Pine Grove Middle School’s STEM program provides a rigorous, interdisciplinary learning environment, prepares all students to meet their personal and professional goals, and promotes creative, real-world problem-solving through a culture of collaboration.
Pine Grove Middle School was honored to be able to present "STEM Transformation at the Grove" at the Georgia Middle School Association Conference.
VALDOSTA — Pine Grove Middle School recently hosted its first STEM Career Day with representatives from over 30 businesses and organizations.
“This is our first annual STEM Career Day, but we’ve had a STEM program for three years,” said Dr. Monica Dyess, director of PGM’s STEM program.
“We want to make our students aware of STEM careers in our local community,” said Pine Grove Middle School Principal Ivy Smith.
STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Obvious STEM careers represented included the Valdosta Regional Airport and businesses with technology in the name.
Representatives from Georgia Forestry Commission and a forensic accountant participated.
Brooke Sims, a forensic accountant associated with Ernst & Young, explained what she does.
Forensic accountants uncover potential illegal financial operations by sifting through years of paperwork, she said.
Using software simplifies and speeds up the process by automating it.
“We can take technology and see what’s wrong in half the time as with just people,” Sims said.
Elsewhere, students explored the ins and outs of filmmaking with Damian Grey, of Revo Media.
“Students actually asked for this club this year,” Grey said, “My goal was to have them running everything.”
Grey added, “The students teach other students.”
“We enjoy more hands-on activities,” said student Donovan Robinson.
“We can tell people about our real-life experience, and they would relate to it,” said student Jeff Drake.
Members of Moody Air Force Base Weather Team showed off some of the weather equipment they use.
Staff Sgt. Kevin Perritt pointed out the weather transmitter first.
“Because it has a solar panel, it can transmit remotely,” Perritt said.
With the solar panel, the transmitter does not require access to another power source. Moreover, the transmitter can transmit weather information several miles away, he said.
Perritt said the weather information helps direct safe travel for military vehicles.
Daniel DeMersseman daniel.demersseman@gaflnews.com
PGM students, in conjunction with a Technology Student Association (TSA) state conference event, were able to interview Derrick Matthews from Kennedy Space Center. They asked questions about the space program, the mission to Mars, careers with the space program, and the need for continued space exploration. Mr. Matthews' answers were perfect in highlighting the need for STEM education.
The 2016 class of Leadership Lowndes took a tour of schools for Education Day Thursday morning.
Leadership Lowndes is a program helps emerging leaders in the community find opportunities for volunteerism and leadership development. Classes are limited to 30 people each year and all applicants undergo a competitive selection process, according to the Leadership Lowndes website.
One stop for the group was Pine Grove Middle School. Cheerleaders led cheers and the chorus performed a song and dance as the class entered the school.
A welcome was given by Pine Grove Middle School Principal Ivy Smith and Lowndes County Schools Superintendent Wes Taylor with a powerpoint presentation explaining the goals of the STEM program and what Pine Grove Middle School offers its students. Students also made a short video explaining what they love about their school.
The class broke into three smaller groups to experience some of the school’s activities. Groups were escorted by Pine Grove Y-LEAD students.
Leadership class members were given a tour of the school campus, participated in activities in the STEM lab, learned about PGM’s unique beekeeping club and shot arrows with archery team members and coaches.
Desiree Carver, Valdosta Daily Times, September 15, 2016
Pine Grove Middle School hosted STEM Parent Night just prior to the start of the 2016-17 school year to provide information to and answer questions from current STEM students and parents. Parents were able to meet the teachers, tour the facilities, and gain a better understanding of the STEM program goals and initiatives.
Pine Grove Middle School hosted its first STEM Summer Institute last week.
The camp was provided by the Boosting Learning through Authentic STEM Teaching, or BLAST, grant through the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement Georgia Innovation Fund, according to Pine Grove Middle School.
The camp was free, allowing rising fourth- through eighth-grade students to experience a week of projects related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Registration was open to public, private and home-schooled children. Due to a high number of applications, a lottery was used to select participating students.
From 8:30-11:30 a.m., students rotated through various projects. Activities included making a necklace in binary code, creating a dodecahedron and engineering ideas to solve problems, according to school officials.
The students went outside to plant and taste food from Pine Grove's food forest while learning about the importance of bees.
