LAKEWOOD, Ohio — Lakewood middle schoolers are learning skills that could give them a head start on future careers.
According to the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) are growing at a rate six times faster than other occupations. The Lakewood City School District is hoping to bolster that future workforce.
Courses offered at the district’s middle schools are teaching students the practical application of STEM concepts. In a green architecture course, seventh graders are learning basic skills, like scale and measurement, along with a professional-level computer-aided design (CAD) program.
“I think it’s really important to expose them now to help them see what [careers] may be available. We’re also preparing these kids for careers that don’t even exist yet,” said Alison Hinesman, a STEM teacher at Garfield Middle School.
The day before winter break, students at Garfield and Harding Middle Schools presented their final projects to their peers. After learning the applicable concepts, the seventh graders were tasked with designing a home built out of four shipping containers.
“To make the layout, we used these tiles to represent the material we were using. And we put that sketch into a website called Revit,” said Lillian Lipowski, a seventh-grade student at Harding Middle School.
Pairs of students hosted an “open house” to showcase their designs to the class.
“We have a lot of natural lighting, a lot of windows in the house, we have solar panels. We used recycled components, which are the shipping containers,” said Garfield Middle School student Isabella Carmichael, pointing out the features on a scale drawing on Revit.
The curriculum is part of a national STEM initiative by Project Lead the Way. The nonprofit organization focuses on introducing and preparing students for STEM-related opportunities.
“That’s a goal, to make connections with the real world, and seeing that what they’re doing as a middle schooler could be a future career,” said Harding Middle School STEM teacher Erin Andrzejewski.
Some students said the class has helped them rule out an architecture career.
“I’m probably not going to use Revit when I’m older. I’ve found a newfound disliking of this,” said Elm Russell at Garfield Middle School.
Others discovered a newfound passion for the program and skills.
“I never thought I’d actually say this but being in architecture because this is really fun. I have my own journal at home and I’ve been doing sketches for a while now,” said Harding Middle School student Hugo Hildebrandt.
Middle schoolers at Lakewood City Schools learn about robotics as sixth graders. Eighth graders are taught basic coding and app development.
