OMHS @ 3rd Annual Manufacturing Expo Featuring the MCSD STEMposium 2019

In celebration of National STEM Day on NOV8, all MCSD secondary schools participated in the 3rd Annual Manufacturing Expo featuring the MCSD STEMposium at the Pavilion. 

This is the first in a series of videos highlighting the awesome STEM work our students are doing and how it is preparing them for postsecondary college and career opportunities. Olathe Middle High School students share their STEM experiences and postsecondary aspirations in the video below!

MCSD STEM Video Spring 2019

Check out the new short video about STEM in Montrose County School District!

This video produced by: Aurelie Slegers Photography & Films

MHS STEM Open House

Check out the livestream recording of MHS's STEM Night 2019:

 

Innovation @ Work by MCSD - Peak Academy Interview

Thanks to InSync Media and Laura Williams for highlighting Peak Virtual Academy students awesome work in STEM! Check out the interview video below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4M-08-P7QgI

Check out the Montrose County School District RE-1J Youtube Channel here for more videos!

Hour of Code at Johnson Elementary

All K-5 students at Johnson Elementary participated in Hour of Code last week. Check out the five-minute video highlighting some of the exciting Hour of Code activities students engaged in at Johnson Elementary, including 'unplugged' coding!

You can also check out the action from Johnson's Hour of Code on a recorded Facebook Live video here.

Each class received an official Certificate from Hour of Code and celebrated with Pac-Man cookies!

Congratulations to Johnson Elementary for their official participation in Hour of Code! Special thanks to Johnson Elementary STEM Facilitator Kim Martin for organizing the Hour of Code festivities!

Centennial Middle School Gifted & Talented Students "Save Montrose" in STEM Design Challenge

Students in the Centennial Middle School Gifted & Talented program participated in a unique STEM Design Challenge on October 17th, 2018. On their afternoon off from school, around 30 students in grades six through eight volunteered to spend their afternoon with GATE Facilitator Danielle Kistler to save the city of Montrose from "Toxic Popcorn", a design challenge from tryengineering.org.

Watch the MCSD STEM Productions video below to see these if these students were able to save Montrose from toxic popcorn...

Video Produced by John Steele

November 2018

Special Thanks to 

Danielle Kistler - Centennial Middle School GATE Facilitator

Centennial Middle School Gifted & Talented Students

Joe Simo - Centennial Middle School Principal 

MHS PLTW Biomedical Science Program Engages Students with Authentic Scientific Inquiry

The MCSD STEM short film "It All Begins with a Dead Body: MHS PLTW Biomedical Science" offers a behind the scenes look at how Montrose High School students are engaging in authentic scientific inquiry and solving real world problems in the Principles of Biomedical Science course.

For a more in-depth look at the Biomedical Program at MHS, check out the "Director's Cut", featuring 10 additional minutes of interviews and students learning, along with a special thank you to those who made the PLTW Biomedical program possible: Thank you!

"It All Begins with a Dead Body: The MHS PLTW Biomedical Program" (17min)

Produced and Directed by John Steele

Featuring:

Emarae Garcia - MHS Science Teacher

Shane Yanosky - MHS Science Teacher

The Montrose Detective Unit

The Montrose Deputy Coroner

MHS Biomedical Science Students

October 2018

MCSD STEM: Innovation at Work Interview with John Steele

MCSD STEM Coordinator John Steele talks with InSync Media's Laura Williams about STEM Education in the Montrose County School District.

Peak Virtual Academy Junior Sam Green Wins 2018 ArcGIS Online Mapping Contest

Congratulations to Sam Green of Peak Virtual Academy, the 2018 ArcGIS Online Mapping Contest Colorado State winner! MCSD is very proud of your accomplishment, which took dedication, hard work and lots of problem-solving!

Sam Green, a junior at Peak Academy has won the 2018 ArcGIS Online Mapping Contest for US high school students for Colorado. Sam’s entry titled “Riparian Restoration Management Plan” was submitted to the State Leadership Team for judging. The five best submissions are recognized by the State and the best of those five moves on to compete in the National Competition. Sam’s work was chosen to represent Colorado versus twenty seven other States.

Check out Sam's ArcGIS Story Map

For Sam to successfully complete this STEM/Problem Based Learning initiative special thanks goes out to:

The students at Peak Academy that helped do research and collect data. The staff and administration of Peak Academy. Their help creating the time and resources needed for implementing this STEM/PBL was essential.

The Montrose County School District. Their commitment to STEM and Problem Based Learning Initiatives made all of this possible. Without this directive this would not have happened.

Our Community Partners:
The 3M Corporation – They supplied funding via a 3M EcoGrant
Justin Musser – Montrose County Ecological Services Manager
David Sinton – BLM GIS Specialist
Lisa Goetsch – Montrose County GIS Coordinator
Dr. Phillip Crossley – Western State Colorado University
Dr. Tammy Parece – Colorado Mesa University
Dr. John McGee – Virginia Tech
And everyone else that offered advice and technical expertise on how to not only build the story map but design and implement the management plan.

Check out the Montrose Daily Press article below:

 

Centennial Middle School's Engineering Showcase Spring 2018

Check out Centennial Middle School's Engineering Showcase video below:

Special thanks to Meghan Waschbusch and Chris Thompson

Video produced by John Steele

May 2018

Northside Elementary STEM Night 2018

On May 1st, 2018, Northside Elementary hosted its second annual STEM Night to showcase student learning in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math and celebrate with family fun. Check out the video below for some of the highlights. Thanks to Northside STEM Coach Whitney Murphy, who organized this event!

Johnson Elementary 5th Grade STEM Challenge

Check out the video below of the Johnson Elementary 5th Grade STEM Challenge. Students were learning about separating mixtures based on properties by designing and testing a filter to clean pollutants out of water.

Thanks to Kim Martin and Amy Berry!

Video by John Steele.