The Monroe Composite Squadron, Civil Air Patrol has awarded Waterloo Elementary School a grant totaling nearly $4,600 to help support the schools’ STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) program, the only program of its kind in a Monroe County elementary school.
“We are extremely pleased to present this Aerospace Education STEM grant to Waterloo Elementary School,” said Major Jeffrey L. Hutchison of the Civil Air Patrol. “Waterloo and its STEAM program are extremely deserving of our support. We at the CAP are confident that Waterloo’s students will realize a tremendous benefit from this support and we are happy to provide it.” The award was announced in ceremony at Saturday’s CAP Aerospace Day at Monroe Custer Airport. “Our cooperative activities with Waterloo and other schools represent the bulk of CAP’s local external outreach,” said Capt. George Low, Squadron Aerospace Education Officer.
Back in the 2013-2014 school year, the Waterloo staff decided – after a very thorough study – that it wanted to offer a STEAM-focused curriculum to its students starting in the 2014-2015 school year.
“We really appreciate the support of the CAP,” said Mrs. Meghan Gibson, principal, Waterloo Elementary School. “This grant will enhance our STEAM experience for our students by providing each grade band of teachers with high quality Engineering is Elementary (EIE) kits which were developed by the Museum of Science in Boston. These kits align well with our state curriculum across each grade level and they will blend well with our program.”
The EIE kits made available with the CAP sub-grant, provide read-aloud texts about a real-life scenario that student engineers work to solve. Information about the real-life type of engineering that would be used to solve the problem is provided in the kits. In addition, the kits include materials that young engineers would need to solve the problem. A variety of resources for teachers also is included. The Monroe Squadron submitted a grant request as a Project Lead the Way/Walmart Foundation initiative.
Mrs. Gibson said initially the staff aims to see an observable increase in persistence in problem solving and that the students will gain knowledge about the different types of engineering disciplines. They also want their students to experience working in collaborative groups, as engineers do, and to understand Aerospace Education and related career opportunities.
“Our hope is that students will become interested in these areas which will lead them into post-secondary education, career opportunities and a chance to land a great job when they become adults.” Mrs. Gibson said.
Among the topics made possible by the grant are designing such products as solar ovens, lighting systems, parachutes and plant packages, and engineering rockets and rovers, earthquake-resistant materials and aid-drop packages.
The CAP is the auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force and has three main missions in serving America – Aerospace Education (AE), Cadet programs for youths aged 12 to 20; and Emergency Services for disaster relief, search and rescue, and homeland security. The AE mission, in which Waterloo now is involved, is to educate, inspire and instill an appreciation for and understanding of aerospace in our world.