Professional Education Center program will help Catholic school teachers tie arts into instruction on STEM subjects

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Roger Williams UniversityDOCS@RWUFeatured News Story The Week at Roger8-17-2015Diocese of Providence Partners with SCS toIntegrate STEAM in Catholic SchoolsPublic Affairs, Roger Williams UniversityFollow this and additional works at: https://docs.rwu.edu/weekatroger_featured_newsPart of the Higher Education CommonsThis News Article is brought to you for free and open access by the The Week at Roger at DOCS@RWU. It has been accepted for inclusion in FeaturedNews Story by an authorized administrator of DOCS@RWU. For more information, please contact mwu@rwu.edu.Recommended CitationPublic Affairs, Roger Williams University, "Diocese of Providence Partners with SCS to Integrate STEAM in Catholic Schools"(2015). Featured News Story. 507.https://docs.rwu.edu/weekatroger_featured_news/507 News ArchiveDiocese of Providence Partners with SCS toIntegrate STEAM in Catholic SchoolsProfessional Education Center program will help Catholic school teachers tie artsinto instruction on STEM subjectsCatholic school teachers and administrators participating in STEAMtraining workshops earlier this summer. Image Credit: RWUAugust 17, 2015 Public A airs Sta PROVIDENCE, R.I. – In an e ort to raise the bar on providing high-quality education throughout itssystem of Catholic schools, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence has partnered with theProfessional Education Center at the Roger Williams University School of Continuing Studies to create anew professional development program that will help its teachers and administrators integrate STEAM,a curriculum based on science, technology, engineering and mathematics plus the arts.STEAM is an interdisciplinary framework for teaching that calls upon creative strategies typically used inthe arts to increase student engagement and achievement. By integrating artistic and creativeendeavors into STEM topics – which, according to neurological research, can boost students’problem-solving and analytical skills – educators can teach content in di erent ways to o er morediverse learning opportunities and meet the needs of all types of learners.A science lesson for second grade students learning about heredity and reproduction, for example,may involve students working in groups to create a theatrical play including costumes and setsdepicting the lifecycles of plants and animals. Or third grade students might learn how to tell time andunderstand fractions by constructing a giant clock, taking turns physically moving its minute and hourhands to di erent times when prompted by the teacher, while also using pie shapes representing aquarter or half of the circle to indicate half hour or quarter hour times.Many of the Catholic schools in the Diocese have started to incorporate STEAM methodologies withintheir curriculum, and the district aims to expand those e orts through the partnership with RogerWilliams University. Programs such as the CyberPatriot competition and FIRST LEGO Leaguetournament at All Saints STEAM Academy in Middletown are built on the STEAM framework, givingstudents opportunities to use their knowledge and apply it to real-world activities.“What’s professionally very satisfying is seeing an elementary school music teacher sitting side-by-sidewith a middle school science teacher thinking about how they are going to put the periodic table tomusic,” says Daniel J. Ferris, superintendent of schools for the Diocese of Providence. “This level ofinterdisciplinary collaboration and creativity is what Catholic schools do well. We have the instructionalnimbleness and  exibility to be able to work together and e ect quality classroom instruction in a verycreative way. We’re pleased to partner with RWU to integrate STEAM in a uni ed and collaborative waythroughout many of our schools.”Approximately one third of the Catholic schools in the Diocese, including more than 70 principals andteachers, are participating in the three-day training program, which concludes on Aug. 18 and 19 andfeatures interactive sessions for sharing creative instructional strategies as well as team workshops onhow to create project-based lesson plans. The goal of the program is for each participant to create theirown lesson plan and learn how to incorporate STEAM teaching and learning strategies in theirclassrooms starting this fall.In addition to helping students build creative and real-world problem-solving skills, the STEAMcurriculum also creates new opportunities for teachers and administrators to collaborate and share bestpractices across grade levels and disciplines.“Educators incorporating STEAM teaching and learning strategies become a lot more engaged andcollaborative with their peers because STEAM forces them to come up with extraordinary new andcreative ways to deliver the curriculum they’ve been teaching the same way for a number of years,” saysTom Pilecki, Professional Education Center instructor and co-author of From STEM to STEAM: UsingBrain-Compatible Strategies to Integrate the Arts. Pilecki has built strong arts-integrated programs inPalm Beach County and around the country, serving more than 100,000 children and hundreds ofteachers and a er-school professionals.“Many schools across the country are integrating STEAM within their curriculum and classroominstruction methods, but the Catholic school district led by Diocese of Providence may be one of theonly school systems implementing it at this level throughout its district,” says Jamie E. Scurry, dean ofthe School of Continuing Studies at RWU. “We’re thrilled to partner with the Diocese to create uniqueprogramming that is helping their schools further integrate STEAM and make a big impact on studentengagement and learning outcomes starting in their classrooms this fall.”Based at the University’s Providence campus, the Professional Education Center creates customizededucation programs for local corporations, government agencies and community nonpro ts that wishto o er speci c courses or trainings to help employees build new skills or gain industry knowledge. Inaddition to the Diocese of Providence, the Professional Education Center has created customizedprogramming for national corporations including CVS Health and National Grid as well as localmunicipalities and school districts including the Town of North Smith eld and the Pawtucket SchoolDistrict.The Catholic schools participating in the professional development program this summer include: AllSaints “STEAM” Academy (Middletown), Bishop McVinney School (Providence), Father John V. DoyleSchool (Coventry), Mercymount Country Day School (Cumberland), Monsignor Matthew F ClarkeCatholic Regional School (Wake eld), Our Lady of Mercy Regional School (East Greenwich), Our Ladyof Mount Carmel School (Bristol), The Prout School (Wake eld), Sacred Heart School (EastProvidence), The San Miguel School (Providence), St. Augustine School (Providence), St. JosephSchool (West Warwick), St. Kevin School (Warwick), St. Peter School (Warwick), St. Rose of Lima School(Warwick), and St. Thomas Regional School (Providence). 

Diocese of Providence Partners with SCS to Integrate STEAM in Catholic Schools

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Diocese of Providence Partners with SCS to Integrate STEAM in Catholic Schools

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