A.W. Chesterton Company, Groveland’s largest employer, and the town’s Bagnall Elementary School have joined forces to teach a STEAM (Science Technology Engineering Arts and Math) inspired program to students Pre-K through 6th grade.
Bagnall Elementary, a designated STEAM school, and Chesterton, a global manufacturing company, have been partnering for about a year on various projects, but “everyone is thrilled for this one” says Maureen Crawford Hentz, Director of Talent Management for the A.W. Chesterton Company.
On Tuesday December 13, 2016, the teachers from Bagnall Elementary School visited the Chesterton facility where they broke into groups with Chesterton employees and planned how to teach specific engineering concepts to students. After this exercise, which was named a “brainSTEAMing session,” Chesterton employees arranged to visit the Bagnall School to help teach the concepts in age-appropriate ways and to facilitate at least two follow-up activities that are taking place February and March 2017.
Luke Norton shines in the classroom
One concept they will be teaching to Pre-K and K students is an engineering method called 5S (Learn About 5S), which relates to workplace organization. Crawford Hentz explains, “I have a kindergartener at home myself, and I’m hoping she will 5S her playroom! I’ll be testing my concept out on her.” Third graders will be learning “The Importance of Design.” Fourth graders will focus on the topic of “Innovation and Genius”.
Chesterton employees, teachers, and students are very excited for this program. Crawford Hentz believes “this is a unique program—we’ve not heard of any other school / company partnership that is working exactly this way.”
| Concept to be taught: | Grade Level: |
| 5S | Pre-K and K |
| Marketing | 1st and 2nd grade |
| The Importance of Design | 3rd grade |
| Innovation & Genius | 4th grade |
| Engineering | 5th & 6th grade |
Keep up with Chesterton’s STEAM Partnership activity on LinkedIn!
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