Five Macon County Elementary teachers attended the Building Engineers Conference in Pinehurst this past week. Macon County has been accepted into Building Engineers Cohort 2. This team will be working together to create engaging STEM activities which will be integrated into their math and literacy classes (K-4). These activities will then be presented across the district and shared across North Carolina as part of this open-source initiative. We also learned more about the Portrait of a Graduate - for more information, go to https://www.dpi.nc.gov/districts-schools/operation-polaris/portrait-graduate.
Thank you to our teachers who are preparing our students with the skills they need for a bright future.
Teachers and students at Union Academy and Macon Early College have been working on their mission and vision and learning about project-based learning with Open Way Learning (OWL) this year. We can continue this work next year thanks to a two-year grant through the Dogwood Health Trust. We are working together to strengthen our schools.
Macon County elementary students are getting an up-close look at metamorphosis! They are hatching butterflies and learning about their life cycle. Thank you to our teachers who are making science engaging for our students!
Students in Macon Early College's Appalachian Literature, History, and Culture class explored the Bartram Trail with local botanist Adam Bigelow, who took the students on an adventure through the woods, explaining to them the medicinal uses of many plants in Southern Appalachia. The students also discovered forageable plants historically used by both the Cherokee and later settlers. Thank you to the Dogwood Health Trust for supporting Project-Based Learning in our District!
Students in Macon Early College's Appalachian Literature, History, and Culture visited a local farm to learn about sustainability and agriculture in western North Carolina. Using locally harvested strawberries from their visit, the students also engaged in hands-on experiential learning, producing a traditional strawberry jam. Their experiences at H&H Farm and Cowee School were compared to traditional Appalachian farming explored through assigned texts. Thank you to the Dogwood Heath Trust for supporting our Project Based Learning initiatives. Thank you also to Kim Terrell from the NC Cooperative Extension for teaching our students about canning.
Wish us luck! The Macon Tracks Soap Box Derby team is heading out today to compete in the NC Gravity Games. Thank you to Mr. Wilkinson for writing the NC Science Festival Grant that is financially supporting this trip! Mr. Greenwood in carpentry and Mr. Wilkinson in STEM have been working with the team to engineer and construct winning cars!
This is the way everyone should learn about physics! Thank you to Mr. Wilkinson, STEM teacher at Macon Middle School, for making this happen - this includes grant writing to help offset the cost to our students. Thank you to the NC Heritage Foundation Go Grant for your financial support and the Highlands Aerial Park for working with us to provide this experience.
To see our students overcome fears, build relationships, and stretch their abilities while studying real-world engineering and physics was amazing.
Macon County Schools has Rocket Fever! Students had a chance to watch the SpaceX (https://www.spacex.com/) Starship Flight Test this morning and witnessed how rocket scientists use the Engineering Design Process in real life - test, collect data, and re-design!
Ms. Jones's class in Nantahala was excited to watch it LIVE!
Mr. Wilkinson (Macon Middle STEM) has been taking advantage of the excellent launching weather we have been having and the students have been launching rockets with air. They have been manipulating the variables of angle and pressure to see how far they can get their rocket to travel.
Franklin High School students in Mrs. Weresuk's class had an opportunity to participate in STEM Day at Southwestern Community College last week. Students participated in a number of experiments and challenges while learning more about STEM courses at our local community college. Thank you for this experience for our students.
Mrs. Keener and Mrs. Tallent's class at South Macon Elementary learned about Earth Day today! Earth Day is April 22.
"Today we took a nature walk for Earth Day! We learned about leaving no trace in nature, picking up trash, taking pictures instead of taking things from nature, and about our native environment, animals, and plants! We collected a whole gallon ziplock bag full of trash from just around the track!"
East Franklin Elementary students participated in a STEM Day on Thursday, April 13. Chemical changes, 2D and 3D marshmallow shapes, & electricity plus, several experiments with AIR filled the day. We all had a great time! Thank you to all the teachers and volunteers who helped make it happen. Thank you also to the Cherokee Preservation Foundation and the STEM-E grant program through WRESA for providing funding for supplies and materials.
Macon Tracks Soapbox Derby Team getting ready for competition! Drone footage by Mr. Wilkinson's STEM class students!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ukei6HpVihhbjB6DaPL9xi1vEQxSUmfa/view?usp=sharing
What an amazing day! Thank you so much to all of the Mountain View Intermediate School teachers, staff, and students and to all of our community volunteers who came out to teach students about ENERGY! More pictures to come!
Highlands Nature Center Presents the "Appalachian Investigators" summer camp August 8-11. For more information, contact Holly Theobald at holly@highlandsbiological.org
Franklin High School Math Club meets on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of the month. We work to prepare ourselves to compete in math competitions and learn some different math concepts. The only contest we were able to attend this year was the Regional competition at WCU, which was funded through our STEM-E grant funds. Although no one placed, the students had a wonderful experience touring WCU, and are excited to go back next year!
Thank you to coach Dina Picou for her hard work preparing the team and for giving these students the opportunity to shine! Thank you also to the Cherokee Preservation Foundation and WRESA who provided grant funding that supports programs like this throughout Macon County Schools.
Macon County STEM classes at Iotla Elementary and East Franklin Elementary have been working on pitching their innovative ideas for the SMART Tank competition. This annual competition is made possible by the STEM-E Grant Program sponsored by the Cherokee Preservation Foundation and WRESA.
Congratulations to the "Lakeside Lures" group who won FIRST PLACE. This team was from Iotla Valley Elementary School.
Thank you so much to Mr. Pollack and Mrs. Clark for all of their help getting the teams ready for the competition!
Congratulations to the Spring 2023 Bridge Build Competition winners from Macon Middle School STEM!
7th grade winners: Hailey and Priscila
8th grade winners: Elizabeth, Olivia, and Eleanor.
Check out these Summer Camp programs for students enrolled in Macon County School System! These are open to rising 6th- 12th grade students!
NC School for Science and Math Summer Opportunity
Our 5th-grade students in Mr. Kurimay's STEM classes at Mountain View Intermediate School have been learning to code a robot. Students collaborated in teams to code their robot to navigate an obstacle course. Each student learned how to plan out their program using geometry and linear measurement. They also learned how to manipulate variables such as the distance, time, and speed of the robot.
