CHAMPAIGN – First-graders Cozaire Jackson and Narmeen Chahal were standing in front of a SMART Board in their classroom at Washington Elementary School last week, solving math problems.

A student teacher moved a square on the board to uncover part of a problem, and the students would solve it, then reach up to the board and drag the square away to reveal the answer and see if they got it right.

Then they played a game in which they took turns rolling a die, which spins on the SMART Board, and moving along a series of addition problems. Cozaire and Narmeen jumped up and down with excitement, each calculating the answer. As Narmeen used a marker to write the answer to a problem on the board, Cozaire commented, "She's good at this."

Lynda Jackson, the first-grade teacher in this classroom, said the interactive white board engages her students because it is a hands-on way for them to work on math problems. Even when one or two students are using the SMART Board, others will watch and work on the same problems on their individual dry-erase boards.

"Everyone is cheering each other on and thinking of the answers in their heads. It's a great resource," Jackson said.

"We always think of innovative ways ... to make learning fun," she continued. "The SMART Board allows (learning math) to be an interactive, fun activity for students."

It's also an example of the kind of technology that will used throughout Washington school next fall, when it becomes a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) magnet school. The goal in creating a STEM magnet school is to infuse science, technology, engineering and math throughout the curriculum.

"We want to get our students acclimated to these STEM areas early, and get them excited, get them intrigued, so they're more excited (about science and math) when they're in middle school," said Washington Principal Asia Fuller-Hamilton. "The first step at the elementary level is to create that love of science."

Alyssa Mayer, who teachers a combined fourth- and fifth-grade gifted classroom, added: "We also know kids are naturally curious. They are always asking 'Why?' If we can build on that, we can give them a way to view their world from a STEM perspective."

The Washington staff has the help of many University of Illinois educators in preparing to become a STEM school. Professors have been in the school all year, working with students and teachers. They are part of the EnLiST program, or Entrepreneurial Leadership in STEM Teaching and Learning.

The EnLiST program is a partnership between the school district and the UI that trains science teachers through summer institutes and year-round professional development and activities. It is part of the UI's I-STEM Education Initiative, an effort to improve education in the STEM areas.

EnLiST has a five-year, $5 million National Science Foundation grant to develop science teachers who can transform the teaching of science in the UI's partner school districts, which include Champaign.

The push for more STEM education is a national effort, said Fouad Abd-El-Khalick, a UI professor of science education who is one of the directors of the ENLiST grant.

"One of areas in which the U.S. is still unquestionably a world leader is in science and engineering. We still command significant market share in terms of innovation, research, and development in science and engineering," he said. But, "we are not producing enough teachers and students who will eventually become scientists, engineers, technologists and mathematicians to keep driving this enterprise at which the U.S. is a world leader.

"Students who get a good STEM education are highly likely to be very competitive in the future workforce market," Abd-El-Khalick said. "These are the jobs of the future for the U.S."

Washington teachers will be working with UI faculty over the course of three years on professional development, to create projects and lessons in the STEM areas and find ways to use more technology in their teaching. A number of teachers attended an EnLiST summer institute last year, and more will do so this summer, to build on their knowledge of science and learn how to do more science in their classrooms.

For example, a social studies unit for kindergartners on the five senses could include having students design a model of the ear or tongue. Mayer teaches botany to her fifth-grade students, and she's working to incorporate that subject into their study of the Great Depression. They may look at how plant growth was affected by farming practices, and the effect of the Dust Bowl. Their reading will include books related to the Dust Bowl.

Margery Osborne is a UI professor of curriculum and instruction who has been in Jackson's classroom twice a week this school year. She is helping teachers look at how to incorporate nonfiction science books that are part of their science units into their language arts curriculum.

"It sounds simple," Osborne said, "but it requires a huge amount of work aligning the various goals of each unit, and the assessments."

Technology training will include how to use a SMART Board in a math lesson "so it's not glorified chalkboard, but interactive," Fuller-Hamilton said.

"Every decision that has been made, along with creating a new schedule, has been done with intention," she said.

Mayer is looking forward to putting what she's been learning into practice next year.

"We will have an absolutely fantastic curriculum that's integrated with STEM. I'm extremely excited about it," Mayer said. "I can't wait to dive in."

Discussion to focus on STEM program

CHAMPAIGN – Parents can learn more about the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) magnet school program for Washington Elementary School this week.

University of Illinois educators are helping Washington develop its STEM magnet program, and a panel discussion about STEM will take place on campus. Experts will talk about the program from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Alice B. Campbell Alumni Center, 601 S. Lincoln Ave., U.

The panel members are: Champaign school district Deputy Superintendent Dorland Norris; Lizanne DeStefano, director of the UI's I-STEM Education Initiative; Fouad Abd-El-Khalick, UI professor of science education in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction; Anita Martin, project director of the UI's EnLiST (Entrepreneurial Leadership in STEM Teaching and Learning) program; and Washington Principal Asia Fuller-Hamilton.

Washington is to become a STEM magnet school in the fall.