.k12.nc.us. This club is open to any 8th - 12th grade student in Macon County Schools. We will meet once a month at Franklin High School for our club meeting (these can be attended virtually) and take one field trip each month on a Saturday. This program is free and the cost is covered by a grant through the NC Heritage Program.
Registration Link
Outdoor Club Flyer
Summer Camp Opportunity at SCC in Sylva - register by July 1.
The state has recognized Macon STEM as a "Portrait of a Graduate" exemplar! Our robotics program is just the beginning! Our 5th - 8th grade STEM program at Mountain View Intermediate School and Macon Middle School, as well as our K-4 elementary STEAM classes at East Franklin, Cartoogechaye, and Iotla Elementary Schools, allow our students to practice durable skills needed to be successful in any career.
-Adaptability
-Collaboration
-Communication
-Critical Thinking
-Empathy
-Learner's Mindset
-Personal Responsibility
A group of 13 Macon County teachers from various grade levels and schools have been participating in a book study this semester. The book is "Grading for Equity" by Joe Feldman. This virtual book study explores what grading is, why it matters, and how equitable grading practices can transform schools and classrooms. Our last meeting was an in-person conversation about how to implement equitable grading practices. We partnered with Open Way Learning (OWL) to guide us through the conversation and they provided us with invaluable resources.
Thank you to our teachers who are ready to challenge themselves and evaluate their own practices. We hope to lead this book study again in the Fall 2023. For more information about the book, go to https://gradingforequity.org
Five Macon County Elementary teachers attended the Building Engineers Conference in Pinehurst this past week. Macon County has been accepted into Building Engineers Cohort 2. This team will be working together to create engaging STEM activities which will be integrated into their math and literacy classes (K-4). These activities will then be presented across the district and shared across North Carolina as part of this open-source initiative. We also learned more about the Portrait of a Graduate - for more information, go to https://www.dpi.nc.gov/districts-schools/operation-polaris/portrait-graduate.
Thank you to our teachers who are preparing our students with the skills they need for a bright future.
Teachers and students at Union Academy and Macon Early College have been working on their mission and vision and learning about project-based learning with Open Way Learning (OWL) this year. We can continue this work next year thanks to a two-year grant through the Dogwood Health Trust. We are working together to strengthen our schools.
Macon County elementary students are getting an up-close look at metamorphosis! They are hatching butterflies and learning about their life cycle. Thank you to our teachers who are making science engaging for our students!
Students in Macon Early College's Appalachian Literature, History, and Culture class explored the Bartram Trail with local botanist Adam Bigelow, who took the students on an adventure through the woods, explaining to them the medicinal uses of many plants in Southern Appalachia. The students also discovered forageable plants historically used by both the Cherokee and later settlers. Thank you to the Dogwood Health Trust for supporting Project-Based Learning in our District!
Students in Macon Early College's Appalachian Literature, History, and Culture visited a local farm to learn about sustainability and agriculture in western North Carolina. Using locally harvested strawberries from their visit, the students also engaged in hands-on experiential learning, producing a traditional strawberry jam. Their experiences at H&H Farm and Cowee School were compared to traditional Appalachian farming explored through assigned texts. Thank you to the Dogwood Heath Trust for supporting our Project Based Learning initiatives. Thank you also to Kim Terrell from the NC Cooperative Extension for teaching our students about canning.
Wish us luck! The Macon Tracks Soap Box Derby team is heading out today to compete in the NC Gravity Games. Thank you to Mr. Wilkinson for writing the NC Science Festival Grant that is financially supporting this trip! Mr. Greenwood in carpentry and Mr. Wilkinson in STEM have been working with the team to engineer and construct winning cars!
This is the way everyone should learn about physics! Thank you to Mr. Wilkinson, STEM teacher at Macon Middle School, for making this happen - this includes grant writing to help offset the cost to our students. Thank you to the NC Heritage Foundation Go Grant for your financial support and the Highlands Aerial Park for working with us to provide this experience.
To see our students overcome fears, build relationships, and stretch their abilities while studying real-world engineering and physics was amazing.
Macon County Schools has Rocket Fever! Students had a chance to watch the SpaceX (https://www.spacex.com/) Starship Flight Test this morning and witnessed how rocket scientists use the Engineering Design Process in real life - test, collect data, and re-design!
Ms. Jones's class in Nantahala was excited to watch it LIVE!
Mr. Wilkinson (Macon Middle STEM) has been taking advantage of the excellent launching weather we have been having and the students have been launching rockets with air. They have been manipulating the variables of angle and pressure to see how far they can get their rocket to travel.
