Tuesday, March 29, the State Department of Education held a special round-table discussion to commemorate the one-year anniversary of winning more than $500 million in federal Race to the Top funds. The event was held at Stratford STEM Magnet High School, which just this year began offering students hands-on learning opportunities through
The Academies of Nashville. Prior to the round-table discussion, Governor Haslam, the First Lady, Acting Commissioner Patrick Smith and several other local and state dignitaries toured the high school's Top Floor, an after-school learning and activity lounge sponsored by the Martha O'Bryan Center. The group then visited students in the STEM Academy who were hard at measuring (fake) blood splatters for a classroom forensics testing project. Check out the video below for a quick recap of the visit.
Students can enroll in the Engineering Program or the Interdisciplinary Science and Research (ISR) Program which is in partnership with Vanderbilt University Center for Science Outreach. In addition to the Academy of Science and Engineering, Stratford also offers an Academy of National Safety and Securities Technology. Through this Academy, students study robotic transportation, national security, and security technologies. These advanced academic, cutting-edge programs made Stratford a prime location for Tennessee education leaders to celebrate the anniversary of Race to the Top and discuss the state's next big steps.
STEM education -- Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics -- is an integral part of the state's Race to the Top plans but is also gaining national attention as schools around the country work to increase STEM opportunities. Stratford will take its offerings a step further in the fall of 2011 as it converts into the district's first STEM Magnet high school, funded by a separate $12 million magnet school grant awarded to MNPS in the fall of 2010.
