Macon Middle School STEM students are off to a great start this semester! They are practicing "Portrait of a Graduate" (https://www.dpi.nc.gov/districts-schools/operation-polaris/portrait-graduate) skills such as collaboration, communication, and problem solving through our STEM classes!
Paid Summer Research Programs! NSF, NASA, NIH, etc. -- 700+ programs: Most programs offer both a stipend and housing and travel support. Programs range across all STEM disciplines and all areas of the country!
Click on "Programs for High School Students"
Use the advanced search page to filter programs by multiple criteria
There are also opportunities for K-8 students for summer programs.
https://pathwaystoscience.org/K12.aspx
This week, ARC opened applications for two summer study opportunities for Appalachian students: the Appalachian Entrepreneurship Academy (AEA) and the Appalachian STEM Academy at Oak Ridge.
The Appalachian Entrepreneurship Academy, hosted in Boone, North Carolina at Appalachian State University, seeks high school students interested in nurturing creative ideas and developing skills for entrepreneurial success.
https://www.arc.gov/appalachian-entrepreneurship-academy/
AEA seeks middle and high school students, and high school teachers, who are ready to work alongside award-winning scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. For the first time ever, we're also expanding our middle school sessions to allow twice as many students to participate.
https://www.arc.gov/arc-oak-ridge-summer-program/
Applications for both programs are due February 10, 2023.
Iotla Elementary, East Franklin Elementary and Cartoogechaye Elementary STEAM classes have been learning about computer programming and robotics this month to celebrate Computer Science Week! Students are using KIBO Robots to learn how to complete various tasks through coding! This project incorporates literacy, communication, collaboration, problem solving, creativity, and persistence!
Over 1,000 Macon County students participated in the Hour of Code this year. This program allows students to experience coding through game-based programming. Code.org is a free coding platform with activities for students in grades K-12.
Summer 2023 Applications Open Now!
https://www.ncssm.edu/
We are pleased to invite you to apply for Summer 2023 Early Accelerator (5th-6th), Accelerator (7th-9th), and Accelerator (10th-12th).
Apply now by clicking https://ncssm.campintouch.com/ui/forms/application/camper/App
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Great News! Day programs are now available for rising 7th-12th graders!
NCSSM - Morganton will offer day camp courses at the North Carolina Center for Engineering Technologies (NCCET) in Hickory, NC.
Check out those listing under the Accelerator 7th-9th and Accelerator 10th-12th pages!
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Admissions are made on a rolling basis. Applications are reviewed and admissions decisions are made once per month.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at summer@ncssm.edu.
Macon STEM and the Macon Bots Robotics Program will be hosting a "Legos, Lunch & Learn with Lego Robotics" program on December 19th (teacher workday) from 10:00 am - 2:00 pm. Students will need to bring their own lunch and there is a suggested minimum donation of $15.00 per student. All proceeds go to the Macon Bots Robotics Program. To register, please go to https://sugeni.us/dGfq or use the QR code on the flyer.
This program is open to students from Macon County Schools in 3rd - 5th grade only.
Mr. Wilkinson's S.T.E.M. students are putting their final engineering design touches to their "Mousetrap Car" projects. The challenge is to convert as much potential energy into kinetic energy as possible. The goal is to travel as far as possible. We are so proud of all of our Macon Middle S.T.E.M. students.
Every year, the Macon County STEM Program encourages our teachers and students to participate in the Macon Soil and Water Contest! This year, the theme is "Water...The Cycle of Life". All submissions are due to the school by January 25th. For more information and a list of rules, please contact Jennifer Love.
Hour of Code is COMING! December 5-11, 2022
We are hoping for 100% participation for Macon County Schools!
Macon County high school science students were visited by the University of North Carolina Institute for the Environment (IE) students who presented their research projects and shared information about their program. These students have been spending the Fall 2022 semester at the Highlands Biological Station where they live and take a full load of classes. They are studying the Anthropocene and the Southern Appalachians. Thank you so much for sharing your research and your experiences through this program.
Please congratulate Caiden Ryan and Paxton Sutton from Mr. Wilkinson's MMS STEM class - Winners of the 2022 Bridge Building Competition for seventh grade. They used the Engineering Design Process to design and build a bridge that held 125.8x its own weight.
2023 DRAFT 1 Proposed K-12 Science Standards All Stakeholder Survey now open.
The State of North Carolina is seeking community input on the proposed science standards. To complete the survey, please go to this link.
https://ncdpi.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8H3ZfXEPUKZqjhc
Mr. Wilkinson has been teaching physical science through ziplines! Students have been participating in classroom experiments and then had the opportunity to collect data while zipping through the trees at the Highlands Aerial Park in Scaly Mountain. Thanks to a generous grant through the Go Outdoors Grant Program, 60 students were able to participate in this experience! Thank you Mr. Wilkinson for planning such engaging science experiments!
Thank you to the Go Outdoors Grant Program and the Highlands Biological Station for providing programming for our students this school year. Mr. Patrick will be able to provide 60 programs each semester thanks to generous grant funding through the NC Heritage Program's Go Outside Grant.
Macon County School is excited to partner with Open Way Learning again this year! They are providing project based learning professional development for our teachers at Union Academy and Macon Early College. The two schools recently met together to share ideas and collaborate. These teachers are excited to work together - you could feel the energy in the room!
The Macon Bots Robotics Team is ready to build! The team is made up of 20 students from 6th - 12th grade. This semester they will be focusing on programming a robot using Arduino software. Thank you to our mentors (Mr. Vitale, Mr. Siple, and Mr. Wright) and to coaches Bryan Wilkinson and Jennifer Love. The team is preparing for their challenge which will be released in January 2023!
Macon County teachers will be putting microscopes into the hands of their elementary students this year! This Fall, ten teachers participated in a "Foldscope" professional development and learned how to connect these inexpensive and easy-to-use microscopes to their Ipads for easy viewing. Macon STEM was able to purchase 5 class sets for teachers to share across the district. For more information about Foldscopes, go to https://foldscope.com/
Mr. Wilkinson's STEM students are preparing for their "Physics of the Zipline" field trip at the end of October. Students are learning how the mass of an object affects how far an object will travel. Look for more pictures coming soon! Thank you to the Highlands Aerial Park for working with us on this experience. Thank you also to the Go Outside grant through the NC Outdoor Heritage Advisory Council who awarded Mr. Wilkinson $3000 towards this experience.
The Macon County School Board had a chance to experience the moon using the new Class VR glasses at Highlands School. Mrs. Covey's students shared with the board how their class has been using them to learn more about traveling to the moon and beyond as part of their science lessons. Other teachers have been using them to take virtual field trips! Thank you to AHEC (501c3) for providing the funding to bring this resource to our students.
