Brooke Gipe, an eighth grade student at Elizabeth Forward Middle School, demonstrates the Maker Bot, a 3D printer, in the school’s new Dream Factory.
In the naming of the “Dream Factory”, a unique wing of its Middle School focusing on 21st Century skills, the Elizabeth Forward School District has captured not only the essence of its new transformative curriculum for sixth through eighth graders, but the destiny of the entire district and community. In its latest endeavor to make learning relevant to the needs of contemporary students in a modern world, Elizabeth Forward has again boldly gone where no district has gone before, empowering their students to work collaboratively to ask questions and solve problems. Those solutions, however, utilize the most up-to-date methods and tools, including apps for designing, making, creating, and sculpting. 3D printers bring student designs to life right before their eyes!
Dr. Bart Rocco, Superintendent of Elizabeth Forward, embodies true leadership in allowing his district team to prosper in an environment where creative ideas are encouraged.
The EFMS Dream Factory is a collaboration between Computer Science, Technology, and Arts education. This novel combination allows students to make connections between these areas via an integrated curriculum in which skills from each of these areas are seen as complimentary to one another. Similar 21st Century skills like problem solving and collaboration are taught in all three disciplines with the latest technology leveraged as a tool in finding solutions. Sixth and seventh grade students learn and practice these critical skills. In eighth grade, the children are ready to tackle challenges of their choosing and “dream” up avenues for solutions. Their dreams become realities, however, when they use the skills and technology they’ve learned to produce a tangible product.
Riley Snyder, an 8th grade EFMS student, demonstrates how he designed, then created a flight wing on his iPad.
The district’s initiatives focus on technology as a tool, not a learning outcome. Dr. Bart Rocco, the district superintendent, acknowledges that they have raised the bar, even for themselves. As technology, students, and the world changes, so must the district. However, with a forward-thinking staff, including Dr. Todd Keruskin, Elizabeth Forward Assistant Superintendent, who has spear-headed many of the new endeavors, the school district is proactive in seeking solutions to contemporary challenges using modern technology… just like they’re having their students do!
Through its tireless and creative commitment to 21st Century learning, the team at Elizabeth Forward has made an ordinary district, extraordinary!
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