Desiree Carver, Valdosta Daily Times, June 6, 2016
Pine Grove Middle School broke ground on its new hydroponics laboratory at a ceremony to celebrate the impending construction of a hydroponics laboratory Monday.
Pine Grove is able to build the laboratory because of the $700,000 Boosting Learning Through Authentic STEM Learning grant from the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement Georgia Innovation Fund.
The hydroponics laboratory is part of a larger push for Pine Grove to earn STEM — or science, technology, engineering and math — certification and prepare students to succeed in a world increasingly dependent on a working knowledge of scientific and mathematical processes.
“We need more kids interested in science,” said Philip Poole, Lowndes County Board of Education member, District 6, “and this is how you do it.”
The hydroponics lab is not an ending point, but a starting point for both the school and students.
“This is how you lay the groundwork for kids who want to be engineers and scientists,” Poole said.
To start the ceremony, Pine Grove Middle Principal Ivy Smith thanked the faculty and staff and said she was “blessed to serve” as the principal for the school.
The hydroponics lab, a coming aquaponics lab, and food forest are not intended to take children out of the classroom, but to move the classroom into a larger space.
“(The lab) will revolutionize the way we teach our kids,” said Pine Grove Life Sciences Teacher Taylor Collins.
Students will be able to experience science beyond the pages and pictures of their textbooks. Students will be able to engage other senses in the learning process.
“What we wanted to do is have a hands-on, curriculum-based learning experience for students,” Smith said.
Both Poole and Collins recognized how uncommon it has become for students to experience hands-on learning while in middle school.
Poole said he is happy middle school students will have the opportunity to learn information and processes most students will not encounter until either high school or college.
Collins echoed Poole’s sentiment.
“We get to show them things other people don’t come into contact with,” Collins said while thanking the faculty, staff, and partners who helped to bring the hydroponics lab to fruition.
Jason Stewart, Valdosta Daily Times, March 24, 2016
PGM hosted a STEM Showcase Parent Night to show off student accomplishments in the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade Academic/CTAE integrated STEM programs. During the event, parents and community members rotated through different stations that included a zip line (applied principles of force & motion), student-programmed robotic devices, potting house plants, and student designed/built prosthetic hands. With over 170 people in attendance, the STEM Showcase allowed parent and community members to have a “snapshot” of what is happening at PGM every day!
Pine Grove Middle School has been awarded a $700,000 grant from the Governor's Office of Student Achievement.
The grant is for a program called BLAST — Boosting Learning through Authentic STEM Teaching. STEM consists of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education.
"The bulk of the grant money will be spent on an aquaponics lab and outdoor classrooms," said Ivy Smith, Pine Grove Middle School principal. "In addition to that, we're planning to have a hydroponics lab and a STEM lab."
Aquaponics involves raising aquatic creatures and cultivating plants without soil. Hydroponics involves the raising of plants in water. "All of these will actually be housed in the same area," Smith said.
Smith said students will build robots, race cars, and solar panels, among other things in the STEM labs.
"We're in the process of that lab," Smith said.
The STEM lab will feature what is called a "maker space," which allows students to build whatever is requested with the resources available to them.
"You give kids lots of tools, you tell them what you want, and they'll give it to you with whatever means they have," Smith said.
Smith said the maker space encourages critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
Pine Grove has requested 180 additional Chromebooks, which will be funded through the grant.
Joe Adgie, Valdosta Daily Times, December 7, 2015
On Thursday, February 19, Pine Grove Middle School hosted a STEM Night where parents and community members could see the results of the initial implementation of plans to achieve STEM certification. The first phase of a three-tier plan began this school year where two cohorts of students were enrolled in accelerated math/computer apps creation classes. Students have learned to code as well as basic theories of web design. At the presentation, parents and community members rotated through four stations to view student work and progress on achieving STEM goals. The stations included robotics, aquaponics/hydroponics, web design, and app creation. Utilizing a live feedback website, visitors were able to ask questions and make comments simultaneously. The presentations were received with rave reviews:
“I am so proud of what your students have produced. The presentations were AWESOME! True CHAMPIONS!”
“All PGM parents and the community need to see this! Glad my child is at PGM!”
“So impressed with what these students are doing across the school.”
