School
Rochester Junior High School

Location
Rochester, IL

Demographic
Public

School Profile
340 students
Teacher-student ratio: 1:24

School Mission
Tradition of Excellence


Solution
NextWaveSTEM curriculum, equipment, and teacher professional development

Grades
7-8
The NextWaveSTEM "AIO" turnkey solution equipped Rochester Junior High School to launch STEM education, bridging the gap with teacher training and emerging technology equipment, and enhancing student engagement in math and coding.

 
 

Challenge:

In the 2022-23 academic year, Rochester Junior High School lacked a STEM elective in its curriculum. Influenced by an Instructional Coach's positive prior experience with NextWaveSTEM (NWS) in a different district, the school decided to partner with NWS to enhance STEM exposure among students, especially those with limited prior

experience. The program, focusing on drones, aimed to make STEM engaging. However, a major challenge was the Instructional Coach's limited background in STEM education, being primarily a high school English teacher. This situation underscored the need for a supportive and well-structured program to compensate for the school's absence of a robust STEM framework.

“Once they (students) heard STEM was going to have a drone unit, enrollment doubled. Students loved the hands-on application and were challenged to use their math and coding skills to solve real-world problems.”

-Dr. Traci Johnson, 7-12 Instructional Coach, Rochester CUSD 3A

Result:

NextWaveSTEM’s All-in-One solution provided an ease of integration. Comprehensive planning enabled a teacher without prior STEM experience to effectively lead the drones course minimizing the need for extensive training. Classroom sessions started with group instruction, followed by hands-on activities in smaller groups, enriched by the addition of creative challenges and real-world applications. This approach significantly enhanced student engagement and learning outcomes. Students, especially those with minimal coding experience, demonstrated remarkable progress, successfully completing their final assessments and improving their math and writing skills through a blend of technical and creative tasks.