S.T.E.M.

Thank you to Mr. Myers with the Southwestern Community College Automotive program for presenting to our robotics students! We learned about gear ratios, torque, and speed! This information will help us prepare for our new challenge!

Computer Science with 2nd grade students at Highlands School! We had a great time learning about programs, coding, sequence, inputs, and outputs.

Thank you to Juliet Spafford from the Highlands Biological Station for sharing her research and teaching our students about BATS today! We kept her busy presenting at Highlands School and at Mountain View Intermediate School. It was a Halloween treat to learn about these important and often misunderstood creatures.

The Macon Outdoor Club had a great second outing today fly fishing and horseback riding in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The students caught 45 fish throughout the day - our guides were impressed! The leaves were beautiful and we couldn't ask for better weather. Thank you to the North Carolina Youth Engagement Commission for providing the grant funding to make this club possible. Macon County received $10,000 to start a "N.C. Trailblazer Outdoor Club" for any high school student attending Macon County Schools. Look for more adventures in the future!

We are building engineers (https://www.k5engineers.org/) in Macon County Elementary Schools! Mrs. Baldwin at East Franklin recently introduced her students to the engineering design process. After reading the story "Chika Chika Boom Boom", students were challenged to build a tree that would hold the most letters of the alphabet using Keva Planks as their building material. Students were able to COMMUNICATE how they constructed their tree and IDENTIFY the letters they used in the challenge.

Congratulations to Stephanie Hudson on completing her Micro-Credential! For more information, go to k5engineers.org/PD.

More engineering success in Mr. Wilkinson's STEM classes! Please join me in congratulating Jorge, Haiden, and Quinn. They are the winners of the 8th-grade bridge-building competition. Their bridge held 101 times its own weight! Outstanding job by these wonderful students.

Please congratulate the Macon Middle School STEM 7th-grade bridge winners, Haley, Nicole, and Jayla. These "future engineers" used their skills to design and construct a bridge that held 123.9 times its own weight - Outstanding. Great job to all our 7th graders who did a fantastic job.

MMS STEM bridge building competition 2023! Students have worked hard to use the engineering design process to design and construct their bridges. The bridge score is based upon the mass held divided by the mass of the bridge, so every popsicle stick counts!

STEM Opportunity for 6th - 12th grade students! About the Program: The NC Flight Crew program is an exciting opportunity for girls and non-binary students in grades 6-12 who want to explore STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) while serving their community and developing their own leadership skills. The NC Flight Crew program is your ticket to an incredible STEM adventure! This program offers participants hands-on STEM experiences, leadership development, STEM career exploration, and the chance to give back and make a real impact in your local community. Apply to Join the NC Flight Crew! (applications open from Sept 15th-October 10th) Open to girls and non-binary students in grades 6-12 with an interest in STEM and in becoming a community leader. Complete the Application Form here by October 10th https://ncafterschool.org/nc-flight-crew/

Mountain View Intermediate School students have been exploring the outdoors and learning about their natural home through the new Outdoor Explorations course. These students have been learning about vertebrates and invertebrates, the classification of living things, native fish (fish printing), Leave No Trace principles (https://lnt.org/), insects (photo of a student demonstrating the parts of an insect), and spiders!

Macon Early College teacher Bryan Byrne and his students are learning about data collection! They have just installed their new weather station and will be using this information to learn more about the local weather! Mr. Byrne's Earth and Environmental class and Biology students will be using this information as part of their local studies but it is also now part of the Weather Underground database - citizen science at work! https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/KNCFRANK251

Migration Celebration is in full swing this week! Over 4,000 Macon County 6th-grade students have participated in this program over the last 13 years. Students spent the whole day learning from scientists and researchers about migrating birds and monarch butterflies. They participated in citizen science through Monarch Watch. They learned how local people and the Cherokee would prepare for winter and how they utilized natural resources to make functional and beautiful baskets and other vessels. Finally, they experienced our beautiful home through the stories and expertise of local master naturalists! Thank you to the Highlands Biological Foundation and the National Environmental Education Foundation (US Forest Service STEM Grant) for providing the funding to make this possible again this year and to Mainspring Conservation Trust who prepare and provide access to Tessentee Bottomland Preserve for our students! Thank you to our 2023 presenters - Highlands Biological Station: Jason Love and Patrick Brannon (https://highlandsbiological.org), Mainspring Conservation Trust (https://www.mainspringconserves.org), Bigelow's Botanical Excursions (https://bigelowbotanicalexcursions.com), Blue Ridge Bird Observatory (https://bigbaldbanding.org) and Mary Thompson with Qualla Arts & Crafts (https://www.authenticallycherokee.com/artists/mary-thompson & https://quallaartsandcrafts.org) Experiential and Outdoor Education M.S. student Kayler DeBrew from WCU Thank you also to all the Macon County teachers who enthusiastically participate in this program each year and to their young scientists & naturalists!

STEM Explorers is exploring STEM through exciting television shows across the country! https://frameofminds.org/nc-stem-explorers/

Thank you to the Macon Gem and Mineral Society of Franklin, NC for supporting our teachers! Ms. Carlson (MVI) and Mr. Byrne (MEC) both received generous scholarships to purchase materials and take students on field trips to learn more about our native rocks and minerals. This support allows teachers to engage students in hands-on activities and experiences in our community! For more information about this organization, please go to https://www.fgmm.org/, and thank you so much for your support!

Today was a great success! Students hiked 2.5 miles and gained 580 feet in elevation hiking on the Appalachian Trail! Thank you to the Nantahala Hiking Club for joining our group and our happy hiking advisors Mr. Burns and Mr. Kolodzik for leading our group! This was the first outing of our new Macon Outdoor Club which has 22 members in our first year! Look for more adventures coming soon!

Coming Soon! Outdoor Club - Hiking, camping, biking, rock climbing, horseback riding, fishing, archery, and much more! Students who are interested in joining the Macon Outdoor Club must apply by September 8th. Please complete the Google Form and you will be notified if you have been accepted by email. If you have questions, please email Jennifer Love at jennifer.love@macon.k12.nc.us. This club is open to any 8th - 12th grade student in Macon County Schools. We will meet once a month at Franklin High School for our club meeting (these can be attended virtually) and take one field trip each month on a Saturday. This program is free and the cost is covered by a grant through the NC Heritage Program. Registration Link Outdoor Club Flyer

Summer Camp Opportunity at SCC in Sylva - register by July 1.

The state has recognized Macon STEM as a "Portrait of a Graduate" exemplar! Our robotics program is just the beginning! Our 5th - 8th grade STEM program at Mountain View Intermediate School and Macon Middle School, as well as our K-4 elementary STEAM classes at East Franklin, Cartoogechaye, and Iotla Elementary Schools, allow our students to practice durable skills needed to be successful in any career. -Adaptability -Collaboration -Communication -Critical Thinking -Empathy -Learner's Mindset -Personal Responsibility

A group of 13 Macon County teachers from various grade levels and schools have been participating in a book study this semester. The book is "Grading for Equity" by Joe Feldman. This virtual book study explores what grading is, why it matters, and how equitable grading practices can transform schools and classrooms. Our last meeting was an in-person conversation about how to implement equitable grading practices. We partnered with Open Way Learning (OWL) to guide us through the conversation and they provided us with invaluable resources. Thank you to our teachers who are ready to challenge themselves and evaluate their own practices. We hope to lead this book study again in the Fall 2023. For more information about the book, go to https://gradingforequity.org