WHEN THE COVID-19 pandemic hit New Hampshire last spring and school districts across the state shifted to remote learning status, some school officials feared the impact the move might have on STEAM Ahead NH at Manchester High School West.
Turns out even a pandemic can’t derail the popular program, though it did slow it down a bit.
“Our schools need to adapt to the demands of the community, to the demands of the world,” said West High principal Richard Dichard. “And STEAM is one of those programs that, from its inception really, started to think outside the box, to do things the way we should be doing them. We can’t wait until we get back at it in person, but we’ll keep plugging along.”
Since the summer of 2014, Manchester High School West has been the site of the birth and development of STEAM Ahead NH. The idea was launched when local business owners Jeremy Hitchcock of Dyn and Nick Soggu of SilverTech, both graduates of Manchester schools, were inspired to support the creation of a program focused on the STEM fields. They worked with former mayor Ted Gatsas, who suggested including the arts to include the creative thinking aspect often missing in STEM initiatives — traditionally geared toward science, technology, engineering and math.
The goal of STEAM Ahead NH is to build upon the partnerships between the school district and business community to provide the opportunity for students to graduate from high school with literacy in key technical areas, saving students and their parents a year of college tuition costs.
The laboratory/academy-based program includes internship opportunities through local cultural institutions and businesses, while taking advantage of the technology research and development resources. Credits are earned through a variety of opportunities including concurrent high school and college credit courses, college courses on the college campus and/or high school campus, online and internships in community-based businesses and cultural institutions.
Through this partnership, high school students are provided the opportunity to earn up to a full year of college credit while they are in high school at no cost. Credits are earned in a variety of ways. High school courses are aligned with college courses and taught by master’s-level teachers, with students receiving both high school and college credit for the successful completion of these courses.
Mastering the five ‘Cs’
Dichard said it comes down to the five ‘Cs’ in life.
“If they can do those five ‘Cs’ they have a pretty good opportunity to do well in life,” Dichard said. “A kid that can communicate, a kid that can collaborate, a kid that can critically think and solve a problem, a kid that can be creative and think outside the box, and a kid that’s just a good citizen. Ask any employer — you’re going to hire that person right away.”
Dichard said while the STEAM Ahead’s engineering class is full, overall the number of students participating is down — thanks in part to COVID-19.
“The issue with COVID is we weren’t able to do a good job with recruiting,” Dichard said. “The week that we went out remote (last spring), the following week we were scheduled to go into the schools and do our recruiting. We had students and faculty lined up to go into the middle schools. We weren’t able to do the same recruiting efforts, so the incoming class is a little smaller.”
Dichard said he hopes to establish a feeder program from Middle School at Parkside in the near future. The current feeder system draws students from McLaughlin Middle School.
Learning remotely has impacted STEAM Ahead.
“The engineering teacher has asked us to get kits, so we can send home kits and the kids can work on stuff,” said Dichard. “They pick them up and then he’ll work them through those kits. The COVID-19 situation has required us to think outside the box on virtually everything we do, and I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing. We needed to be ready for this, and we are learning a lot along with the students.”
A 2017 study conducted by researchers at the University of New Hampshire showed students who participate in Manchester’s STEAM Ahead program have higher grade-point averages than students in traditional learning environments.
To examine how participation in STEAM Ahead impacted students’ academic performance, the grade-point averages (GPA) and preliminary scholastic aptitude test (PSAT) scores for students taking part in STEAM Ahead and students in the traditional learning environment were compared using secondary academic records.
According to the study results, STEAM Ahead students had a higher mean GPA for both freshmen and sophomores. Out of a 4.0 scale, freshmen students in the traditional learning environment had a mean GPA score of 1.76, while freshmen students participating in STEAM Ahead had a mean GPA score of 2.57.
Sophomore students in the traditional learning environment had a mean GPA score of 1.59 while sophomore students participating in STEAM Ahead had a mean GPA score of 2.31.
Improving test scores
The second measure used to examine students’ academic performance was sophomore students’ PSAT scores. PSAT scores were available only for sophomore students who had opted to complete the exam. The study results show the mean PSAT score for students participating in STEAM Ahead was 115 points higher than that of students in the traditional learning environment, out of 1,520 possible points.
The research also found that students who participate in STEAM Ahead had fewer days tardy or absent when compared with students in the traditional learning environment.
“The data on the program continues to be through the roof in terms of engagement,” said Dichard. “Those kids that are opting in are doing great. They’re going to amazing schools, their attendance is great, they’re engaged. The project-based approaches, the life-skills approach that the courses take, kids are actually engaged and interested in what they’re doing.”
Dichard said they’ve added a few courses recently to the end of the STEAM line, such as biotechnology.
Last year, Jacob McClelland became the first Harbor Freight Fellow in New England, when he completed an internship at Werner Mazda in Manchester. The program offers apprenticing experiences with professional trades persons at their businesses.
“It helped me see the options I have and it showed me what I should look for when I need to get better, like colleges and trade school,” said McClelland. “It improved my hands-on and listening skills, and made my love and passion for my trade grow even more than it was before.”
Such programs help both students and businesses, Dichard said.
“The business gets an intern, there’s a stipend involved, and all the learning is done outside the school walls,” said Dichard. “This kind of program is going to explode, I think. It’s almost like the employer is grooming their own employee from scratch.”
