Issue 1, Volume 13

STEM Students get a look
into future professions
Page By Mia Greyz, Lily Snyder, Maddie Tuttle, and Isabella Szymanski
It’s like entering a new universe down in Mr. Dial’s classroom.
The ZIP of the 3D Printer weaving in perfectly with the light chatter of
work-focused students, cries of victory, grunts of failure, and everything
in between.
This class defines children’s abilities to rethink, and improve , according
to Derek Dial, dedicated teacher of our school’s very own STEM
(Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) elective.
STEM addresses four different subjects, however, it can support
multiple other categories.
“This class typically uses many academics,” Dial said. “This can go from
math, to critical writing and narratives, as well as learning
numerous scientific methods.”
Judging by the diverse amount of subjects this class
contributes to, it can obviously give students many
learning opportunities for future professions.
“Well, it’s a very versatile class,” Dial said.
He listed multiple careers that STEM touched over the
quarter, such as: medicine, digital manufacturing,
architecture, and robotics to name a few.
“At some points, we could even get into some criminal
investigation,” Madeline Stacy, Quarter 2 STEM student
pointed out. “I feel really motivated in this class since I
want to major in architecture when I’m older.”
In the past, according to Dial, one memorable
experiment was water pressurized bottle rockets —
this focused mainly on flight technology. Another
popular investigation students took part in was
printing a prosthetic 3D hand - this pitched into
digital design, as well as a little into medicine/
health.
As well as the students, Mr. Dial himself
stated that this class has been an
interesting learning experience to him,
personally, as well.
“I’d like to say that I’m always a
student. I’m very open to
learning,” he said. “This class has
developed the students’
characteristic to identify
problems and solutions, and I
would say mine as well.”