Pleasant Plains Elementary and Halstead Academy are collaborating with educators from the Sylvan Learning Center to bolster their STEM Education program. Students in grades two and three will participate in robotics activities, which teach students how to manipulate pulleys, motors and different types of gears to build and program animated robots. The program places an emphasis on vocabulary development, giving students the language they need to communicate effectively with other developers in comparable programs.
The coding classes orchestrated by Sylvan are enabling students to learn how to solve puzzles using basic computer programming.
In grades four and five, students are using geometry and advanced problem-solving techniques to program characters to move around on the computer screen.
"This class serves as a hands-on, real-world application experience for our students," said Susie Peeling, resource teacher at Pleasant Plains and Halstead.
Peeling and Kate Gille, director of the Sylvan Center, are writing additional grant proposals to Northrop Grumman to bring additional STEM classes to both schools.
In the last week of January, Calvert Hall students Danny Collins, Mike Ma and Joe Baker, of Towson, joined eight other students who traveled to the Blackfeet Reservation in northwest Montana to do service work at the De La Salle Blackfeet School, a school conducted by the same Christian Brothers who are at Calvert Hall.
While on the reservation, the students tutored middle school-aged children, learned about Native American culture, and immersed themselves in the lives of the Blackfeet. Each night, the students gathered in prayer and reflection to apply what they were experiencing to their lives in Baltimore.
Other Calvert Hall students on the trip included Dylan Hadaway and Greg Bullen, of Parkville, and Collin Danz, Chris Stephan, Pat Collins, Mike Calva, Nick Cipollone, and Peter Ferarra.
The students created a blog, which includes photos, videos, and daily posts of their experiences. You can relive their adventures and revelations at http://www.calverthall.com/montana
Congratulations to Rebecca Tipton and Emma Hoey, of Towson, for being among the 10 Notre Dame Prep students who represented at the Fifth Annual Catholic University of America's High School Honors band on Jan. 24. Other members included Natalie Pucillo, of Parkville, Julia Steiner, of Timonium, and other area residents Nicole Bulgarino, Sarah Hannon, Kelly Healy, Sydney Montano, Magdalena Rybak and Emily Stone. The girls were part of a performance as Catholic University of America's Benjamin T. Rome School of Music celebrates its 50-year anniversary.