WCS Welcomes Chinese Education Staff, Researchers
WARSAW — Warsaw Community Schools recently welcomed educators and administrators from China to observe how STEM, or Science, Technology, Engineering and Math is implemented within its classrooms. The visit was made possible through a partnership between WCS and the Chinese Education Connection, an organization that helped facilitate the travel of WCS educators and administrators to Chinese schools in June, October and November of 2018.
The visiting group was comprised of 24 Chinese educators and researchers from elementary to high school and researchers. The guests all shared a common background in STEM teaching strategies. Their visit to WCS began with a presentation from WCS Superintendent Dr. David Hoffert, who visited China earlier as part of the exchange. Hoffert provided guests an overview of WCS’s current educational and facility initiatives and culture.
Following the presentation, guests were invited to attend an event at Edgewood Middle School, hosted by STEM teacher Abbi Richcreek. The event encouraged female students to participate in engineering through interaction with female mentors from leading orthopedic and engineering companies in the area. Guests were able to observe students utilizing robotics, 3D printing, printmaking and more during the event.
After visiting Edgewood, guests were invited back to Washington STEM Academy, where they were served lunch and provided a tour of the school and its course offerings by David Burden. Burden and Patrick Hazelton, both WCS STEM instructional coaches, provided an introduction lesson plan and resources to show some hands-on activities that can be done in a classroom. The Chinese educators and researchers were given strategies for organizing a STEM classroom, as well as tips on how to begin planning their own lessons.
In addition, the guests were also invited to Grace College’s Lilly Center before ending their day at Claypool Elementary School with a tour provided by Hazelton.