BPS teachers prepare for Boston STEM Week at RL
On June 29 and 30 at Roxbury Latin, fifty teachers from Boston’s public schools attended professional development workshops led by instructors from i2 Learning. Why were these teachers here right after the end of the school year? To prepare to lead STEM projects with their sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students next fall during the second annual Boston STEM Week. In mid-August, more than 100 more Boston teachers will undergo the same training on Roxbury Latin’s campus.
As it did in 2016, Boston STEM Week (October 23-27, 2017) will transform middle school classrooms in Boston into learning labs, where students will work in teams to solve real-world problems that encourage hands-on experimentation and critical thinking. Regularly scheduled classes in the participating schools will be replaced with immersive, hands-on STEM curriculum developed by MIT and other leading STEM organizations. (“STEM” is an acronym for the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math.)
i2 Learning and Boston STEM Week are both the brainchildren of RL alumnus Ethan Berman ’79, who believes that the school-age years are crucial to the development of children’s skills and interest in STEM disciplines. Mr. Berman approached Roxbury Latin back in 2012 as a partner in his vision for a camp. The following summer, i2 Camps launched in Boston, New York, and New Jersey. Today i2 Learning has expanded to include summer camps in 23 locations across the US as well as Jordan and Kenya, and STEM immersion weeks in more than 60 schools, with more joining each month. Mr. Berman served on RL’s board of trustees from 2010 to 2016.