STEM Innovation Plan

Fundraising Kick-off at the Paddle Raising (#20)

During the 2013 Live Action Auction

The Vision

For years, national educators have called for an increase of education

in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics
(STEM). The Southeast Michigan region is now being recognized as a
hotbed of STEM innovation and design. Here at the Academy, we recognize the opportunities that enhanced STEM programming and spaces
could bring to our students as we supplement our existing STEM curriculum.
It is our belief that individual experiences learning with hands-on applications of science, technology, engineering, and math spark understanding, innovation, and passion for particular areas of interest. And,
in order to provide these opportunities, we need to invest in the resources and professional development necessary to support them.
A STEM committee of teachers, administrators, and parents has been convened to assess the current state of STEM
activities in the curriculum and to identify methods to expand and enhance them. Central to its efforts to expand
STEM opportunities is the creation of programming and spaces dedicated to supporting guided exploration, deep
understanding, collaboration, and problem-solving.

The Plan

The STEM Innovation Plan consists of three parts an Innovation & Design Center (IDC), a garden classroom, and
a STEM professional development fund.
INNOVATION & DESIGN CENTER (IDC)
Located on the main floor of the Main School next to the Lower Gym, the Innovation & Design Center (IDC) is envisioned as a discovery space and tinker lab for extended, hands-on learning from Kindergarten through grade 8. Here,
students will be able to create, model and design to turn abstract concepts into real-world applications as they undertake
STEM challenges and apply new knowledge and skills.
Learning activities, scaled to the students ages, capabilities, and interest, will
provide curricular tie-ins and extensions.
Lab tables on wheels will allow for flexible learning configurations and the
space needs of the activity will drive the
labs set-up. Current learning technologies, generously funded through the
2012 Action Auction and integrated
over this past school year, will enhance
students capacities and open them to a
world of possibilities.
Proposed programming for the IDC includes:
Robotics Lab stocked with the latest
in command-and-control technologies
that will allow students in grades 1-8 to
design, build, and program their own robots. Lego robotics materials are easy to
use and reconfigure, allowing for a wide-range of design possibilities. A robotics unit has already been introduced in
grades 4/5, and funding for this program will allow us to grow the size and scope of the overall program.
3D Desktop Printer allows students to create models from extruded ABS plastic that are fully functional as they
emerge from the printer. It will allow them to fabricate inventions of their own design using Computer Aided Design
(CAD) and be able to see and touch the results. Want to understand how a simple transmission works? Design, print
and assemble a functioning transmission. Download an MRI and engineer a working replica of a hip joint to fully
model the biomechanics of the human body.

Mobile Learning Labs teachers will be able to hold class in the IDC, in their classrooms, or spread out in the
Lower Gym. They will be stocked with the variety of materials necessary for class activities related to math, science,
and engineering. Themes may include energy, indirect measurement, spatial relationships through orienteering, and
many more, helping to put discovery in students hands.
DC Microgrid to power many of the activities in the IDC. A DC Microgrid is a renewable energy system that produces energy from a solar array and charging station, and one is being donated by the Savage family and Nextek Power
Systems as a cornerstone gift for the IDC. The microgrid will allow students to study renewable energy, understand
energy production and distribution through a monitoring station, modify safe Class 2 electrical circuits, and investigate
how STEM undertakings can solve larger social problems such as access to clean, renewable energy.
GARDEN CLASSROOM
The creation of a garden classroom in the space
between the Main School and the Tracy Fieldhouse will foster student interest from Early
School grade 8 in the environment and ecology.
It is a direct link to the schools early history of
self-sufficient agricultural production and environmental study as well as current urban farming
practices.
Working in the garden will help students develop
a lifelong relationship with the environment, promote environmental stewardship, showcase the
complex and diverse nature of biological ecosystems, and illustrate the role of humans in shaping
the natural world. Gardening teaches perseverance,
reinforces the value of hard work, and produces
the fruits of careful planning and cultivation with
visible and tangible results.
Intentionally small in the beginning, the garden space will be designed and developed over several years by students
and teachers with the assistance of adult volunteers from the Academy community of parents, grandparents, alumni
and friends. The space will utilize raised beds to facilitate student planting and tending of the garden, with irrigation
added as needed. Portions of the garden will be dedicated to grade-level plots tied to particular curriculum units
such as a Three Sisters Garden for the study of Native American culture and the teaching of an intercropping system
while also providing a true farm to fork perspective on the food consumed in our cafeteria.
The garden classroom will include several features:
Wireless Weather Station to measure barometric pressure, temperature, humidity, rainfall, wind speed, and direction.
Gazebo and picnic tables providing outdoor class meeting space and informal areas for students and teachers to
gather.
Solar Array part of the donated DC microgrid that will collect the suns energy to power the IDC and teach students
about the potential of solar power.
Composter to make the phrase reduce, reuse, recycle real through practical application
STEM PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUND
Rapid advances in science, technology, engineering, and math and the instructional techniques and activities that best
support top-notch STEM programming requires the school to fund the professional development of the faculty in
these areas. The creation of a STEM Professional Development Fund will foster a community of learning in the
STEM disciplines and ensure that our teachers are at the forefront of STEM instruction. Through professional development, teachers will become better equipped to incorporate these principles throughout the curriculum. This
training will provide faculty with the means not only to create and lead the proposed programs, but also to continually
develop them for the future.

Implementation

The Academys general operating budget cannot accommodate the resources required to enhance the current STEM
curriculum to encompass these plans. A STEM program fundraising initiative will kick off at the paddle raising during
the Live Action Auction on May 11, 2013.
Program implementation will be phased over time and is dependent upon funds raised and designated for this plan.
The STEM committee and GPA administrators will determine the order of introduction of the specific elements of
each program to maximize the benefit for the students, curriculum, and faculty. Funds in excess of the goal will go
to support additional program development and future operations in the areas of science, technology, engineering,
and mathematics at the Academy.
STEM Innovation Plan
The Grosse Pointe Academy
Innovation & Design Center (IDC)

$50,000

Start-up costs include:

Robotics
WeDo Robotics Kits (Grades 2 to 4)
MindStorm EV3 (Grades 4 to 6)
Tetrix (Grades 7 and 8)

$17,500

Desktop 3-D Printer

$ 4,500
MakerBot Replicator 2X 3-D Printer and iMac Workstation
Instructional Resources
$15,500
Mobile Labs Activity Carts and STEM materials (4)
Reconfigurable Demonstration Tables (6)
HD Capable Projector/Document Camera/Video Camera
Room Refurbishing
Paint, carpet, lighting

$ 7,500

DC Micro Grid Solar Power System

provided by Nextek and the Savage Family

Donated

Garden Classroom

$25,000

Start-up costs include:

Garden

$11,750
Raised Beds
Irrigation
Plantings
Garden Tools

Outdoor Learning Space

Gazebo
Picnic Tables (4)

$7,500

Weather Station
Davis Vantage Pro2 Weather Station

$750

Composter

$500

STEM Professional Development Fund

$25,000

Three-year commitment to STEM Professional Development

including workshops, conferences, collaborative projects, etc.