St. Mary School Enhances Science, Math Curriculum

Students at St. Mary School in Buffalo Grove will have opportunities to build their own clocks and other devices under a new STEM program at the school designed to give children a deeper understanding of math and science.

STEM — an acronym for science, technology, engineering and mathematics — is a curriculum that emphasizes those subjects to help students acquire new skills by constructing robots with LEGOs or various other devices with K’NEX materials. 

Students in kindergarten through eighth grade will visit the STEM lab with their homerooms twice a week. There, they will follow computerized lessons as they work on specific projects — such as building a clock with working hands — over the course of several days, St. Mary School Principal Nikki Raftery said.

The labs are designed to challenge students and help them develop the problem-solving skills that will benefit them throughout their lives, she said.

“If [adults] are doing something and it’s not working, we can’t just put our pencils down and wait for an adult. We have to figure out why it’s not working,” Raftery said.

STEM students will develop electronic portfolios of their work. They’ll also use cameras to document the steps they took, so they can look back at where problems occurred.

“It’s a very, very integrated curriculum,” Rafterty said.

The STEM program is considered a “special” class, much like gym or art, she said. Students will continue to attend their traditional math and science classes. 

St. Mary School parents were introduced to the program Aug. 20 following a ribbon-cutting ceremony in the new lab.

David Schwabbe of Arlington Heights, whose four children attend St. Mary School, said he likes that the STEM lab will give students chances to teach themselves.

“I think it’s great. It’s giving them an opportunity to do a different type of learning,” he said.

“The kids are very excited about it,” he added. 

Beata Czaplinski of Arlington Heights, whose son will be a sixth-grader this year, described the program as “exciting and new.”

“The problem solving, they are going to use for the future, so I think it will be extremely helpful,” she said.

The STEM lab was purchased through fundraising efforts and donations by parents and other supporters.