STEM Community Leaders in MCS

If you've been following this blog or our Twitter feed (@MCSDigital), you've undoubtedly noticed a heavy emphasis on STEM learning in MCS.  From K-12 robotics to Cyber Patriot to science kits to STEM Camp to engineering lessons and everything in between- STEM concepts have swept through the district at a blistering pace, supported by our DIF team and our teachers.

Another major support system for this revolution in our schools is a group most folks likely have no idea even exist- our STEM Community Leaders group- a group that has been meeting to help promote and sustain STEM learning in Moore County Schools for more than 5 years!

This is a dynamic group of important stakeholders in our county- including local and regional business leaders, community organization leaders, parents, School Board members, Foundation members, as well as MCS curriculum and senior staff.  Here is a list of the groups and businesses whose members/representatives have been involved:

The Public Education Foundation of Moore County
Moore County Partners in Progress
Burroughs Wellcome Fund
Duke Energy
The Palmer Foundation
Mebane Foundation
Kiwanis Club of the Sandhills
Sandhills Rotary Club
NC Realtors Association
Smithsonian Science Education Center
NC Inquiry Collaborative Network (NCICN)
North Carolina Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education Center
Moore County Airport
First Tee of the Sandhills
Woodmen of the Wild
The Pilot
C.A.L.L. (Community Assisting Language Learners)

What impact does this group have on Moore County Schools students and teachers?
The impact this group has had has been deep and far-reaching.  They are a source of advisory ideas as well as financial backing.  3 years ago, a large STEM grant from the Mebane Foundation was expiring.  This grant planted many of the seeds of STEM within Moore County Schools and when it ended we were faced with a problem- how to sustain and grow these vital STEM initiatives after the grant funds had expired.

In order to solve this problem, the Public Education Foundation (PEF) offered the opportunity to create a separate "STEM Bucket" for grants and donations to flow into in order to sustain our growth.  The members of the STEM Community Leaders then worked hard to obtain grants and donations in order to build a "bridge to sustainability" for all of our STEM programs in the district. 



The results of this work were extremely impressive.  This group was able to raise over $75,000 over the course of the 2015-2016 school year in order to sustain our programs and allow us to build a self-sustaining funding model (our STEM Camp tuition goes directly to support all of these programs in MCS).  In addition, generous grants and donations continue to be facilitated by this group in order to add "fuel to the fire" as well as cover student scholarships to STEM Camp for those families who are unable to pay.  Keep in mind, this is all in addition to the targeted grants that the Public Ed Foundation have utilized to spark interest in STEM across the district.

In short, we could not be the leaders in STEM that we are in Moore County without this dedicated group who many people may not know about (and therefore be able to recognize and thank!).   If you are ever in contact with members of any of the above organizations, please tell them thank you for their support of engaged student learning in MCS!!!

CyberPatriot IX Results - State Award Winners from Moore County Schools

CyberPatriot season IX is in the books for Union Pines High School team 10668, Syntax Error. The Navy JROTC team seen below navigated 4 rounds of competition, gathering awards and leaving other teams in their wake. Don’t let the friendly faces fool you, these are trained cyber fighters.

From left to right: Charlotte Craven, Eric Hutchison, Nick Mihalovich (Cpt), AJ Sanders, & Brendan Bemis. Not shown: Team 10668 Sponsors MGySgt Keith Dangerfield & Capt. John Ferguson, Coach Will Herring

What is CyberPatriot? CyberPatriot is an annual competition among civilian and JROTC, high school teams stretching five continents. It was created and is run by the Air Force Association in connection with Northrup Grumman and Cisco Systems. It tests student teams' ability to detect, deflect and prevent ongoing cyber attacks of various computer systems.

Student teams "play" through the cyber-breach scenarios created by AFA/NorthrupGrumman during marathon-like sessions, Saturdays throughout the fall and winter. Students have to possess great skill, teamwork, and tenacity to be successful in the competition.

“The competition puts teams of high school and middle school students in the position of newly hired IT professionals tasked with managing the network of a small company. In the rounds of competition, teams are given a set of virtual images that represent operating systems and are tasked with finding cybersecurity vulnerabilities within the images and hardening the system while maintaining critical services...” (CyberPatriot Website, February 26, 2017)

Link to AFA CYberPatriot Website

Syntax Error  scored well in the first two rounds of the international competition and earned an invitation to the “Gold Tier” end-of-season tournament. There, the team came in 2nd of all-service teams in North Carolina winning an award and advanced to the semi-final “Category” round of the end game.

