DeKalb Times

Several students at Hinkley Big Rock Elementary highlighted their Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math (STEAM) skills during a recent meeting of the Hinckley-Big Rock Board of Education meeting

During a presentation at the board meeting, which was shown via live stream, STEAM teacher Kristen Delisio pointed out that in her classroom, the focus is on the journey.

“That's where the learning happens,” she told the board during the streamed session. “So you don't become a critical thinker by saying, OK, this is what a bridge looks like made out of index cards that will hold five books. So in my classroom, we say, Here's your materials, here's your objective. Everything in between is up to you guys.”

Hinckley Big Rock Elementary School Deborah Hervey explained during the meeting that a key driver to creating the program at the school was a worry that this generation was losing critical thinking skills because they are growing and learning in an age when technology solves all their problems for them.

Hervey pointed out during the stream that there are eight learning standards for the STEAM concept, asking questions and detailing problems setting out and performing investigations, using models and analyzing data.

The students, according to Hervey, focused on the four “c’s” that encompass the future for students: critical thinking, creativity, collaboration and communication.

Hervey was accompanied by Delisio and two students, who highlighted the program. One student, Eli who is a third grader, demonstrated his basic circuit and how it works, while another student, Claire, a fourth grader, demonstrated her circuit and showed her connection to the computer’s keyboard.