HFCA Teaches Science for Today and Beyond

Consider this timeline: on Friday morning, NASA shared the first images from the James Webb Space Telescope. On Friday afternoon, middle school students at Holy Family Catholic Academy (Inverness) were learning and asking questions about the design and function of this $10 billion telescope from scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

The Zoom meeting was arranged by HFCA Science and STEM Teacher, Mrs. Cindi Frayman. Education is Mrs. Frayman's second career and as a former Chemical Engineer at a Fortune 100 medical device company, she is a firm believer that science education needs to be much more than reading textbooks and memorizing formulas.

She explains, "I was interested in teaching at HFCA when I discovered that students have real opportunities for hands-on science learning from a young age. This is best practice in teaching science and this is the best way to get young people interested in science."

A case in point is 6th grade student, Victoria Tarara, who shares, "I really enjoy our lab projects. Mrs. Frayman helps me think like a scientist, not just learn about science."

Victoria explained that she and several of her classmates were able to ask questions of the NASA team. "Being able to meet and learn from experts definitely makes science so much more interesting. It was so cool to be able to ask a question from someone from NASA."

It is these authentic learning practices that earned HFCA STEM certification, the first middle school in Illinois to receive this distinction. Explains Principal Kate O'Brien, "This certification not only validates our approach to science and math education but also provides us with resources to continually improve our STEM program to meet the growing needs of our students."

A significant component of HFCA's STEM education includes a weekly 90-minute block of time where middle school students rotate through the four unique STEM units during the academic year. These units are in addition to a rigorous math and science curriculum aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards and result in increasing STEM instruction by almost 20%. Students work in teams of 6th, 7th, and 8th graders and dive into such subjects as architecture, forensic science, broadcasting, ceramics, and thermal engineering.

During these unique units, students are also exposed to professionals working in related fields. Upon graduation, students will have experienced 12 distinct - hands-on/minds-on - units exposing them to a variety of authentic STEM professions. These authentic learning experiences capture students' attention and raise their curiosity and motivation to learn more. Adds Victoria, "I not only learned about the Webb Space Telescope, but my team realized we should make changes to the satellite we were designing for our thermal engineering STEM unit."

The meeting with the NASA scientists concluded with an invitation to the HFCA students to consider an internship at NASA when they are in high school. To which Mrs. Frayman added, "I absolutely would love to see one of my students working for NASA. I know that HFCA has given them the skills needed to succeed."