Why we Compete and Your Group Should Too: CyberPatriot is fun! The live scoreboard and team nature of the events makes this program one to which students are drawn and compelled to help each other grow and succeed. Participants learn to work towards common goals, critical thinking, problem analysis, problem solving, leadership competencies, and that doesn’t even touch the future life and career skills that come from deeply understanding technology and cyber security. Through the game, students learn the underlying competencies that demystify an increasingly interconnected world and prepare them to thrive there.

“By participating in CyberPatriot, students are introduced to an exciting and lucrative career path. In addition to learning teamwork and organizational skills that set them apart in the STEM job market, Competitors benefit from direct tutelage by industry professionals that volunteer through the CyberPatriot Mentor Program.” (CyberPatriot Website, February 26, 2017)

What’s Next: Practices have already begun for CyberPatriot season X. The teams going back to basics, tearing down cpu towers to build the foundation for success in the fall. The success of team 10668 has drawn in new interest and UPHS looks to host more teams next year. Thanks to the ongoing support through grants from the Moore County Schools Public Education Foundation, UPHS will have the devices and funding to expand this opportunity to all of our students thinking about CyberSecurity and/or Computer Science careers.

DASH as an Ambassador -Student Feature: Jacob Pyska

Jacob is a fourth grade student in Elaina Aponte’s self-contained classroom at West Pine Elementary.  Jacob is first and foremost a lover of robotics and technology.  Jacob has autism and because of this is very shy and has a hard time in social settings, including school.  That is until recently.  Jacob’s mother, Jeannie, had a goal she set for her son: to be able to walk into school independently without her walking beside him. At the beginning of the year mom would circle the parking lot a few times, giving her son a pep talk and would ultimately end up walking him in.  Mrs. Aponte and I put our heads together and thought we could use Dash as a way to entice Jacob to come into the building on his own.  Dash would greet Jacob at the door and Mrs. Aponte would let him take on the role of the ‘programmer’ and he would code him to get back to class.  Within about a month, Jacob now comes in school and doesn’t want his mother’s help at all. He tells his mother in the parking lot “I can do this!” When Dash is working in other classes on STEM infused lessons, Jacob walks to the classes he is in to check on him.

According to Mrs. Aponte, “Dash was able to give Jacob confidence and independence.  Jacob is proud of himself and that makes me happy.”

“Jacob has been a student here for three years and has grown leaps and bounds.  This robot has given him purpose and something to be excited about each day.”- Lisa Epling, Assistant Principal

Dash is programmable robot that is great for students as young as kindergarten to learn the basics of coding and programming. It is really exciting how much this little robot has helped this student in such a huge way! Recently, the Public Ed Foundation of Moore County awarded a grant to myself and Clint Rogers and we were able to purchase 14 Dash robots and iPads so that he may have an impact on learning in classrooms all over Moore County.  

Regional Robotics Competition

Moore County was well-represented on January 16 at Cardinal Gibbons High School for the first FTC Regional Robotics Qualifier of the season.  All three high schools (North Moore, Union Pines and Pinecrest) and one middle school (New Century) fielded a team of students that had constructed a TETRIX robot that attempted to score points in the RES-Q Challenge playing field (video below).  FIRST Tech Challenge teams are challenged to design, build, program and operate robots to play a floor game in an alliance format (FTC Website).

In preparation for the event, students had to build their robot from a bucket of parts, motors and wheels.  Once the robot was built, they programmed the robot using the MIT App Inventor Software.  Their apps were uploaded to ZTE Cell Phones and paired up with remote controllers.  

The teams had a blast trying to push debris, rescue mountain climbers, climb a 'mountain' and the ultimate challenge - "Hang from the Mountain Top".  

North Moore Team

New Century Team

Pinecrest Team

Union Pines Team

Twenty three teams from across the state attended the event trying to conquer the course.  While none of the teams qualified for the state tournament at this qualifying event, each team left with lessons learned and experiences that will last a lifetime.  We are appreciative to the Public Education Foundation of Moore County and the teachers, coaches, students and parents for providing this opportunity.  

RES-Q Challenge Course

I want to also give a special thanks to Digital Integration Facilitator Lee Ann Holmes for all her help and hard work that made this a success.  She is a Robotics Rockstar!

Tyler Callahan

Digital Integration Facilitator

@STEM_TC