Reprinted from Daily News
STEM
Collegiate Institute for Math and Science chemistry teacher David
Griffin conducts experiments to show the differences between ionic,
covalent, and metallic compounds during a chemistry class.
'We’re teaching an army of environmental engineers to save the world': NYC public school's adopt new STEM program to boost technical education
The city has created hundreds of new programs focusing on science, technology, engineering and math to help better prepare students to offer digital solutions for global problems.
By Ben Chapman / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Monday, January 7, 2013, 7:02 PM
James Keivom/New York Daily News
Collegiate Institute for Math and Science chemistry teacher David
Griffin conducts experiments to show the differences between ionic,
covalent, and metallic compounds during a chemistry class.
How do you convince a roomful of 15-year-old kids to pay attention in science class? Try setting M&M’s on fire.
Or handcuffing students together.
They are things that seem to work for Dave Griffin.
“I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve,” said Griffin, an award-winning chemistry teacher at the Collegiate Institute for Math and Science in the Bronx.
The chocolate pyrotechnics are designed to show how sugar reacts to a high-oxygen environment. The handcuffing is a creative way to illustrate the power of chemical bonds.
The stunts help Griffin’s kids stay focused — and when he talks to his class, you can hear a pin drop.
“I keep students interested so they can learn,” said Griffin, 52, who
has taught in city schools for a dozen years and took home a prestigious
Sloan Award for excellence in classroom instruction in 2012. He says he
sets something on fire once a week to show how different chemicals
burn.
Griffin and top science teachers like him are the vanguard of a STEM revolution taking place in the public schools.
At all levels, city schools are ramping up their focus on STEM — science, technology, engineering and math — to create the educated, entrepreneurial workforce that’s crucial to making the city the new capital of the global digital economy.
The city has created hundreds of new STEM programs in public schools, including 22 new technical education high schools since 2004, with seven more coming in 2014.
Officials also plan to transform 20 additional high schools and middle schools into specialized STEM academies, with classes to prepare kids for high-tech jobs.
But even at traditional high schools, teachers like Griffin are essential to making STEM education work.
“Having excellent teachers in STEM classrooms will allow our students
to compete in the 21st century,” said schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott.
“It’s extremely important to have excellent teachers.”
Though many of the students in Griffin’s class come from struggling middle schools in the south Bronx, his 10th-graders achieve an 80% passing rate on state Regents exams.
They said their teacher keeps them interested in learning more about science.
“We’re always doing labs, and they keep me interested,” said Diego Depena, 15, of the Bronx, who used fire and electrical current to test the physical properties of copper and chalk in class Thursday. “Kids actually want to go these classes.”
Another decorated horseman in the city’s STEM cavalry is Neal Singh, a science teacher at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts.
LaGuardia is renowned for its arts programs and doesn’t typically attract kids with a great interest in science – but there are 200 students on a wait list to get into Singh’s environmental science classes.
He uses guest lecturers and films to address current issues like climate change, and challenges his students to offer solutions to these global problems.
“We’re teaching an army of environmental engineers to save the world,” said Singh, 42, who has taught at LaGuardia since 2007. “Our planet is in need of stewards, and the students are eager to look for solutions.”
After a series of Singh’s classes on water shortages in January, LaGuardia senior Ira Seidman, 17, of Manhattan, decided to pursue a career as an environmental engineer.
“It just clicked for me,” said Seidman, who applied for college in January and hopes to attend Tufts University in Boston. “Water reserves are running dry and now is the time to act.”
Singh’s classes aren’t just about problems, Seidman said. “Our classes are more about solutions, and that’s what I find most interesting.”
bchapman@nydailynews.com
Or handcuffing students together.
They are things that seem to work for Dave Griffin.
“I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve,” said Griffin, an award-winning chemistry teacher at the Collegiate Institute for Math and Science in the Bronx.
The chocolate pyrotechnics are designed to show how sugar reacts to a high-oxygen environment. The handcuffing is a creative way to illustrate the power of chemical bonds.
The stunts help Griffin’s kids stay focused — and when he talks to his class, you can hear a pin drop.
James Keivom/New York Daily News
Griffin uses unorthadox measures to grab his student's attention -- like burning M&M's -- but it's extremely effective.
Griffin and top science teachers like him are the vanguard of a STEM revolution taking place in the public schools.
At all levels, city schools are ramping up their focus on STEM — science, technology, engineering and math — to create the educated, entrepreneurial workforce that’s crucial to making the city the new capital of the global digital economy.
The city has created hundreds of new STEM programs in public schools, including 22 new technical education high schools since 2004, with seven more coming in 2014.
Officials also plan to transform 20 additional high schools and middle schools into specialized STEM academies, with classes to prepare kids for high-tech jobs.
But even at traditional high schools, teachers like Griffin are essential to making STEM education work.
Craig Warga/New York Daily News
Award winning AP environmental sciences teacher Neal Singh (lright) and Student Ira SeidMan are part of the STEM program at LaGuardia High School.
Though many of the students in Griffin’s class come from struggling middle schools in the south Bronx, his 10th-graders achieve an 80% passing rate on state Regents exams.
They said their teacher keeps them interested in learning more about science.
“We’re always doing labs, and they keep me interested,” said Diego Depena, 15, of the Bronx, who used fire and electrical current to test the physical properties of copper and chalk in class Thursday. “Kids actually want to go these classes.”
Another decorated horseman in the city’s STEM cavalry is Neal Singh, a science teacher at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts.
LaGuardia is renowned for its arts programs and doesn’t typically attract kids with a great interest in science – but there are 200 students on a wait list to get into Singh’s environmental science classes.
He uses guest lecturers and films to address current issues like climate change, and challenges his students to offer solutions to these global problems.
“We’re teaching an army of environmental engineers to save the world,” said Singh, 42, who has taught at LaGuardia since 2007. “Our planet is in need of stewards, and the students are eager to look for solutions.”
After a series of Singh’s classes on water shortages in January, LaGuardia senior Ira Seidman, 17, of Manhattan, decided to pursue a career as an environmental engineer.
“It just clicked for me,” said Seidman, who applied for college in January and hopes to attend Tufts University in Boston. “Water reserves are running dry and now is the time to act.”
Singh’s classes aren’t just about problems, Seidman said. “Our classes are more about solutions, and that’s what I find most interesting.”
bchapman@nydailynews.com
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